Old Mates Fighting Due To Intruder

[x-ta-z]

hope someone can help...

This morning we woke up to a cat in our bed. Nothing unusual except that it wasn't our cat!!

Luckily my two girls were downstairs and we ushered the intruder out and closed the window.

Shortly after, our very territorial cat came up and sniffed the foreign cat out, jumped on the windowsill and went bonkers as the other cat was still sitting under the window.

My other cat (and we have had both together for over 10 years) came up to check out the situation and was visciously attacked by her very agitated friend.

We managed to separate them and I wen to check in the one that was beat up and she for the first time in her life went crazy and bit and scratched me. She was my first cat and we have a strong bond.

So we kept them apart for an hour and tried to let them meet up just to be faced with the same aggressive behaviour towards each other.

Does anyone know how long this can take before they understand they are friends of 10+ years??

 

[x-ta-z]

Oh and I have already sprayed feliway and have the diffuser up as well...
I'm now letting them take turns in roaming the house with one locked up in the room and the other free to move around and vice versa

 

[di and bob]

It's not uncommon at all to have redirected aggression. They are so extremely agitated they attack the first thing that gets their attention, their friend of ten years, or you. The longest I've seen it go is about 24 hours or so, and this is if the reason for the attack is gone. Your cat WILL get used to the intruder, but it may take several months. You are doing everything right, just don't let anyone come up behind the cats or startle them, or it will start all over. Don't attempt to pick up or touch a cat that is intent on something that is making them extremely nervous. Leave them alone and don't allow any other cat, dog, or human near. They will settle down fairly quickly if they don't feel the need to attack something and they start to feel secure again. You can talk softly to them and try to distract them with food or toys, but their concentration can be very directed. The best thing to do is to shut the blinds or curtains so they can't see the threat. The intruder is obviously someone's pet to have slept with you, if it has been abandoned finding it a home would solve the problem.

 

[x-ta-z]

Thank you for the reassurance!!

The intruder is a cat I know from the neighbourhood. Very sweet and friendly and loves following you around and sneaking into houses to find a comfy place to sleep. I know she has done this many times with other neighbors but they don't have cats so hasn't been a problem.
Because she was absolutely uninterested at my cat's hissy fit I'm worried she will come back to visit and cause more troubles

 

[x-ta-z]

It looks like the cat that got attacked is a bit traumatised. She'll be fine downstairs and when she comes upstairs she gets anxious and stares at the room she got attacked in.

I'm still keeping them apart because of that. They had a brief encounter with a glass door between them and became tense but at least no hissing and growling so I guess that's progress. 27 hours now.

 

[x-ta-z]

Aaarrrggh!

Both cats now seem calm and relaxed in their own space and while roaming the house. so we let them roam together. They crossed paths and Soleil (the one that went a bit crazy yesterday) stopped in her tracks when she saw Singa (the one she attacked yesterday). She slowly approached her and Singa seemed calm, though Singa was fixated on my husband whom she redirects her aggression to usually when she gets stressed.
So my husband slowly backed away and then Singa noticed soleil who in the meantime was next to her and sniffing her side. Singa fracked and hissed and ran away. It's been 1.5 days now.


Does anyone have any suggestions? Looks like Singa just won't forgive soleil for her nasty outbreak yesterday...

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Just have patience. There are no "firm" rules on how long it can take for things to settle down. Noodles gets "hissy" with Mooch after vet visits and they are litter mates! I used to take them together too! It usually lasts about 3 days here but it has lasted as much as a week. Occasionally she won't react at all! There is no rhyme or reason to how long it lasts that I've found in the last 12 years with them!

So just keep at it; supervise their interactions and maybe use some treats here and there for positive reinforcement (feed them treats together). Please let us know how things go!

 

[x-ta-z]

MoochNNoodles
Thank you for the encouragement. It feels like we are starting the whole bonding topic from 10years ago all over again. The only difference is that they don't mind each other smell.

Now well into day 3, we switched their rooms/roaming areas, still divided by the glass door. Singa hisses and growls as soon as Soleil walks towards her (regardless of distance or the fact that there is a glass door between them). If Soleil busts sits somewhere Singa seems to be fine.

Luckily Mouser (the intruder) has not come back so far and I hope it says that way...

 

[x-ta-z]

Starting day 4. No hissing and growling when confronting each other at the glass door. Just stayin a safe distance of about 1-2 meters (with the door in between). Mostly relaxed. When I opened the door and soleil slowly approached Singa, she was met with hissing and growling. Soleil was then also anxious and both ended up running in the same direction first but Singa ran upstairs while soleil headed for another room downstairs.

when Singa was 1.5 yrs and Soleil was introduced to the household as a kitten we got a pet gate at some point. Problem now is that soleil can easily jump over such gate. We are thinking of building one with a wooden frame and wire mesh but open to ideas if someone has one??

