Help!!! I do not know what to do! Cats suddenly turned aggressive

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xisare

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Ok, It's been a couple of days since the last update and thing have been going almost perfect.

THey now play with each other, and I would even dare to say that they're more playful than before. Also we've left the bedroom door open these nights and both are back to cudling on our bed. Akodo sleeps under my neck and Soshi between us, or between my hubby's legs.

We just had one incident this morning. Looks like Akodo woke up grumpy because soshi tried to play with him and he growled, hissed and attacked him. Soshi ran away and we separated them for a while, just while we were eating breakfast. After that they behaved normally again.

Is that common? Cats waking up that grumpy?
 

Columbine

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Well, think of it this way: you're fast asleep, maybe having a nice dream, and you get woken up by being jumped on or jabbed. You probably wouldn't be in the best mood either :lol3:

Overall Akodo and Soshi are making great progress - the odd blip is only to be expected, and not something to get too stressed about.

Focus on the positives, and how far they've come :catguy:
 
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xisare

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Looks like I spoke too soon.

yesterday we went out some hours and given their behaviour the last few days we let Akodo and Soshi free. we returned to find both with spongy tails, growling and Akodo had a tender spot in one of his hind legs. We found some single line scratched on him, one over one of his eyes. They were not actively bleeding, but they were raw.

They slept separated again, and we opened the doors in the morning. they just had a huge fight, it took us almost a minute to separate them. Not because they were entangled but because they were running around. Akodo now even refuses to let us pet him if it not on his cheeks and I think he has another tender spot on his side.

I feel we're back at square zero, we're going to treat it like that. I don't know if the Feliway stoped working, they developed tolerance or it just never worked.

And we're starting to look for behaviorist on the Dallas/Plano area. We refuse to rehome any of our furry children, but to be truthful, a behavior specialisy may be out of our budget.

But I don't know what else to do.
 

Columbine

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Oh no :( I'm so sorry to read this.

I wonder if the cat that triggered all this reappeared and set them off again, or if it was maybe just too soon to leave them to roam free unsupervised. Sometimes it would be so much easier if they could talk.

The first move should be a vet check for them both to assess the damage - you certainly can't do anything with them until they're both healed and pain free.

Keep them fully separated again for now - zero access. They need time to heal and decompress. Talk to your vet, but now might be the time to start them on Composure. They clearly need more help than Feliway alone.

With the Feliway, the downfall might have been that you only had one diffuser - for it to be most effective, you need to have the whole house treated all the time. That means one diffuser for every 50-90sqft, depending on your layout.

Whilst a behaviorist could help, you might want to try the Composure and Feliway Multicat combo first, paired with from scratch introductions. I fully understand that money is tight when it comes to big extras like behaviourist fees, so it really might be worth using every trick you know of before getting a behaviourist out. So long as I felt confident and comfortable in the techniques I was using, I think that's the approach I'd take.

Hang in there, and good luck with them both. I hope their injuries aren't too bad :cross: :vibes:
 
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xisare

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We're going to buy te second difusor anyway. But we haven't been able to get the multi cat pheromones, no one is selling it! I found it on internet but he shipping was one week. I'll buy the second one multicat, put it in the den and leave the single cat one on Akodo's corner

We've been keeping the blinds closed, so I don't think they've seen the stray again.

Does Composure require prescription? What is it?

We're getting Akodo to the vet as soon as I get cured of this bronchitis, but we've only felt the spots tender. He's not limping, over grooming the spots and does not complain unless we touch the sore area. The scratches are single lined and not deep.

Also, what do you mean with scratch introductions? introductions from scratch?

Thanks for the good vibes and the support, we need them right now. We're both so worried, we've never been in this situation and is depressing, worriesome... all in one...
 

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Yep - introductions from scratch is what I meant. Sorry - trying to think of too many things for you to try at once!

Composure is a food based calmer - its derived from milk protein. Many people here have had wonderful results with it. It's non prescription, but most vets carry Composure or Zylkene (both the same kind of calmer: Composure comes in liquid or chew forms, and Zylkene is a pill). You can also get either online (Amazon sells both) or from some pet stores.

You're all in my thoughts. I'm sure there will be a way through this...even if it is a long haul :hugs:
 

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Chiming in with a few thoughts.

1. Relax and be prepared for a long journey. It can take months and even years before they achieve a relatively peaceful co-existence.

2. I think @Derekthecat  brought up an important point. I don't suggest you let them physically hurt themselves but it's important to keep in mind that it's up to them to sort out the dominance issues. There is absolutely nothing you can do about that aspect of their relationship. The best thing to do when you see them showing signs of hostility is to avoid adding your own reactions to the mix. Don't reprimand, talk or otherwise add any input to the situation. They might perceive that input as negative and it could enhance their fear and stress.

3. Work on reducing overall stress levels. Feliway is nice but it's definitely not enough. It's not always helpful and to date, I haven't seen any scientific data suggesting that it actually works. Do work on stress-reduction with each cat -

 [article="30316"]Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats​[/article]  

4. Make sure they have enough space. By that I mean vertical space as well as horizontal. Also, make sure there is never competition over resources. That includes food, water, litterboxes, toys, and space. Try to minimize situation where one cat wants something and the other one has it. More about that - 

 [article="29658"]The Multi Cat Household​[/article]  

It will take time and patience. During that time, the less stressed you are, the better. I do believe our cats pick up on our stress and it affects them too. The more stressed the cats are, the harder it will be for them to adjust to each other's presence.

