Sudden Aggression Btw Siblings

HI there - I really need help on this situation.


Here's the situation. I have two cats and they are sisters, not spayed and approximately one year old. they have always lived together. They play fight but nothing serious.

This morning I let them outside at 4 am like every other morning, (Faith and Karma) Karma always comes right back in with me after I smoke my cig. She did this. Karma is a lot smaller than Faith. I've wondered if she had worms or something but I've checked their poop over and over again and nothing.

Point being, she was inside and Faith was out. I was upstairs and I heard Karma hissing like crazy. I thought there was another cat or animal outside so I went down and opened the door to see. Karma got out and ran around the side of the house. It's only a few feet away but I can't see around the side. A cat fight broke out, I freaked thinking my cats were getting attacked by another animal. Then, here comes Faith running with little Karma chasing her and hissing and growling. I put Karma inside. About 15 minutes later when she calmed down I let Faith back inside. Karma went after her full force. Faith just stood there. I shut Faith in the bathroom and was trying to pick up Karma. she scratched both me and my husband. She was trying to bite us. It's bad.

So I put her in the basement for the day, She followed me down thank goodness. She has food water, there's a litter box down there. She likes it down there and spends time there a lot. But I have small children (one and three) My 3 yr old lil girl always pets the cats and plays with them. she won't understand to leave Karma alone. I don't understand what's going on or why she's acting like this.

They both got fleas pretty bad. I am trying to get the problem under control with constant vacuuming, flea combing, and I gave them Hartz flea treatment which doesn't seem to be doing much but I think it's working a little. That is the only thing that has changed.

What do I do? I'm not one to give my cat away or put her to sleep. I could never do that. Although, I can't have her biting scratching and fighting around my babies.

What do I do? What's the problem? Can someone help?

OH and just so you know. Faith does not hiss, growl, meow, scratch, or bite Karma. She seems to be trying to ignore her but that is impossible. Karma is in serious fight mode. My arm was dripping blood. She goes outside every morning for about ten minutes on the front porch with me and in my sight. So there is NO way she was bitten or attacked by another animal. I just don't understand what brought this on.

From your description Karma saw something that upset her (another cat maybe) and redirected her anger to her sister Karma.

You should have never attempted to pick up Karma when she had just attacked her sister (twice in 15 minutes) after they were both in. She was still very upset from whatever happened outside. If it ever happens again, try to coach her to where you want her to go, but never pick up an upset cat. They can do some real damage, much worse than a bloody scratch or bite, when they are in survival mode.

Now, you say they are both not spayed, and going outside. This is a recipe for trouble and possible pregnancies. It also increases possible fights between both sisters, because of raggin hormones and territorial behavior. I would strongly advise you to spayed them as soon as possible.

This will also calm them down a lot, making them less prone to accidentaly hurt your small children.

For the eminent problem, let Karma cool down totally. Go down in a while, let her tell you when she is back to her old self. This means no touching unless she aproaches first. If she's still upset let her be.

Reintroduction with her sister should be done slowly, meanwhile you should build Faith confidence back, so she can stand up to her sister.

Best of luck and keeps us posted.

Add: I reread my post and thought maybe I came on a bit strongly, to someone who just arrived. sorry if it looked like that, I was just worried about your safety, as I've dealt with a very similar episode (happened with a close friend) with very bad consequences. And I'm also no expert, I'm just a cat owner (who has his own set of problems too, or I do).

Hi there! Wellcome to the Cat Site! One of our experts on cat behaviour will sure answer you soon.
I am no expert, but I would say that there are some things happening at the same time. On the one hand, your girl's are a year old now, which means that they are adults with all the consequences of it. Adult female cats can get very territorial.
On the other hand, they are not spayed, which makes behavioural problems ten times worse nine times out of ten. The first thing I would do would be spaying them. Then, I would keep them appart and reintroduce them to each other gradually. Feliway and Felyfriends can help with this.
Good luck and keep us updated

Thanks so much. They do have an appt to get spayed but it's not until August.

No, you didn't come on too strong at all. I appreciate the advice. I am a very forward, no bullshit person so I appreciate it. They are due to get spayed in August. Right now I have her downstairs as I said. I can't leave the children upstairs by themselves. My 3 yr old doesn't understand why she can't see Karma... I work at home and my husband is at work. When the baby takes a nap, I will go downstairs to see Karma. I will put Faith in the bathroom at that time in case Karma makes her way upstairs. And then when he gets home from work, I will attempt to let them see each other and if Karma starts freaking again then I don't know.

I know I shouldn't have tried to pick her up but, the kids were sleeping. This was at 4:30 in the morning and Karma was loud. (I'm sure you know how a cat sounds when they are fighting.) So I had to get her out of there.

I have contacted the only 3 vets in the area. still waiting for responses.

