http://www.thecatsite.com/t/268349/redirected-cat-aggression-separation-making-it-worse
My cats were separated for about 5 months and were on fluoxentine (generic prozac), for about 7 months due to redirected aggression after a couple of neighborhood cat visits. I chronicled their progress from total separation to living together again in the thread linked.
Well, tonight, I locked my cats out of the bathroom while I cleaned the bathtub. When I opened the door, I bumped against it and my cats who were right up against the door waiting for me, freaked and ran into the living room. Dory, the skittish one, started hissing and growling and attacked her sister Josie. At one point, Josie jumped onto a window sill and I thought she was going to fall through the window screen. I grabbed Dory and stuffed her into a nearby carrier. And they have been separated all night.
As luck would have it, I'm attending a two day conference this week. It's in town so I'll be home at night but usually I work from home. I'm trying to figure out if I should not take any chances and separate them this week until the conference finishes on Friday. I also have some fluoxentine left and wonder if I should give them the med and nip things in the bud? Though fluoxentine does take time to work so I'm not sure if it's going to make any difference initially. But...to further complicate things, I will be out of town starting next Saturday and be gone for a week. Again, I wonder if I should be extra prudent and separate them for the entire time I'm away.
In the longer term, I worry if Dory is just a skittish cat. She gets frightened and lashes out at her sister. I thought it was because she doesn't like strange cats, but it seems to be anything that scares her enough will set her off. I worry that any loud sound or event will set her off while I'm away and she will attack her sister until one or both are completely exhausted or worse...because I'm not around to separate them. I'm reconsidering if Dory should just be on a low dose of fluoxentine indefinitely.
It's disheartening because I stuck to a very regimented 5 month separation in order to reconcile my cats and poof, in a couple of seconds, a freakout has seemingly set us back to square one.
Any advice or thoughts appreciated.
My cats were separated for about 5 months and were on fluoxentine (generic prozac), for about 7 months due to redirected aggression after a couple of neighborhood cat visits. I chronicled their progress from total separation to living together again in the thread linked.
Well, tonight, I locked my cats out of the bathroom while I cleaned the bathtub. When I opened the door, I bumped against it and my cats who were right up against the door waiting for me, freaked and ran into the living room. Dory, the skittish one, started hissing and growling and attacked her sister Josie. At one point, Josie jumped onto a window sill and I thought she was going to fall through the window screen. I grabbed Dory and stuffed her into a nearby carrier. And they have been separated all night.
As luck would have it, I'm attending a two day conference this week. It's in town so I'll be home at night but usually I work from home. I'm trying to figure out if I should not take any chances and separate them this week until the conference finishes on Friday. I also have some fluoxentine left and wonder if I should give them the med and nip things in the bud? Though fluoxentine does take time to work so I'm not sure if it's going to make any difference initially. But...to further complicate things, I will be out of town starting next Saturday and be gone for a week. Again, I wonder if I should be extra prudent and separate them for the entire time I'm away.
In the longer term, I worry if Dory is just a skittish cat. She gets frightened and lashes out at her sister. I thought it was because she doesn't like strange cats, but it seems to be anything that scares her enough will set her off. I worry that any loud sound or event will set her off while I'm away and she will attack her sister until one or both are completely exhausted or worse...because I'm not around to separate them. I'm reconsidering if Dory should just be on a low dose of fluoxentine indefinitely.
It's disheartening because I stuck to a very regimented 5 month separation in order to reconcile my cats and poof, in a couple of seconds, a freakout has seemingly set us back to square one.
Any advice or thoughts appreciated.