HELP!! ANOTHER HUGE CAT FIGHT!!

wacckky

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Hello im back here again seeking help/advice about my cats fighting!!

I posted back in august about my cats fighting, at the time i had 4 cats. Our beloved cat panda, was the instigator and i tried reintroducing them and everything but she ended up trying to fight one of our cats, bean (very aggressive like she was trying to kill him) and i know this isnt recommended, but in the heat of the moment my bf got in between them and the aggression was directed at him. This happened twice and we had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep.

Ever since then the other 3 cats have been traumatized by the situation. But they lived together just fine.

Our one cat, beany ray has been having some issues with cystitis and uti which we've been working with the vet for. We also got her spayed and now all 3 cats of ours is fixed. Shes fully healed now.

Not sure if this is related to anything but the other cat bean, has pooped outside of the litterbox twice. We are monitoring this. (Litterboxes are cleaned daily or once every 2 days and we have 2 boxes between the 3 of them. Never had a problem.)

So to get to the point now, about 45 minutes ago i was in the kitchen making nachos and my 6 month old son was in our room on the swing playing with his toys. I heard a cat fight break out and it didnt seem too bad and usually when this happens i just get them away from each other. But then suddenly they all puff up, and start running alll over the apartment and fighting viciously. I dont know who instigated this time but it seemed like they were all after each other. I acted fast and closed the bedroom door as one was in there, quickly grabbed one and put him in the bathroom and left the other one to roam the apartment. Theyre all still separated right now.

Beany ray hid under the couch but came out fairly quickly (when the situation with panda happened she was stuck in the couch and couldnt find her for 8 hours. We had to cut the couch open). Mouse is in the room with me and my son and was puffed up for a bit but now shes gone down. Bean is in the bathroom and hes no longer puffy too.

They'll stay in their places til my boyfriend gets home from work and help me with them. I called the vet and am awaiting a response. We love our cats SO much we do not want to go through another situation like with panda again. We want to help them.

This site is amazing and thank you in advance. I would appreciate all and any advice you guys have ❤
 
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wacckky

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Update: so beany ray and mouse (the 2 females) are fine with each other. But they do seem very cautious of walking around. I wont let them around the male just yet until i have more direction of what to do
 

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Hi. Sorry no one has responded to your post yet. I am not sure I have any input to offer, but wonder if there was something going on outside your home, perhaps even another cat/animal, that triggered the fight. They all could have gotten spooked by it, or just one of them and that set the other two off.

Treat it like re-directed aggression and see if this article might give you some tips on how to move forward.
Re-directed Aggression In Cats
 
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wacckky

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Hi. Sorry no one has responded to your post yet. I am not sure I have any input to offer, but wonder if there was something going on outside your home, perhaps even another cat/animal, that triggered the fight. They all could have gotten spooked by it, or just one of them and that set the other two off.

Treat it like re-directed aggression and see if this article might give you some tips on how to move forward.
Re-directed Aggression In Cats
Thank you, i have been treating it as redirected aggression since ive been through this before but i just hope it doesnt get as bad as it did with panda. Was just wondering if there was anything else i can do for them

They're still separated but the females are together now as i realize theyre okay with each other. But only the 1 female with cystitis (beany ray) still doesnt like him. So i think it was her who caused the fight. I feel like her health issues is making her a bit defensive right now too, we have a vet appointment for her on monday to recheck her urine and ill discuss this issue with the vet. Im also going to ask to look into medicating her as they believe her bladder issues are caused by stress.

And yeah theres a couple strays that hang around the apartment building and within the last two months we have been hearing them get into nasty fights that absolutely spook them and us. Their fights sound ugly and deadly. We put them in our bedroom so they dont really hear them as much but i do get scared that theyll start fighting each other. Havent heard the strays in a couple weeks though so maybe they left, or one died.
 

FeebysOwner

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They're still separated but the females are together now as i realize theyre okay with each other. But only the 1 female with cystitis (beany ray) still doesnt like him. So i think it was her who caused the fight. I feel like her health issues is making her a bit defensive right now too, we have a vet appointment for her on monday to recheck her urine and ill discuss this issue with the vet. Im also going to ask to look into medicating her as they believe her bladder issues are caused by stress.
Her health could be disrupting things a bit, for all of them. Hopefully, she is on the mend and perhaps can be given something to help with calming her. I am sure you already know, but make sure you have towels/blankets from the other two cats to rub on her when she comes home from the vet so you don't add non-recognition aggression to the issue!!!
 