 [article="32758"]You Your Cat And Stress​[/article]  

Good luck and do let us know how things are going!
 
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xisare

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Again that's for all your words and advice.

@Anne we know that this could take a long time, but it is disenhearting that is happening after 6 months of perfect co-existence. We don't know when they are really moving forward or when is temporary and both are so cuddly that seems unfair to us to just let Soshi sleep with us when Akodo also loves it. Akodo gets us most of the day, because he loves to hang in the computer (and annoy my husband XD) but he usually meows at night missing us. And they have tried to call each other when they are separated with no contact, so we really don't understand.

We don't intervene in their hissy fits unless the fight breaks out. Al long as there are only sounds we keep out of their bussiness.

As I say, we're getting the second feliway multicat and I'm buying composure as soon as I find it. I also plan to but a cat tree because Akodo is a climber and his only refuge right not is the top of a shelf where Soshi can't get up if Akodo is there. On the other hand Soshi is a bush dweller and his safe place is under the bed. So a nice cat condo would give each of them another safe place where to rest if needed. Right now we have on of those box sets from petsmart (the ones with holes that can be used a building blocks) but neither of them uses them much, maybe because they feel is unstable?  Akodo loves to play whack-a-mole with us on it though :)

Before this they used to eat together. Right now there's a set of plates on our bedroom and one on the dining area. When we thought things were going great we put both sets on opposite sides of the dining-living room, but we reverted that change when we had to separate them again.

They also used to use the same litter box, of course right now there's is two but the thing is that we really don't know where to put the second one. Right now is on the guests sink, but we can't leave it there forever because it blocks the way and is not privater enough for Soshi.

So as far as resources, right now there are very spread around the house, and we're looking on ways to keep it that way. My big worry in this aspect is that there really are not many private corners to put two litter boxes. Akodo kicks and tracks a lot, so we have a huge covered one for him. And Soshi does not kick much, but he does track a bit and now he's using a low plastic bin. Maybe one of those disguises as furniture would work, but Soshi is so shy that he would not use anything that is on the way of human traffic if there are guests at home.
 
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xisare

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Well, another update.

Last night we swapped places between Akodo and Soshi. Right now Soshi has run of the house and Akodo is in our bedroom. We kept the door closed to keep changes at the minimum.

We spent a pretty quiet night. We were afraid that Soshi, bieng the shy and skittish of the two would meow all night but it was not the case. He started meowing as soon as he heard us in the morning though.

When we fed them we left the bedroom door ajar (no more than a couple of inches) and Akodo just sat there looking outside, but when Soshi saw him he ran to the other side of the room to hide behind a couch and spent like 15 minutes flat to the ground, looking fixedly at Akodo and ears forward. We had to close the door so Soshi would actually move and eat! After he moved very slowly, like ready to jump and hide at the first sight of Akodo. After like 20 minutes more he was walking more normally, but still very alert.

We did this so they would start to get used to the others' scent again. They've been separated almost 2 weeks more save for the brief earlier attempts.

There are a couple of things that worry me.

First is that Soshi is spending more and more time under the bed when he is on our bedroom. The first days he would sleep on the bed and walk around but now he just spends the whole time curled under the bed coming only to eat and if one of us is laying on the bed. He's pretty demanding about his petting too. He is eating less also, his plate would still have some food by the next meal time. He eats almost all, but I don't want him to start loosing his appetite. he has lost a bit of interest on his toys too, he's much more shy and quiet when we try to get him to play. Maybe he's getting depressed?  That would be bad

The other thing is that maybe we're doing he reintroduction process wrong, and that's why thing have stalled. Right now the status is that when we leave the door ajar most of the time they will not attempt to get close to each other. Sometime they will try to get through the door and swat through it, but each day is less and less.

I've been watching the Jackson Galaxy videos and blogs and while I don't know how reliable he is, some things make sense. He calls cases like this a redirection aggression problem. Basically when the stray appeared Soshi reacted but as could not fight the stray he released the energy on Akodo, making the mess. Right now it feels like Akodo is angry at Soshi for betraying him, and Soshi wants to mend things but he's scared of Akodo.

How good do the baby gates work? Don't cats jump over them?

How can I provide another safe place to Soshi so he feels comfortable on the rest of the house? my husband commented that a cat condo could pose problems because they would still be too close. So maybe for later?
 
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xisare

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Last post was done from work (slow days) so I need to make a few corrections.

II don't know what happened, but Soshi is back to his bubble self. When I got back from work I found him snuggled on my poncho and he refused to let it go (cutieeee XD), he's more active too.

Yesterday night we did the first attempt to feed both on opposite sides of the closed door. Soshi ate like always and Akodo was a bit nervous of the sounds coming from the other side, so he nibbled a bit and waited until Soshi had finished to eat. Is that good or bad for first try? it happened again this morning.

Also, we bought a cat tree for the den, so Akodo has a high perch and Soshi a hiding spot there. And the multicat feliway... let's see how that goes...
 

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Sorry - I've been away for a few days. Just catching up now.

Fantastic to hear that Sochi's back to his usual bubbly self :D

I wouldn't worry too much about Akodo's nervousness near Sochi at the moment. He clearly just needs some more time before he feels able to fully relax and eat. Continue with the feedings as they are for now - in time, Akodo should become as comfortable as Sochi is with the feedings. Only then would I try to move forward.

The cat tree sounds like a great idea. I'm sure it'll get plenty of use :)
 
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