# Worried about my cats!



## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

I have two female cats and i have had them both for 6 years. Yesterday they started fighting really bad for no reason. One of the cats runs and hides, but everytime she comes out the other cat tries to attack again. This has been going on for 24 hours now. Does anyone have any advice on what i can do?, because the victim cat is very stressed and i'm very worried!
I have never seen them this bad before... the fighting sounds so bad!
My cats haven't been fixed yet, but i am making a vet appointment tomorrow... will this help or is it too late?
Any advice would be much appreciated, because i'm so stressed about them!


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Get them both spayed ASAP!!! You've seriously had 2 intact female cats for 6 years??? They really, really NEED to be fixed! They actually should have been spayed years ago. It's so much healthier for them. I don't think I could live with with an intact female cat for one day! Please do get them spayed immediately! It's better late than never!


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## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

I'm not quite sure why we haven't got them spayed yet... i think it was finances (we live in Germany, because my hubby is active duty military and we are stationed over here, since 2005)... i know we should of done it, when they were kittens and health wise it has to be done! I guess i just got used to them being intact... they never fought bad until yesterday! I am calling the vets tomorrow though and seeing when i can get an appointment for the surgery, for both of them ASAP as they can fit us in!


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

I could never live with in tact animal either, especially a cat! I don't know if there is anything you can do to stop the fighting. I have always had cats and not all of them get along with each other. Do they meow like crazy when in heat? It seems like cats are always in heat.

You will have to give them each their own space away from each other. That is what we do. I have 4 cats and not all of them get along. They will tolerate each other, but they are like a dog pack. There is a leader all the way down to the bottom. We do have to keep one cat away from the others, which is easy to do.

You will have to seperate the two for a while to prevent them from fighting. Maybe go out and buy some cat nip or a new feather toy. Try and find things that make them happy and get their minds of each other. They may or may not like each other again.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

The first cat I ever had was and indoor female. I didn't know I had to get her spayed :doh:, well, that lasted about a year. It was horrible! You deserve a medal for lasting 6 years!

I hope you can get a appointment soon! Can you keep them in separate rooms until then?


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## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

Fingers crossed... so far today, no fights! I think they are exhausted from yesterday, but have still not had a face to face yet... which is when it will probably happen again! I have just been out and bought a seperate litter box and feeding bowls etc and will put stuff for each cat, in seperate rooms! My kitty who is normally the alpha, seems to be the victim this time... i think this has been a long time coming, ever since we brought Brady home... and now there is a power struggle! I'm trying to let them just hash it out, but i hate to hear them fight, it sounds awful and my kitty pulled one of her nails off completely trying to get away from the other one... so we had blood etc, and i think she was in shock! My other cat wants to go to her, i don't think to attack her, because she usually runs to her whenever she is sick or anything like that... so i think there is concern there, but now Kaci just gets mad whenever Megan come near her, because she thinks she is going to attack and then Megan gets defensive and then fur goes flying!
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed the German vet can get them both in for surgery ASAP and hopefully that will help the situation!
My husband goes away with the military ALOT... and is about to go away next weekend for 2 weeks, so at the moment... i'm trying to deal with a hyper/mouthy 4 & 1/2 month old Golden and the kitty cats.... STRESS STRESS STRESS!!!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

1) Separate the two cats.
2) Spend some time thinking about when/where the attacks occured.
3) Be observant of where window/doors are. Many times in red-directed aggression with cats, it can be prompted by the sight/smell/behavior of cats outside the home. Be prepared to block off any of that.
4) Spend 5-10 minutes playing with each cat, preferably twice a day.
5) Note your locations of litter boxes, cat trees/resting places and food/water bowls. Be sure one cat was not guarding the other. Have two stations on opposite sides of the house so that one cannot but the other when you reintroduce them.

Report back what the vet says!


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I've never had intact cats. They were spayed and neutered right away. The female wasn't that crazy about her brother, but she would hiss at him to keep him away. I'm thankful they didn't fight much. I hope you get things under control. My cats were outdoor/indoor cats, especially the male and the fights over territory were ruthless. It didn't happen often, but a strange cat nearly came through my front door to beat the dickens out of my male cat. Cat fights sound awful!

Reddogs always amazing me with his or her wonderful informative responses.


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## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

Thanks reddogs for the info/advice... and i will let you know what the vet says!
Do you think having them fixed, will calm down the aggression?


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

bradys_mum said:


> Thanks reddogs for the info/advice... and i will let you know what the vet says!
> Do you think having them fixed, will calm down the aggression?


