Younger cat suddenly aggressive to older cat

[basmathe20]

Our two cats (3 year old and 1 year old) were sleeping together last night when all of a sudden we were woken up by the younger one screaming. This is the first time we've heard her scream.

We found both cats in another room. The younger one's tail was very bushy and she was making howling sounds at the older one. Additionally, her eyes were dilated and staring the older one down. The younger kept making the yowling sounds at the older one. The older one backed away but the younger one kept following her making these sounds. We've now separated them with their necessities. The younger one has calmed down and was her normal self after we separated them.

The older one got out of the room once (~ 3 hours later) and the younger made the same sounds again. The younger one seems to be meowing a little differently.


We are planning to take them both to the vet asap. Has anyone else experienced this before or can anyone offer some insight into what is happening?


Please keep in mind:

- We've had both cats together for about a year without a problem.

- They generally sleep together during the day and night.

- They seemed to love each other from what we could tell for the past year. They would groom each other, cuddle with each other, stare out the window together.

- They play fight all the time without yowling. The younger one has only hissed once or twice at the older one at which point we interrupted their play time.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Health checks are a good thing to do - some cats will react aggressively to another cat who is ill, but it can also happen in reverse.

The other thing to consider is an outside source - such as a stray cat or other 'critter' coming around the area that the younger cat can sense and is reacting to. In that case it would be a form of re-directed aggression. So, it is worth your time to research this aspect. Cats can hear and sense things we humans cannot.
Re-directed Aggression In Cats - TheCatSite

 

[arr]

I just want you to know you are not alone in experiencing an incident like this. If you look up things like redirected aggression, non recognition aggression, reintroductions, you’ll see that so many of us have gone through this. Im dealing with it for the third time currently, after a simple one hour vet visit threw everything into chaos. My little cat family seemingly doesn’t know each other anymore. I don’t know how to link to articles, I’m sure other members will help you with that, but read it all. I don’t know what I would’ve done without understanding what is going on and have some kind of idea of how to fix it. And knowing that I’m not alone. Hopefully your situation will calm down quickly.