Our small neighborhood is isolated. There are 4 other cats besides my two. 3 females and 1 male. Luckily, the male is fixed. I do keep an eye out for strays even though it's not likely around here, it is always possible. Karma especially hates outside and does not leave the yard or my site. She doesn't like heat and will only go out in the wee hours of the morning but if I close the door she will come inside. It's a safety issue for her. I'm not sure why she acts that way. I've had them since the end of December. And she's always been like that.

Once again, thank you for the advice. And here is another question. They both have fleas. I used hartz flea treatment and it is working but what do I do to my house besides vacuuming? I don't want to flea bomb it due to my littlest one. He puts everything in his mouth ALL the time.

Thanks again!

Well, it will be a looong wait till August, but you Will overcome it.
I perfectly understand your instinct of picking her, I myself have suffered cat bites and scratches for similar circumstances.
Fleas could indeed be part of the problem, as they can turn the sweetest cat into a wild predator. Sadly, I do not know any way to get rid of them in the house other than the bomb method. We had to do it twice, different years, because we were fostering abandomned dogs and kittens.
I hope someone more experience Will come soon and give you better and more useful advice. I feel that I can only offer you moral support

UPDATE:

So I let Karma back upstairs once my husband got home. I wanted to be sure she wasn't going to snap. And I couldn't do it with the little ones so I had to wait.

Sheer and Faith were weary of each other at first but no aggression. They slept together in bed with me last night. I just let them outside in the morning. Karma came back in with me as usual. So far so good. I'm cautiously listening for hissing.

When, this happened yesterday, Karma was inside and Faith was outside. Faith is outside alot. She lays next to the front wall of our house behind these huge tree/bush/plant things that we have. And then comes in, eats, and sleeps all day. Yesterday she stayed outside ALL day in that spot. She was scared which is kinda funny being that Faith is 3 times the size of Karma. But as I was saying, I'm wondering if Karma saw some type of reflection in the glass screen door or something. Or maybe Faith jumped up on the door and it scared the living daylights out of her so she was pissed. I'm not sure.

I heard back from one vet (it's not the vet that I go to) and they said to call a behavior specialist. personally, i think that there are options being this is the only time that this happened. It's not an ongoing thing.

When I flea combed them both last night. There was only a couple fleas on each of them compared to the 2 dozen that were originally on them So we are making progress!

I'm praying all goes well this morning. I'm a little nervous. lol

THe one thing I've been worrying about for a week now is Karma's size. She is so tiny. My vet said she'll check her in August at the appt (my vet is a discount vet that helps cats, even ferals, strays, etc at a lower price) They even have a house with 100 cats that was saved from a no good shelter and they have so many medical problems they can't be adopted out. It's pretty cool. And they are only open Tues and Thurs which is why I got no reply yet and why I have to wait till August for them to be spayed. THey also get a professional flea treatment, vaccines, check up, etc. for $50. not bad if you ask me. Anyhow, I've checked Karma's poo for worms a zillion times and nothing. I don't know why she's so small. She eats just fine. Maybe she's the runt of the litter? Do cat litters have runts? why not, i guess.

Yes, just like humans and dogs, cats come in all sizes. My late Zoya was very long for a female, she was actually longer that most males, and longer than all her siblings. My current cat Bruce, will never be a big cat, although he never had any health problem.

I'm very glad your kitties have calmed down and your house is now at peace again. I agree with you, one time episode does not need a behavioral expert. And I'm also pretty sure after they are spayed, they will mellow out quite a bit, and reduce the possibility of this happening again.

Oh, I hope so. I love your profile pic. I love black cats. I don't know why always have. I think it's bc growing up I always had a black or black/white cat.

Here's another question for you. A month ago I was straightening shoes out in my daughter's closet. Faith walked right over top of my hand, turned around and peed right in the corner of the closet looking right at me. No aggressiveness, she never did this before or has done it since. Wait that's a lie. When they first came here, I caught her peeing beside my bed a few times but she stopped that. Why would she do that in the closet and making sure I saw? I can't have a home smelling like cat pee. Not only is it GROSS but we rent and are planning on moving in the next few months. My landlords would kill me. We are the first tenant's allowed animals.

That's by biggest nightmare/fear. A cat that doesn't go where he is supposed to.

I don't have any real experience with that situation (thank the Lord!) but excluding ilnesses (if she hasn't repeated it's not probable) it can be a territorial thing (although more common in males than females).

Always clean it with a good enzime cleaner (I think this is how it's called, English is not my mother language), so they are not tempted to repeat the dead.

If it's territorial, it too will lessen after spayed.

Bruce is my first black cat, I always wanted one. But I'm finding out he has siamese ancestry and he is a real handfull. Just this morning I was loooking at my bare harm and I have about 15 small scratches from play sessions. He's the devil! (but I love him!)