Sudden Behaviour change - fur flying!

[daphne scoob]

Hi all,

This is my first visit

- I'm in desperate need of help!

I have a 10 year old male - neutered, had him all his life. I introduced a brother and sister pair to him this time last year. After a month or two of wariness they have all become close friends. The brother and sister are on their second litter, I am neutering the male next week.

I went out to work this morning, all were eating together, quite happliy grooming. When I got home the house was covered in loose fur! The kittens are fine but all three adults are at each other's throats

To be fair, it seems to be the brother & sister fighting with the oldest one getting in between.

I have locked all three in separate rooms with food, water and litter. I can't leave them there all week.

Any suggestions on what may have caused this or what I can do to get them back together?

Thanks for your help

Daph.

 

[larke]

Could have been as simple as a noise scaring the heck out of one of them, or someone seeing a strange cat outside and 'displacing' his/her reaction onto the others inside. Don't separate any longer - they've probably long forgotten about it, but DO be right there when they're let out to see if they're back to normal, and if not, see if one is the culprit and maybe does need either separating or something.

 

[supeters]

Hi- I have been going through the same thing. I have a 10 year old cat and a 4 year old cat. The older cat is very friendly and not aggressive and the younger very timid. It took a while to introduce them when the younger was a baby but they have been inseperable. A stray passed by the window and agitated the older cat. The younger brushed up against him and the older attacked him. I have separated them but I keep switching the rooms to keep both scents in the house and also installed a Feliway plug near the place where the event occurred. I want to make sure the timid one is not afraid, so I feed them together and then separate, increasing the time each time that they are together. It seems to be working. It has taken me about two weeks, since the younger would become afraid and puff up, which caused the older to puff up. So I bought some "Composure" which I mix in the the little ones food from Petmeds. It is for animals afraid to go to the vet and of storms. He seems much calmer with it but not sedated. Let me know how you are doing. I have been very upset by it, but starting to see some progress!

 

[missymotus]

First of all I would separate the sister & brother before they "are on their 3rd litter"

 

[kittenkiya]

Is it possible that the female is in heat and this was a fight over who gets her?

I would sequester the brother for a while to let the rest of the house settle down. The neutered male is no threat to the female (normally), you may want to keep watch for a while.

Is it possible that the kittens are perceived as threats? Maybe mom and kittens need to be moved to a safer place.

 

[daphne scoob]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll try getting them back together tonight.

There is a deserted bakery behing the house with a few regular strays. They like to sit on the wall which is at eye level with the upstairs window. It's possible one tried to stare my two down!

We are neutering the male next week, although he is a great father - he hugs them and grooms them when mum isn't there - I wonder if neutering him will stop that side of him.

Thanks again everyone

Daph.

 

[larke]

Hi, the hugging and grooming isn't quite what you think - it may look sweet, but is as much a show of dominance as anything, even if they just fall asleep in the end - but it's still better than fighting I guess!