Do healthy cats detect illness in another cat and act agressivly towards them?

[gailuvscats]

FAng was the best friend to pansy and Spike. They went to him for grooming and they did light playing and tumbling. In June they started gatting more agressive towards Fang to the point that Fang would cower under a chair, or try to avoid them. I often had to monitor. It calmed down a bit, with sporadic tussles that seemed to get out of hand, then I intervene.
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My question is was this a sign of FAng's undiagnosed HCM, which resulted in a blood clot to the spine, paralysis, pain, and euthanasia?
Perhaps they sensed he was weak, and isn't it instinct for them to banish the weak? This behavior was unusual since they had loved Fang before. I though maybe Pansy was just trying to move up a rung in the pecking order, I didn't know what Spike's excuse was.

Should this type of change in behavior taken as a signal that the attaacked cat is ill?

It wasn't all the time, mostly FAng continued to groom them, and they continued to head butt them, but I am just wondering if this should have been viewed more seriously, and maybe a trip to the vet for Fang was in order.

 

[momofmany]

In my large household, the cats let me know by their behavior when one of them is sick and I've yet to detect it. While cats in the wild cooperate with each other, they often drive out a cat who is ill and is no longer any help to the pride.

So yes, the behavior by your other cats is most likely due to the fact that Fang was ill. I've seen it both ways - the sick cat tries to cover up their illness by acting aggressive towards the others, and the healthy cats gang up on the sick one.

 

[strange_wings]

It largely depends on the household. I have couple sick ones and no aggression towards them. If anything when they cough the adult males or whichever sibling hears them will go check on their coughing. But again, no real alpha here and the general rule they follow is "eh, it's not worth the trouble".

If you're trying to reason this as it was your fault somehow you need to stop. You didn't know, you couldn't have. You loved Fang dearly and didn't fail him. Really, how many of us do a full cardiac work up on a cat that's asymptomatic and literally have no reason to worry us about their heart? This was not your fault at all.

 

[jennyr]

A lot of such behaviour comes down to smell. A sick cat will often smell different and so its siblings/friends do not recognise it. Certainly if a cat is suddenly treated differently by others in t he household it is worth investigating.

 

[snickerdoodle]

In my household, Chickster tried playing with Boo even before I found out he had CRF. She didn't like him when he came back from the vet until the next day when most of the "vet" smell had gone, but as he got sicker, she moved further away and left him alone. I think, personally, it made her sad, she knew she shouldn't bother him, but she WANTED to be with him.. but knew he really didn't feel like having anything to do with her.

I do believe in a multi cat household that other cats know when one is sick, and I've personally seen a very old (21 year old) female cat who was the matriarch of the entire house be groomed and coddled and cared for by the other cats until she passed. She had lymphoma towards the end and couldn't walk. But the other cats did not avoid her. Just differences in household circumstances maybe?