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I have seen people use screen doors to separate cats during introductions. One person used tension rods to hold it in place at the end of a hallway. Others have installed them like an actual door on a room. I'm not sure what would work with your house or budget; but others have made that work.

 

[x-ta-z]

Hello!

So for those who haven't followed my previous thread, I have two cats Singa and Soleil who have been together for over 10 years. They are not litter mates but have been in a friendly relationship after their initial introduction and until recently.

Mayhem started when a neighbor's cat decided to sleep over without anyone noticing until the morning. We got her out but Soleil still got extremely upset and redirected her aggression towards Singa which ended in a full on cat fight like I have not seen before, not even with cats outdoors.

This happened on Thursday morning and the situations is that Singa does not trust Soleil and I have to keep them in separate rooms. They are now ok with a glass door and distance between them but not in the same room.

I have just bought a wire construction to put into a doorway so they can start seeing and smelling each other and hopefully we can soon resume back to normal.

Now the question.

I can either attach the gate at the top of the stairs and give one cat the upstairs one one the downstairs. I'm just worried that the meeting ground would be not on the same height with one at the top of the stairs and one coming up(submissive?). Would that cause issues? Or is there a rule of which one should be at the top of the stairs?

The alternative is to divide the hallway at the bottom and give one a smaller area and the other the rest of the house, but the entrance to the main litter box would be right next to the gate. So one would have to pass the dreaded gate to get to the litter box.

My preference would be the stairs option.

 

[x-ta-z]

So I have a little bit of progress!

Through the glass door there is now no longer hissing even when close to each other. I put their food bowls on either side
Through the gate (I put it on the top of stairs to divide the house into upstairs and downstairs) we had hissing for the last day but today Soleil was trying to squeeze through and under and Singa just watched her with less then two feet between them. Yay!!!
I then played with both so they were pretty relaxed until Soleil got spooked and ran back downstairs.

They are still a bit tense still so am waiting before I try to put them into the same area. I'm also thinking of moving the gate around to create various interaction points in the house.

 

[Columbine]

I'm so sorry you're going through this with your kitties. It's heartbreaking to see previously good friends upset like this. Mega that the reintroductions go quickly and easily.

I see from your other thread that you went with the stairs option, and it sounds like it's working well for you It might be worth doing some site swapping with them, as part of the phased reintroduction, so they can both get comfortable with 'owning' the whole house again. This would also help remove any concerns around one cat being higher up than the other, as they'd be switching positions from time to time

I really hope that things continue to progress well, and that peace and their friendship is restored very soon

 

[Animal Freak]

Your situation sounds a lot like one I've been in many times. The difference is you got there through redirected aggression and I got there through a cat who's easily threatened. It seems like it's resolving itself, but if you'd like to try, I'm currently using Whisker City's At Ease spray. We still have tension from time to time, but I mainly use it when I'm preparing their meals since we had a few fights in that time and we haven't had one since using the spray. It's a lot cheaper than Feliway too. I think you're doing good though. Try to reward any good behavior you see. If they seem somewhat relaxed around each other, pet them and maybe given them a treat. If someone looks like they're thinking about attacking, try to divert the attention with a toy. From my experience, they get over it on their own mostly. They just have to realize that there isn't a threat and that they're safe.

 

[x-ta-z]

So the incident happened exactly a week ago.
Today I fed treats on both sides of the gate with their faces just a foot from each other and they were fine. They love treats more than they hate each other

I then just let them into the same room and no hissing when they walked towards each other. They had a quick face sniff and Singa continued her way. Soleil however thought she also needed to sniff the backside and Singa was not amused, so gave her a good hiss and Soleil retreated. I lured Soleil into the other room with a treat.
Good progress for a start I think but still keeping them separate...

 

[x-ta-z]

Oh and we have proper progress!

Singa was out in the garden and Soleil wanted to come out too. My husband couldn't bear it and let her out. Soleil started running to Singa but he stopped her and ensured she approaches slowly. She then went to lick Singa's face which Singa was ok with. Singa then decided to walk to a good distance of about 5 meters away and they both sat and did their slow blinks. At some point Singa went back inside.

Yayyyyy!!! Will still monitor their interactions. I'm so so so relieved.

Thanks all for your good advice and god vibes!!

 

[Animal Freak]

That's great! You did good with separating them and reintroducing them and I'm sure that helped them ease back into feeling comfortable. They just needed the time and opportunity to realize that the other wasn't a threat.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

That's great news!!

 

[x-ta-z]

Success was a bit short lived though. Once both were back in the house and in a smaller space Singa got terribly annoyed with Soleil being around. Also does help that Soleil has no sense of personal space and keeps wanting to hang out with her... oh well... but at least it's getting better slowly.

 

[x-ta-z]

Aaaaaaaand we have peace restored!
No more hissing and growling (bar one incident were another neighbor's cat came to visit).
They don't sleep together yet but they are certainly tolerating each other's presence again

Woohooo