It might. They might be fighting for their territory. Female cats spray too, to make their claim.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

bradys_mum said:


> Thanks reddogs for the info/advice... and i will let you know what the vet says!
> Do you think having them fixed, will calm down the aggression?


If this is redirected aggression due to disturbances outside and the cats outside are there due to your cats being in heat, it may decrease the attacks. But this is no guarantee and this is behavior that is seen in altered cats too. 

Unfortunately I don't have a reference for you of an appropriate professional in your part of the world.... You might want to contact Betty in the Netherlands, she might know of someone closer to you that knows cats or will know of a veterinary behaviorist type professional for you: http://www.animalclick.nl/

Keep the cats separated until well after they are altered. We want all the stress hormones to return to normal before we try an introduction. If you are able to get FAP ("Feline Appeasement Pheromone" spray, that can help drastically in some homes with intercat aggression... (...and in others it makes things worse).... try it when the cats are separate before starting to integrate them. 

After you've had them altered, bring this up again and we can make another part of your plan and/or find you more resources.


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I really think you should try to give the attackee some space where she can feel safe. Can you keep her in the bedroom with the door closed.


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## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

She's up in one of my spare rooms right now... curled up in some blankets on the bed. She's been up there all day and i'm just leaving her there... i given her small handfuls of food and she's eatting them... i think she's sore from her claw coming off, she's been licking her paw loads, healing it... i tried to pick her up to examine her, but she got upset, so i left her... my other cat knows she's in that room, because the door is open and she looked at her and hissed a little... but hasn't tried to attack her yet... she's downstairs with us asleep on the cat tree and hasn't really bothered Kaci all day! I feel bad for Kaci upstairs all by herself... but its probably best for her to just have peace right now.... i'm just worried that when she finally leaves the room, that's when the fighting will start again!
Kaci is normally the alpha... she only has to hiss and Megan backs off... but something changed yesterday and the tables have turned... instead of standing her ground, Kaci is running and hiding and Megan is now becoming the dominant one!
It won't bother me if they don't love eachother... i just want them to be able to live in the same house like before, avoiding eachother at times and just doing their own thing.... but at least being able to be in the same room with us without fighting!
As far as we know... there have been no other cats outside that have sparked this off... we were in the bedroom with Brady and then Kaci went for him for no reason and then she went for Megan and all hell broke loose and then several times after that! It seems to happen everytime i am around as well... more then my husband?
They have not even bothered with the dog since... i'm just hoping some time apart, they will chill out and things will go back to normal... because i would hate to have to deal with my worst case scenario and that would be re-homing one of them... it would break my heart!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

bradys_mum said:


> i'm just worried that when she finally leaves the room, that's when the fighting will start again!


This won't need to happen for several weeks and it will be very gradual when it does. Definitely keep them separated, doors closed, until they are spayed and have had time to calm down....then a gradual reintroduction can occur.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I had that same incident happen with two of my cats but it was my male and female. They are both fixed. It was really wierd. One day they just starting going after each other everytime they saw each other. They drew blood and I had to take my male to the vet. My vet found that George had a hurt back and everytime Starr bothered him it set it off. After keeping them seperated for a week until George felt better they were fine. I kept a close eye on them to make sure.
It does sound like your issues might have to do with them being alpha female and unspayed. Hopefully with some time and getting fixed they will be buddies again. RedDogs has some great advice for you.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

Keep them separated if you can. Cat bites abscess very easy, they are very messy and hard to take care of.


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## bradys_mum (Mar 16, 2010)

BeauShel ~ I think that's what is happening now... keeping my fingers crossed, but they haven't had another fight since Saturday night now... but when i took Megan into the room to see Kaci, (because it seems like Megan now is having seperation issues - strange) as soon as Kaci saw Megan she hissed and growled, Megan hissed slightly but then ran out of the room! Like you said, i think Kaci is feeling sore and is tired from the stress... she has access to food, water, a litter box and a nice cubby hole with a comfortable blanket... in a room where she's by herself.
I haven't shut her in there... but we are just going to leave her and she'll come out in her own time, hopefully! We check on her all the time and give her some love... and the other kitty is always with me, my little shadow... so i don't think she'll bother her either... she's just acting strange now because she knows something is wrong!
I really hope things get back to normal as the week goes on, because my hubby is leaving again at the weekend and its nice to have him here while this is going on!
Thank you for all the advice from everyone who have commented to my post... its helped ease my mind loads!


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

My grandma had two male cats (fixed) who were brothers and generally got along. Then, for like a week, they randomly decided to get into these loud, vicious fights. We attributed it to maybe them smelling a female cat outside who was in heat, because after that week ended it never happened again.

Cats are goofy!


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