Loving sister? Not in this home!

Poppy&Clem

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I’m having a lot of behavioral issues with my two cats! To start
1.My cats no longer get along. My younger but bigger cat poppy always want to play with other cat Clem. Clem was never interested constantly growled at her but poppy ignored and would lay and clean her. Now poppy chases her holding her down and being awfully mean, Clem now is timid around her. And they never seem to lay around and ever be nice. And thoughts on making them friends again or recommendations on behavior service?

2. I have a cat door that I usually keep open during the day only after my cat was bitten at night and I had to take her to the vet for abscess drainage surgery. If I don’t open the cat door my cat Clem will pee all over my home. On the counters, floors, showers, rugs, stove. This has been going on for month now. I have taken her to to vets thinking she had a UTI but she always checks out health even after a culture is done. I have THREE littler boxes that I clean everything day that are in different rooms and iv changed to many different litters to see if that the issue. Had anyone else experienced this?
A few extra points:
I am not able to separate the cat in my house being that I only have one exit ( one cat door). I also would feel guilty keeping them in a bedroom while at work all day. But idk how to get them to stop fighting.
My litter boxes are spread throughout the house in different locations as well. I have a smaller house so having three litter boxes and three locations it’s hard enough
I understand I can keep taking my cats into the vet for PROFESSIONAL help but I’m really trying to get other cat owners opinions, recommendations, experiences, so please be kind.
 

susanm9006

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How old are these two cats and have they ever gotten along? which cat was bitten and how long ago? Some of their relationship Issues could be due to the injured one having a strange smell from being at the vet.

As far as the cat door, is it possible to build an enclosure so that your cat can go outdoors but can have some protection from predators.
 

ArtNJ

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This happens sometimes, when a young cat grows bigger and retains its much higher activity level and desire to play. The somewhat unusual part is the biting. House cats don't bite each other for real that often, and luckier folks can have cats with stress for months but no biting. You, unfortunately, are unlucky in this regard and have a cat willing to bite for real, which means that while the situation might be generally common, its more serious in your case.

I had this exact thing happen many years ago, and my older, bigger, slower cat ended up getting bitten twice. What would happen is that he would growl and hiss, and the younger one would be like, "WTH, I jUST WANT TO PLAY. YOU WANNA FIGHT INSTEAD THEN I'M GONNA BITE YOU OLD MAN". At that point, I had less experience and never really figured it out, so after the second bite and expensive vet procedure, I eventually transitioned them to separate lives."

So the main thing I want to say to you is that this is not a sustainable situation. It must be solved or changed, or a repeat bite is likely. As far as solving it, you should try a reintroduction process first, with the idea being that a separation and slow reintroduction is basically a reset. Now a reset may not actually help, since the younger cat is still going to be bigger and more active/aggressive about play. However, it should at least lower the older cat's stress level and give them a chance. In terms of how to do it, its basically a hopefully shortened version of introducing new cats. https://thecatsite.com/c/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide/ Maybe you can skip the scent steps, and spend more time on the visual-only step. The basic idea is a break with nothing bad happening but they can still see each other, so the older cat starts to realize that bad stuff doesn't always happen when the younger one is around. You may need to keep the older cat in, as if it can go outside at will, the older cat wont be able to see the younger cat through the barrier, and the reset will have a difficult time working.

If a reintroduction process fails, your starting to get into hard choices territory due to the biting being a very serious problem that will likely reoccur. Not to mention, if the peeing is stress related, that isn't going away either. (Are you using an enzyme cleaner to fully get rid of the smell? Absent that, the smell is a bullseye and can trigger repeats.) Maybe the vet will prescribe something, which could certainly be tried. But you may need to start thinking about how they could live separate lives. Usually, we don't recommend admitting failure without LOTS of effort, but a biting situation is different.

Good luck, I want your situation to have a better outcome than mine did.
 
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Poppy&Clem

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Thank you for responding to my post. My cat poppy is 1 1/2 years old and my cat Clementine is three. They never played together just because Clem is not a big player, but they did leave with each other clean each other there was no hissing and growling at that time. Clementine was bitten buy another cat outside 6 months ago. And the arguing between poppy in Clementine had started a little before then but definitely got worse when I started to keep them inside all night after the incident. I think an outdoor enclosure is such a great idea and I’ve truly been thinking about that myself as well.
 
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Poppy&Clem

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Good luck, I want your situation to have a better outcome than mine did.
thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Thankfully Poppy is not the cat that actually bit Clementine. Clem was bitten by my neighbors cat one night when she was outside hence why I’ve started to bring them in at night and put the cat door on: their only allowed to go outside during the day. I’m definitely gonna read that article that you linked to see if maybe re-introducing them Will help with the fighting and peeing. They’ve never bitten each other or scratched each other it’s just constant aggression hissing and growling chasing at all times that they’re inside together and it is very annoying. Plus I do feel that that stresses come and train one puppy is constantly chasing her. I feel like the fighting started more when I had to bring them inside at night for safety reasons but they definitely were “arguing“ a little before then.
again thank you for sharing your post about your situation and linking some info for me I truly appreciate it.
 

di and bob

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I would give Clem a place to retreat to when she needs, like a bed on top of the fridge, or somewhere she can defend it, high up. Then get two long catnip filled cat toys called Kickeroos on Amazon and throw one towards Poppy when she starts to show too much interest in Clem, and keep the other in a plastic bag filled with catnip to keep them fresh, alternating them every few days. This will reduce the number of unwanted advances by Poppy. Poppy is still a kitten really, so it will get better as Poppy slows down, usually around the age of two or three. As long as there is no blood drawn, everything you are describing is normal. Hissing, growling, and swatting are all normal activities between two females especially. they are the limit setters, the manners teachers, and are fighting for the top spot in the hierarchy of the household. Eventually, Clem will fight back or accept her spot in the household. right now Poppy is not really fighting, she is being a big PITA to Clem because she has all this excess kitten energy and it is 'fun' for her to get a rise out of Clem. you can say NO firmly and give her a 5 minute time out in a bathroom, no longer or she'll forget why she is being punished, or NO and removing her to a further spot. Trying to distract her with toys is good, and giving Clem a little extra TLC is good too. two females are harder to make live together, but they will learn to form a family unit and love each other, it just all takes time and lots of it. Just keep thinking, "this too will pass!" PS my boys still get into it once a day, all I have to do now is say NO loudly or stomp my foot on the ground and they break up. sigh, cats are harder to figure out than you think......
 

ArtNJ

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Ah ok, thats much better than it sounded like! I think you used the word bickering, and that it what it sounds like. Which isn't so bad in the scheme of things. It may have a lot to do with the little stressors like the puppy. And keeping an indoor/outdoor in definitely gives them much more energy, and they pester the other cat more. Seen that myself -- it lead to more bickering like clockwork for me. As Di and Bob said, time is likely the solution.
 
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Poppy&Clem

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Thank you for the Reply and for sharing your experience with you boys!. I will defiantly try this out and keep everyone updated.
 
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