Cat suddenly hyper aggressive - desperately worried

[ScaredCatLady]

I’m looking for practical advice and/or reassurance - I really hope someone can help.

We have two cats, Elsa (5) and Mo (6) who have lived happily together practically their whole lives. Just over a fortnight ago, following what had been a pretty stressful week, Elsa went to the vet, where she was given some intralesional steroid shots for a nasty flare up of her skin allergies. 24 hours later, she - entirely unprovoked - launched the most vicious attack on Mo I have ever seen from a cat. Since then, she has continued to charge at her whenever she sees her. Spitting, snarling, biting, claws out - it is horrible. Both my partner and I have cuts all over our feet and ankles - once we have helped Mo to escape we invariably become the next targets. It is like we are living with a completely different, strange, psychotic cat. I see very brief flashes of ‘my’ Elsa, but only when the two of us are alone.

We are trying to keep them completely separate with a view to trying a reintroduction as soon as Elsa seems calmer.

The vet has given me a prescription for Prozac (for Elsa, not me - though I bl**dy need it now) but I can not get her to take it. I have tried everything.

OTC treatments I have tried / am currently using:

Zylkene
Royal Canin Calm
Felliway diffusers
Composure

Mo seems pretty chilled - when Elsa is safely in the spare room - thanks to the Zylkene, but Elsa is still totally wired.

I’ve contacted a cat behaviourist, but it looks unlikely that I will be able to get things moving with her before Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, we will have guests for two weeks - so we will no longer have the option of using the guest room as our primary containment zone / sanctuary space.

I love them both with all my heart and really can not bear this. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Srwheeler]

Try asking your vet if the steroids could be the cause of her behavior change.
I’m sorry, I know how hard it can be to see your babies fighting. I hope it gets better for you!

 

[posiepurrs]

There is obviously something wrong. When the vet prescribed Prozac, did he examine her? It kind of sounds like she may be in pain.

 

[ScaredCatLady]

FYI - I should have mentioned that we are living in the South of France at the moment, so I don’t have access to compounding chemists for adapting medication (which I read about in posts from US members and which always make me feel very jealous!).

 

[ScaredCatLady]

Try asking your vet if the steroids could be the cause of her behavior change.
I’m sorry, I know how hard it can be to see your babies fighting. I hope it gets better for you!

Yes. I intend to call in tomorrow. She has had steroid jabs before and I hate them because they always leave her seeming depressed for weeks. But I thought that the ‘local’ intralesional treatment wouldn’t get into her wider system. But you are right, I need to check.

 

[Srwheeler]

Yes. I intend to call in tomorrow. She has had steroid jabs before and I hate them because they always leave her seeming depressed for weeks. But I thought that the ‘local’ intralesional treatment wouldn’t get into her wider system. But you are right, I need to check.

She could just be in pain. When cats are in pain, they tend to try and cover it up and want to be alone. Sending you positive vibes

 

[ScaredCatLady]

There is obviously something wrong. When the vet prescribed Prozac, did he examine her? It kind of sounds like she may be in pain.

He examined her when I took her in with her skin lesion on her leg - although she has had those before so I think it was fairly cursory. She probably does need to go back. I should ask for some blood tests.

However, so long as she doesn’t see Mo she doesn’t actually attack - she seems distracted and hyper-vigilant (when Mo is in the spare room she lurks menacingly outside, staring at the door), but not a threat to Dan or I. The impression I get is that - weird as it seems - if Mo were gone she would quickly calm down. It is as if she has somehow completely forgotten her and sees her as an enemy intruder.

 

[ScaredCatLady]

She could just be in pain. When cats are in pain, they tend to try and cover it up and want to be alone. Sending you positive vibes

Thank you. I need lots of positive vibes - I’m not handling this very well x

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It is the opposite of what can happen when one cat visits the vet and comes home to another cat. Most of the times, the cat at home doesn't recognize the cat who went to the vet. I am wondering if it is possible that you are experiencing the opposite. - in that Elsa for whatever reason doesn't recognize Mo after her being at the vets. Try to scent swap between the two, just to see what happens.

 

[lucicat]

I know steroids can make humans feel ragey and out of control. . .so I would imagine it's entirely possible that it can affect a cat the same way. I hope it wears off as her system rebalances. . .and personally I wouldn't change doing any more steroids.

I hope you find the answer! <3

 

[ArtNJ]

The situation calls to mind that of a professional baseball player who had a bad reaction to a steroid shot (got an abscess) and lost most of a season. Check the injection site for an adverse reaction/abscess; that is my first thought. My second thought, is that this was just a delayed form of redirected aggression. Redirected aggression is when something scares a cat, and they lash out at a human or pet that just happened to be nearby. Usually its immediate, like a dish falls off the counter and shatters near the cats, and one cat then attacks the other. However, it doesn't have to me immediate -- if your cat was still enormously stressed from being at the vet when he got home, its quite possible this was redirected aggression.

Here is the thing though: unless the cat currently has a medical issue, it may no longer matter why they initially lashed out. Its just like when a human couple fights, and if one says something especially hurtful, it may not matter what started the fight, it is self-sustaining. So sometimes in situations like this, you need to both separate for a bit, and do a slow reintroduction -- a possibly accelerated version of what one does when two cats meet for the first time.

 

[ScaredCatLady]

Yes, redirected aggression had crossed my mind, too. Perhaps exacerbated by a bad reaction to the steroid she was given. We are keeping them separate at the moment, although that will become more difficult once we have guests in a week’s time and the spare room is in use (the rest of the flat is either open plan or has sliding doors, which both Elsa and Mo can open). But we have ordered a set of extra-tall dog/cat/baby gates that we’ll use as a starting point for dividing the apartment in half, for now.

EverythingI can find about it on the internet makes it seem like an almost impossible task though. The way Elsa is at the moment I find it hard to imagine her ever living peacefully with Mo. I’d love to hear from anyone who has actual experience of doing this...

She is just hyper, hyper alert the whole time - whatever room she’s in she is fixated on the doorway. She’s doing her time in the spare room right now - I’m in there now with her and she is on my lap, staring fixedly at the door.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, hyper alertness is a normal stage when introducing cats, right? No reason to think they can't get over it in time -- many cats have started off exactly like this and gotten to coexistence or friendship, and yours have done it once before already. Have you read this site's guides on introducing cats? You may have to treat it like a full introduction, although you might be able to shorten it up as well.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – Cat Articles