Hi all, this website has always been extraordinarily helpful for any questions I've had so I hope you can help me with this one.
I've had my cats Pounce and Ninja for 4 years now. They are brothers who have always been together and always got along fine. Like they've always snuggled up with each other and both seemed very happy. That being said Pounce (by nature) has always been a nervous boy and I've tried various ways to make him feel reassured. This year seemed like he was doing better until recently.
A couple of weeks ago my cats had a weird day. Pounce seemed really scared his pupils were dilated and he wasn't acting like himself. I rushed him to the vet and they said he was totally fine.
When we got home NInja (who I have NEVER heard hiss) started hissing at him. He kept running up to him and hissing which seemed to make Pounce more uncomfortable. I separated them and then took Ninja to the vet because this behaviour was so out of sorts. He was angry with his brother, angry at me, and angry at the vets.I kept trying to explain to that vet (because she is different than my regular) just how odd this was because my cats go the vets separately all the time and they never have had those kinds of problems before.
Anywho that vet said he was fine. However, I suspect a bout of food poisoning because they were both panting, drooling excessively, and the behaviour was very strange.
Fast forward to yesterday and things seem tense between them again. I haven't seen any overt signs of aggression like I did a few weeks ago. They don't hiss at each other (or at least not while I am around). However, Pounce seems to be more avoidant with Ninja. Like they both come to me for pets but he leaves quickly, he seems more anxious about eating (even though I have always separated them for mealtimes), and he just seems more skittish than normal.
Ninja on the other hand seems to be acting like himself. Nothing's really changed with him.
There aren't really overt signs of fighting that I note. I find that Pounce just seems to be hyperaware of Ninja right now though. They'll stare at each other sometimes but there isn't any obvious change in body language.
I think that for the times I'm not around I will install a pet camera because I just really want to know at this point if there are problems between them so that I can figure out what to do. Part of me wants to separate them but my mom thinks if I do that they'll adjust to that and won't be able to live together anymore.
Any experts on this? Thank you!
I've had my cats Pounce and Ninja for 4 years now. They are brothers who have always been together and always got along fine. Like they've always snuggled up with each other and both seemed very happy. That being said Pounce (by nature) has always been a nervous boy and I've tried various ways to make him feel reassured. This year seemed like he was doing better until recently.
A couple of weeks ago my cats had a weird day. Pounce seemed really scared his pupils were dilated and he wasn't acting like himself. I rushed him to the vet and they said he was totally fine.
When we got home NInja (who I have NEVER heard hiss) started hissing at him. He kept running up to him and hissing which seemed to make Pounce more uncomfortable. I separated them and then took Ninja to the vet because this behaviour was so out of sorts. He was angry with his brother, angry at me, and angry at the vets.I kept trying to explain to that vet (because she is different than my regular) just how odd this was because my cats go the vets separately all the time and they never have had those kinds of problems before.
Anywho that vet said he was fine. However, I suspect a bout of food poisoning because they were both panting, drooling excessively, and the behaviour was very strange.
Fast forward to yesterday and things seem tense between them again. I haven't seen any overt signs of aggression like I did a few weeks ago. They don't hiss at each other (or at least not while I am around). However, Pounce seems to be more avoidant with Ninja. Like they both come to me for pets but he leaves quickly, he seems more anxious about eating (even though I have always separated them for mealtimes), and he just seems more skittish than normal.
Ninja on the other hand seems to be acting like himself. Nothing's really changed with him.
There aren't really overt signs of fighting that I note. I find that Pounce just seems to be hyperaware of Ninja right now though. They'll stare at each other sometimes but there isn't any obvious change in body language.
I think that for the times I'm not around I will install a pet camera because I just really want to know at this point if there are problems between them so that I can figure out what to do. Part of me wants to separate them but my mom thinks if I do that they'll adjust to that and won't be able to live together anymore.
Any experts on this? Thank you!