Cats Fighting A Lot Lately

[banana queen]

I have four cats. Socks is 6 years old, and littermates Izzy, Amber and Mittens are 3 (but still collectively referred to as "the kittens"). All are female and spayed.

The kittens are inseparable best friends, they play, groom each other and sleep in a big cuddle pile. Socks has never cared for them, in almost three years of having the kittens, the most we have got is for her to tolerate them, meaning they coexist in the same house without fighting and mostly ignore each other, except for the occasional time one of them has approached her to sniff and gotten a swat and a hiss.

Over the past few days, they seem to have fallen out. There is frequent growling, yowling, hissing and chasing, several times a day. The growling and hissing is always from Socks, although the other cats are usually the ones who approach her. Sometimes its intentional, sometimes one of them just wants to walk past or comes into a room and she is there and chases them out. Socks is spending less time in the living room, where the other cats tend to be, she now spends most of her time upstairs on my kid's bed or wardrobe, or in her favourite cat bed in the dining room. She doesn't like it when the other cats are in the bedroom and chases them out, but leaves this territory whenever she wants something (obviously no litter box or anything in there). She allows them to be in the dining room as long as they do not approach her as that has always been neutral territory as it is the cat safe room.

She is perfectly fine with eating in the same room as the other cats, in bowls about 2 feet apart, although she is reluctant to pass them, she waits on the stairs until they have come in, then goes chair > table > cat tree > fridge > dryer and then jumps down by her bowl, to avoid passing them.

She is healthy in all other ways, clean bill of health at the vet last month, eating, drinking, using the box appropriately. Nothing in the house has changed and all of the cats have access to multiple litter boxes, water bowls, sleeping spots and toys.

I have just gone out and bought some Feliway, hopefully that will work but is there anything else I can do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
If the feliway doesn't work there are other products;
Try some low volume music, there's classical harp music, or MusicForCats . com. There's also an app called Relax My Cat.

You could look into these;
A product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil).

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
Bach Flower Remedies - Rescue Remedy Pets Dogs Cats Horses Birds

Music can be useful in helping a cat to relax (not 24 hours a day though, just now and then for a couple hours or so).

You could try one of these, only a small selection of a fast-growing section of pet products;
Richard's Organics Pet Calm-this one is drops that you put on the tip of the tongue. Also, Quiet Moments Cat treats, there is Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe.

Also Thunderease has diffusers as does Sentry, Comfort Zone and feliway although diffusers are expensive and not always the answer.
If it's legal where you are, you might want to check with your vet but some people have good results with CBD oil, plus there are vet-prescribed calming products too.
Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

There is also a product called a lickimat which could be helpful, as cats can be calmed by the process of licking. The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

This discussion's post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat

 

[1 bruce 1]

Is there any possible chance there's an outdoor or stray cat that's coming by and intentionally pissing Socks off?
Most times people think males are the territorial ones, but when it comes to cats, the girls do a fine job defending their homestead while the boys....well, sometimes they don't
Have you noticed any of the 3 the kittens (our "kitten" is 5, and she will be a kitten when she's 174 years old ) having any kind of problems? Do they stare at her, do they "play" rough (bully) her, or are they peeing a lot (UTI) or spraying?
If Socks is healthy, I'd look to the kittens and make sure they're not ganging up on her in any way or one or more of them aren't having some kind of health problem that could cause Socks to want to stay away.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sudden behavioral changes are always for a reason, either health or environmental. When you say Socks got a clean bill of health - what was involved in the vet check up - blood tests, urinalysis, fecal testing?? If none of those were done, I would suggest you get them done and make sure there isn't something going on that is not apparent to you yet. And, if blood tests were done, ask the vet if anything was slightly off at that time but not enough to warrant attention then. Keep in mind, something health wise could have started/escalated after the health check up, since a month has passed.

If not, then as much as is possible, try to go back in your head to immediately before this new behavior started to see if you might be able to identify a trigger. There are all kinds of things that can affect cats - including Socks, that most of us humans would take for granted as non-events.

The other thing you might want to consider, especially if you work and there are hours where the cats are left alone, is getting a baby cam system and record what is going on in the house in your absence.

