Cats fighting somewhat randomly

[Tuxedokittylove]

So we adopted Renny just over 1 year ago. Spaz was 5 when we adopted him, so on the older side but they got along great. They play and wrestle together, Renny sometimes takes it too far but spaz lets him know by a little hiss or squeal and we usually redirect when we can tell she’s had enough. But it’s never anything more and she usually comes back to play. Back in October they had a fight that was caused by what we think was redirected aggression of sorts, they been perfectly fine since then after separating them for a few hours and reintroducing. Flash forward to today, they had another fight this evening. I’m not sure what caused it but this is what happened. They were both on the cat tree, renny’s Clumsy and fell off but my dad caught him and put him on the ground where he then ran away and Spaz chased after him which is normal for them usually, they chase eachother all the time. Anyways they both slid into an open door, one of them screamed so I’m not sure it a tail or foot got crushed or pinched by the door or eachother. But spaz then started going after Renny. We broke it up, they seemed fine and were both laying down. Then when Renny got up spaz went after him again. So we separated them. Anyways I know I didn’t describe that very well but I wanted opinions on what it sounds like happened. If it was maybe redirected aggression from an animal outside, or spaz thought Renny hurt my dad and went into protective mode or it was simply just getting spooked by sliding into a door together (which stupidly had metals on it that clanged a little), or if it was something we should look into more.
My other question is kind of dumb but is being separated for too long such a thing? We separated them and tried a slow introduction after about an hour, but Renny was still visibly scared (rightfully so), and Spaz was still unsure about him a bit so we decided to keep them separated but because it was late we’re keeping them separated over night. Now will Spaz resent Renny or anything for not being able to go to that part of the house, or potentially forget who eachother are? Or will they just forget it even happened and be fine in the morning after a slow introduction? They had some positive interaction through a crack and mainly just wanted to the room eachother was in.
My other main concern is that I’m leaving in a day for the weekend (my parents who we live with will be with them) but they’re clingy and I know they get sad when any of us are gone so I’m not sure if that will factor how well they will get along if they’re still not back to 100%.
Mainly I just want some outside opinions on if there hope it will blow over like the last fight they had 5 months ago and hope that it won’t become a reoccurring thing. Sorry that was a story book long post haha thanks for reading!

 

[ArtNJ]

I think the separation is a great idea, and the right thing to do for an isolated fight of unknown cause. Hopefully, the one night is enough. If they are not showing signs of wanting to fight in the am, you can let them get over the rest of it on their own.

It is possible that your dad's sudden lunge to catch the other cat could have caused the redirected aggression perhaps, or it could be something else entirely. Hard to say. Sometimes you can't figure it out. It could be an accidental random injury like you said -- sometimes a nail accidentally gets caught just the right way and causes a bit of pain accidentally and that can do it.

 

[Tuxedokittylove]

I think the separation is a great idea, and the right thing to do for an isolated fight of unknown cause. Hopefully, the one night is enough. If they are not showing signs of wanting to fight in the am, you can let them get over the rest of it on their own.

I’m hoping it’s enough, if not we’ll separate for longer. This might be a dumb question but if there’s no initial hissing or puffing, but the one cat that took the brunt of it is still scared and trying to hide everytime they make eye contact would you say they’re good to work it out on their own or keep them separated and work on it even slower?

 

[ArtNJ]

I’m hoping it’s enough, if not we’ll separate for longer. This might be a dumb question but if there’s no initial hissing or puffing, but the one cat that took the brunt of it is still scared and trying to hide everytime they make eye contact would you say they’re good to work it out on their own or keep them separated and work on it even slower?

Just in general, cats can get over scared or a little hissing on their own. Its like they see that nothing else happens, and they get tired of the effort of hissing or hiding or whatever. Its only really when they fight that the thing takes on a life of its own. So you can allow them to work through stuff if you get a pretty good sense they dont want to fight.