Expert: Ali - 10/6/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi
I have a question about my two cats. They are 4 years old. The male cat went to the vet about 10 days ago. When he came home the female was a bit moody and didnt really want to be in the same room and eat with him etc.
The next day, i dont know what happened but she attacked him and i had to separete them. They then lived in separete part of the flat for 4 days. On the fifth day i made a fence so that they still were separeted but could see and smell eachother. I also bought feliway during these days.
And i thought it went good, i could see them eat on both side of the fence, they even sniffed eachother without any fight.
But today after 5 days with the fence up and since it was going ok i wanted to try and see how they would get along.

The male was ok, they sniffed eachother and i tryied to cuddle them both. Giving them sweets etc. The male has always had this thing were he bites her on the back which she doesnt like. He did this and she marked that it wasnt ok, not by attacking she just made her noise.
After that i put them again in separate rooms, didnt want to push my luck.
My parents came around and while my mom went into the living room the male snook out and came to me in the kitchen where i was eating and the female was.
She saw him and attacked him right away.
What do i do??? Is there a way to make them friends again???
Im heartbroken...

ANSWER: Monika,

I believe that the cats are temporarily upset for some reason, the vet visit and the strange scents that come with it may be the issue or there may be something more going on...I think that the cats can be friends again, it will take a bit more information to form advice beyond the very general stuff I've mentioned below...

Are the cats spayed/neutered? If not this could be the reason for the male's less than subtle advances. Cats that aren't sterilized can become quite aggressive with one another. There are also numerous health and behavioral benefits to spay/neuter surgeries for pets that I can explain to you if you would like.

Have you tried a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy? If the scent that your male cat brought back from the vet clinic is the reason for the issues between the two cats you may find that this remedy works well to help settle everyone back down and encourage friendly conduct once again.

A little more history will enable me to provide more detailed answers. Things like recent medical history, behavioral issues, are the cats indoor or indoor/outdoor cats.....

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi
Both cats are spayed/neutered. I also bought "feliway" its a scent adapter that you plug in.
Everything was ok until he went to the vet and came back.
I made some progress with the fence, but it was when he snook out and suprised her in the kitchen. Is she attacking cause she is afraid maybe?
Cause she has never attacked anyone before and they have lived together for 4 years now.

Answer
Monika,

In my experience I wouldn't think that your spayed female cat is attacking her neutered male companion that she has gotten along well with for four years prior to the current issue developing. From what I understand the male cat wasn't a target for these attacks previously. Your spayed female my be feeling under the weather, but I am more inclined to think that she is responding to the scents of the vet and other animals from the vet clinic. Your female cat may also be redirecting aggression if she is territorial and has seen other neighborhood cats or even wild animals by looking out the window into your yard. As for the male cat it stands to reason that he would smell like other animals, medicine, the vet, etc after his appointment at the vet clinic...And as far as the female is concerned the fact that he would smell different would likely prompt her to be a bit more likely to react badly....The fact that the cats have been sterilized means that aggression related to pregnancy and mating wouldn't necessarily be the issue between the two cats. I would suggest that you try the Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a homeopathic blend of flower essences used by vets and pet parents worldwide to help calm and reassure. I have found that Rescue Remedy is well worth trying in situations like this. You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food/natural health stores in North America. I would suggest that you try adding a dosage of about 8 drops of Rescue Remedy in fresh water each morning and based on my experience I would think that this should help to make a difference with the aggression between these friends.

If Rescue Remedy on it’s own doesn’t work you may have to separate the two cats for a couple of days to allow them time to cool off while still dosing their fresh water with Rescue Remedy each morning. If you do need to separate the cats it would be best to have one cat behind a closed door and feed the other cat on the other side of the door. Rubbing the cats down with an old hand towel or face cloth and rubbing each cats’ scent onto the other a couple of times daily should help to settle the aggression down a bit. I don’t think that the separation would have to be any longer than 2-3 days at most, just because the relationship between the two cats was fine for four years up until now. If your male cat was hospitalized for several days your female may just be reacting to the strange smells of the vet clinic - especially if she normally hisses when in the vet’s office or waiting room. If the female cat continues to react to the male cat with aggression I would strongly suggest that you have your vet examine her just to rule out any medical issues that may be making her crabby.