 

[rubysmama]

I wonder if one of the "kittens" did something that frightened Socks. Or if even she heard a noise outside that startled her, and she's blaming the kittens. When something like that happens it's called Re-directed Aggression In Cats.

I know it's been 3 years, but have you ever considered doing a re-introduction?
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction | TheCatSite

 

[banana queen]

Feliway seemed to work, for a short period. After this post, it seemed that the issues were resolved-there was no fighting the day after, and the day after that for a full week and things settled down.

Then on Friday night, I was in the living room and heard a loud yowl from the dining room. I opened the door and looked out to see what was going on, and one black cat (unsure which, all three Kittens are black) ran up the stairs chased by Socks. Strangely, it was a weekend when it started in the first place.

This weekend, there has been several incidents between them, often I am not in the room so don't know who started it. Its always Socks who is hissing, growling and chasing, but I do think Amber starts it sometimes as I have seen her staring at Socks or approaching her. The other two seem fine, and never try and approach her, whenever they are chased or hissed at it is more them being in the way when Socks is in a mood, or one cat walks somewhere and doesn't realise that there is another cat in a place they cannot see (like behind the curtains, in a box, on the other side of some furniture). This has always involved hissing though.

They've always been the most difficult cats though. Socks has always been temperamental since we got her at 7 months old (she's the only cat who hisses or scratches when bored of petting), and never liked the kittens. Amber was the last of the kittens to be brought into the house, and she took a week to not hiss at her sisters as they smelled different and is the most defensive when it comes to cat carriers or worming tablets.

Sometimes they are fine together, right now all four cats are sleeping in the same room-Socks on a cupboard, and the Kittens spread out across the same sofa on the other side of the room. Socks has been hiding upstairs less and has been in the living room and dining room all day, and so have the Kittens, and there was a growl about an hour ago (Amber walked over to the cupboard and stared at Socks, who growled, but then Amber walked away and went over to her sisters).

I cant think of anything that could have started the aggression, although they have never been friends. I did start keeping Socks as an indoor cat about 6 months ago, but she adjusted well and was fine until these past few weeks.

The Kittens are at the vet next week for their yearly check up, so I will mention the issues to the vet when I take them and see what he suggests and whether its worth bringing Socks in for another look.

Might also try separating them, give them a break and then reintroduce.

 

[Furballsmom]

This makes me wonder, as mentioned but specific to a neighbor being home on the weekends and having a different schedule, if there's something Socks can detect going on outside.

Is there a dog that gets walked, or a cat that is let out? Not that you can do anything about other peoples' habits, but sometimes is helps to know.

Try the music - it's amazing how it can really help

 

[jen]

She is healthy in all other ways, clean bill of health at the vet last month

Clean bill of health a month ago, was this per bloodwork? If not, the vet taking her temperature and declaring her healthy really doesn't mean a lot. I would get her in for bloodwork. If she DID have bloodwork then first off all I apologize for assuming she hadn't, and then I would figure it to be more of an issue with an outdoor cat or something along those lines. A million things could have spooked them to the point where the coexisting is all out of wack now.

 

[banana queen]

Maybe. Next door on both sides have dogs. One of them we share a front garden with, although when he is out he is on a leash tied to the far fence so he cant come onto my side. He isn't just out on weekends though. Not sure about the neighbours on the other side, we don't speak to them or see them much, but I have seen the guy take his dog for a walk and sometimes hear it barking. Not sure what his schedule is.

I will try the cat music.

No, bloodwork wasn't done, it was just a basic routine vet check up, but I will take Socks to the vet for a more in depth examination to rule out health issues.

The cats are currently separated, the Kittens and Socks each have one half of the ground floor of the house, I think they need some alone time to calm down. I think its Amber that is bullying Socks and getting her stressed, as several times I have witnessed Amber approaching Socks and staring at her, which winds Socks up. Socks was blocking Mittens and not letting her leave the living room last night though, so its not 100% one sided.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[banana queen]

Forgot to come back with an update!