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wacckky

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Her health could be disrupting things a bit, for all of them. Hopefully, she is on the mend and perhaps can be given something to help with calming her. I am sure you already know, but make sure you have towels/blankets from the other two cats to rub on her when she comes home from the vet so you don't add non-recognition aggression to the issue!!!
Oh yeah they have non recognition aggression when any of them come home from the vet so we do that, and keep them apart so they can calm down too cause it stresses them out and i guess that gives off a stress pheromone the others dont recognize. But yeah i am really hoping her health is improving but i think for the most part it is. Hopefully her urine results are better
 
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wacckky

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Back at it again with my cats! So i have a male cat, his name is bean and he is 4 years old. He is the father of the 2 female cats we have. The females are 3 years old and their names are mouse and beany ray (beany ray and bean have similar names, so to avoid some confusion we can just call her sunshine.)

Previously we also had another sister of theirs named panda, who suddenly turned extremely vicious towards bean. She attacked my bf twice brutally so we had to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize. The situation was traumatic for all of us, and the cats too.

After panda was gone, everything seemed to be okay with the other cats

Now beany ray (sunshine) has been dealing with bladder issues and cystitis we and our vet believe is due to stress. (Hates drives to the vet, just had a baby too so change of routine)

A few days ago, all the cats get into a huge fight and it almost seemed like a panda situation again. I acted fast and separated them all. Then i came to realize mouse and sunshine are fine together.

Days go by and im treating it as non-recognition aggression, swapping scents and their spaces. And opening the door a bit so they can sniff each other. Today they seemed fine all together so i thought it was time to let them all be around each other

For the most of the day, all went well and no issues. Until just a while ago i noticed sunshine walk up to bean and hiss aggressively, i saw a fight coming so i scooped her up and put her back in the room.

My question is, why does it seem like they target bean?? Hes a good cat, doesnt bother anyone or them but when things go down they ALWAYS go after him. Might i add too that theyre all fixed. I feel bad for him and its not fair to him. Could it just be because they're different sexes?? When these fights happen he gets so scared and runs away but hes not the one going up to him and hissing or starting these fights, its always his daughters. Im hoping to help them all as i really dont want to rehome any of them. I love them all
 

Mamanyt1953

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Females are often more territorial than males, as they have to find and defend a space to rear kittens. Now, YOU know and I know that your girls are not going to get pregnant, but millions of years of instinct does NOT know that. That's probably part of the problem.

It is typical that in any group of cats, one tends to be dominant, and one is on the low end of the totem pole. Poor Bean seems to be there. One thing can do that MIGHT help is to play with all the cats, individually, not in a group, with a wand toy. Really go at it, and make sure that our Bean ALWAYS manages to catch and "kill" his prey. It's a great confidence builder. And for the girls, it allows them to get that instinct out on something safe.

I'm sure that more answers, with excellent tips will be forthcoming, but that may get you started.
 
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wacckky

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Females are often more territorial than males, as they have to find and defend a space to rear kittens. Now, YOU know and I know that your girls are not going to get pregnant, but millions of years of instinct does NOT know that. That's probably part of the problem.

It is typical that in any group of cats, one tends to be dominant, and one is on the low end of the totem pole. Poor Bean seems to be there. One thing can do that MIGHT help is to play with all the cats, individually, not in a group, with a wand toy. Really go at it, and make sure that our Bean ALWAYS manages to catch and "kill" his prey. It's a great confidence builder. And for the girls, it allows them to get that instinct out on something safe.

I'm sure that more answers, with excellent tips will be forthcoming, but that may get you started.
Okay thank you ill try that. We have quite a few wand toys as we spoil our babies lol. He has a certain favourite too. But yeah it always seems like the females are so dominant and when panda was around, she was the alpha. Beany ray (sunshine) was and still kinda is an anxious skittish cat but it seems as now she took the alpha title. Mouse is neutral with both of them and doesnt have a problem with them, except for when the others fight then it seems she also goes after bean.

Its kinda saddening hes such a good boy and does nothing at all to deserve it. I hope it doesnt cause him issues with stress and anxiety
 
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