You are here:
- Home
- Animals/Pets
- Cats
- Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)
- Terrified and aggressive cat
Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)/Terrified and aggressive cat
Advertisement
Question
I have 3 cats, 1 a neutered male (1 year), 1 neutered female (3 years) and 1 unneutered female (1 year). All of the cats have always got along without too many problems apart from the older female occasionally hissing and swiping at the younger female. I would say the older female is the queen of the house.
Anyway, the other night I jumped out of my skin to hear the loudest wailing and screaming upstairs. When I went up to investigate, the younger female had the biggest dilated pupils i had ever seen, her fur was on end, and she had defacated on the carpet. Something had terrified her. She seemed to calm down over the next couple of hours, but then she suddenly caught sight of the older female and went psycho again. Her pupils went to big that you couldn't see any colour in her eyes at all, her tail was bushy and she was screaming and chasing our other cat in a frenzied attack. The older cat was scared out of her wits.
Another frenzied attack happened the next morning, and the older female again got the brunt of it. It seems that the boy cat is escaping the attacks altogether and still gets on well with both females.
I got the younger cat checked by a vet who could find nothing physically wrong, but did recommend neutering (she's been in season the last week or so). Athough, she had been in season many times before and its never caused this kind of behaviour in her.
I've had no choice now but to seperate the two cats. I haven't got a clue what to do or what started these sudden frenzied attacks. Why is my cat doing this? She is usually such a sweet little cat who wouldn't harm a fly. It is so out of character. Will things get better? help!
Jade,
The vet is correct...get her spayed...right away. That should cure her weird behavior problem. There are times when a cat seems to short-circuit and only the cat knows why it behaves like it does.
Also, a cat that comes into heat more than 3 times without being bred can end up with a serious uterine infection.
Tabbi
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
Dear Tabbi
Expertise
My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too. Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again. Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.
Experience
Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).
Education/Credentials
***********
Awards and Honors
* One of the top 50 Experts Of 2008 *
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.