Socks is healthy. Vet suggested a different brand of calming stuff and it seems to be working. We have been doing a gradual reintroduction, keeping them completely separate except for short sessions. Today we have graduated to having all of the cats having full run of the house together (and its going well), and only keeping them separate overnight and when I go out until I am certain they can be trusted.

So far its been two hours, no hissing, Socks is chilling in her favourite cat bed, Izzy is on the windowsill quite close by and both are fine. Im not expecting the four of them to cuddle and groom eachother, as long as they can go back to ignoring each other while living in the same house, that's fine.

Socks

Amber, Izzy and Mittens

 

[rubysmama]

Awww... gorgeous kitties.

Thanks for the update. Fingers crossed things get back to the way they were.

 

[Kflowers]

Tom cats, some who have been neutered will roam several miles and claim territory in that space. I suggest you get a black light, they aren't expensive and check your front and back doors and walls under windows. If you see where a cat has sprayed(or a dog, or anything) clean it with enzyme cleaner.) You may have to do this more than once. The fact that different lengths of time passed between the fighting may only mean that your outside visitor is supposed to be a house cat who escapes from time to time.

With your neighbors having dogs you should have few toms trying to claim your house, but that doesn't mean one won't try.

 

[banana queen]

Things have been ok and now we have graduated to all of the cats having full run of the house 24/7, even when I am out.

There has not been any yowling or fighting since we did the reintroduction, however Socks does not like the other cats still and avoids them whenever possible.

She has made a solution for disliking the kittens, but this is not one that I like. Over the past two or three days she has decided that the kitchen is hers. I do not need to make a barrier to keep them from fighting, they have made it themselves. If any of the cats go into the kitchen, she does not seem to mind if she is on top of the cupboard, but if she is on a lower level she hisses at them and jumps up onto the cupboard. It never escalates to a fight, and there is no resource in the kitchen that they don't have anywhere else in the house, so they rarely go in there unless they are following me, and even then sometimes they prefer to sit in the doorway and watch me.

She has everything she needs in there, and is happy in there, but she will not leave. In the kitchen she is relaxed and affectionate, and likes to sit and watch me. If I make her leave the kitchen because she is getting in the way when I am cooking, she hisses at me when I move her then tries to get back in, and if another cat enters the dining room she hisses. There have been times when I have to put her in a cat carrier so I can cook without her trying to climb onto the counters. I also worry she isn't getting enough exercise as my kitchen is tiny, so small that I have to keep my freezer in the dining room, there's no space for a scratching post or toys.

I think she needs a more appropriate safe room, especially as this year I decided she should be an indoor cat, before, when we first got the Kittens she could at least escape outside. She cant have the dining room as because it is a large room with wooden floors, so I turned it into a cat paradise with a cat tree, a long table along one wall to add extra height, and it has several litter boxes in different corners, plus its their safe room when my cat allergic friend comes over or when I am doing anything that needs cats kept away from. She hates the living room and it is not suitable to have a litter box in because of the carpet, she cant have the kids rooms, the bathroom is litter box suitable but even smaller than the kitchen.

Only option is my room, which used to be her safe room when I introduced the Kittens but is now a cat free zone because I keep reptiles and tarantulas and I worried she might knock a tank over. My snakes are all in sturdy wood and glass tanks with locks, but the tarantulas tanks are little plastic ones that I don't like her walking on in case she knocked off, didn't like her sleeping on, and she once knocked off a tub of live crickets and they escaped all over the room and I only found half.

I think I am going to get another large wood and glass vivarium and turn it into a tarantula cabinet, similar to what they do at the pet shop to stop theft, and also get a crate for Socks when I am cleaning out tanks or doing something I don't want her getting in the way of, and she can live in my room like she used to, and there is enough space for a separate cat tree and for her to run around and play.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Under the circumstances, I think your last option is the best. Secure the tarantulas tanks, and then help Socks adjust to accepting your bedroom as her sanctuary. If she already likes a specific cat tree, give that one to her in your room and introduce her to it - and any other items/bedding/etc. that she likes as well.

You might want to consider using a door blockade (gates/barrier) during the day while you are gone, just so Socks isn't closed off by a door and she can see out beyond the room if she wants to.