Cats suddenly smacking each other and hissing?

leifybridge

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Piper and Poppy got along fine after their introduction for about two months, they hung out together, played, ate next to each other, slept in the bed with us, etc.

Then one night while we were asleep I heard Poppy yell, the type of yell I’ve only heard once when she accidentally got her tail stepped on when running under someone’s feet while they were walking. I immediately got up and ran to her, and see her glaring at Piper who was next to her. I checked them both for injuries and both were fine. I did not see what caused this to happen. I assumed maybe Piper got a little too rough playing and Poppy didn’t like that.

However, ever since that night Poppy has been hissing at Piper whenever she comes up to her and Piper likewise has been coming up to just smack Poppy for no reason. This makes Poppy hiss even more at her.

What is confusing me is sometimes Poppy will also come up to Piper, initiating their chase the bell toy game together as usual and then suddenly turn to hiss at her again. Piper always retaliates by smacking Poppy.

I have assumed that Poppy is angry with Piper for the incident that one night and is not over it. I’m worried they’ll end up actually fighting with each other. I’ve refilled my feliway diffusers (they were a great help during their introduction) and I’m wondering if I’ll have to reintroduce to them or is this just a cat squabble?

They’re is no growling or actual heavy cat fighting, just hissing and smacks with no claws. They will also sometimes chase each other like they’re playing (both of them have initiated this) and then it will end with hissing at some point by Poppy.

I’ve started separating them when this happens. They also eat separately currently due to Piper having to only eat her urinary food and can’t have what Poppy is eating. But then they have moments where they act as before like for example laying on the cat tower together with no problems, and then later on it’s hissing again, it’s very confusing as to what is going on and I was wondering if anyone had any advice.
 

ArtNJ

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That doesn't sound too bad. Hissing doesn't necessarily mean anything so serious, and slapping is similar. It could just mean "your playing too rough again you bleep!" and "don't call me that, smack!" A little spat in other words. Growling/screaming and a full roll around cat fight is a whole nother thing -- your far far short of that.

The best thing to do when an issue crops up like this is a short break for a reset. Hours to days depending on how serious the initial incident is. Of course, sounds like your far enough downstream from the incident that it may not help. You could try it anyway, or just let them work it out. And they might just do that. Some small chance it could go further wrong as well.
 

FeebysOwner

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:yeah: But, I would also be curious to know how long this has been going on. A couple of days, a couple of weeks?

Is the hissing and smacking diminishing any over time? If so, just watch them and see if there is less squabbling and more peace as time goes by. Do you also initiate play with the both of them at the same time? If not, try that too.
 

di and bob

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Sometimes, forgiveness is hard. They had a squabble and now need time to sort it out and forgive each other. Everything sounds perfectly normal, I've had cats act like this for up to a week. your cats are fairly new too in introductions. It takes really up to a year to get everything settled. Piper is trying to establish a hierarchy, thus the slapping, but Poppy isn't backing down, which is good. You are doing everything alright, separating when things escalate is good. Females are notoriously hissy and don't give up territory easily, there are bound to be spats. Females typically boss the boys around and get the upper hand, but when there are two females there is a standoff!
 
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leifybridge

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:yeah: But, I would also be curious to know how long this has been going on. A couple of days, a couple of weeks?

Is the hissing and smacking diminishing any over time? If so, just watch them and see if there is less squabbling and more peace as time goes by. Do you also initiate play with the both of them at the same time? If not, try that too.
It happened this past Sunday so it hasn’t been too terribly long. I’ve noticed Poppy won’t always hiss at her as soon as she sees Piper like she did the first few days, but she does if Piper dare to approach her.

Piper is not acting innocent though, she will purposely run up to Poppy full speed knowing that she’ll get hissed at and then respond with the no claw smack. I will try initiating playtime with both of them at the same time, to see if that will decrease the tension.
 
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leifybridge

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That doesn't sound too bad. Hissing doesn't necessarily mean anything so serious, and slapping is similar. It could just mean "your playing too rough again you bleep!" and "don't call me that, smack!" A little spat in other words. Growling/screaming and a full roll around cat fight is a whole nother thing -- your far far short of that.

The best thing to do when an issue crops up like this is a short break for a reset. Hours to days depending on how serious the initial incident is. Of course, sounds like your far enough downstream from the incident that it may not help. You could try it anyway, or just let them work it out. And they might just do that. Some small chance it could go further wrong as well.
When things get to the point where Poppy looks like she’s had enough I typically remove one and put them in the master bedroom for a break.

After an hour or so, whoever I put in the room gets to come out and it’s fine for a little while but then the hissing starts back up again. Thankfully, no growling of any sort.
 
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leifybridge

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Sometimes, forgiveness is hard. They had a squabble and now need time to sort it out and forgive each other. Everything sounds perfectly normal, I've had cats act like this for up to a week. your cats are fairly new too in introductions. It takes really up to a year to get everything settled. Piper is trying to establish a hierarchy, thus the slapping, but Poppy isn't backing down, which is good. You are doing everything alright, separating when things escalate is good. Females are notoriously hissy and don't give up territory easily, there are bound to be spats. Females typically boss the boys around and get the upper hand, but when there are two females there is a standoff!
Thank you for this advice! Poppy was the “only child” ever since she was 7 weeks old and is now 2 years old, so I expected her not to be very pleased with sharing her space. Piper is 11 months old, and will be 1 year old on July 24 (her birthdate according to the rescue) and has been around cats most of her life since she was in a foster home for a while.

They definitely have different temperaments. But what you said eased my anxiety some so thank you!
 

Maria Bayote

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My cats still hiss and smack at each other every now and then. Bourbon is the one who always triggers the "fight". She does not want to be be "touched" by my other cats, even when playing. When Barley gets in her way, she smacks and hisses at him. Such a brat Bourbon is. LOL.

So I think it is normal.
 

klunick

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This happened with my two at the first of the year. They were 100% separated for about two months. Then reintroduced slowly but separated again if any aggression happened. Slowly we worked our way to where they would be ok together constantly for a few weeks and then have to be separated for a couple of days. Now 6 months later I think we have finally achieved the peace that once was.

Your situation doesn't seem as bad as mine was but hopefully the cats will work it out amongst themselves and peace will be restored. Obviously something happened that got one or both on edge towards the other and hopefully they will see that whatever the issue was is not as bad as they once thought.
 
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