Expert: Karen Craft - 11/11/2008

Question
QUESTION:
Question
I need some advice on a problem I've having with my two cats.

Tryx and Traylee are three-and-a-half years old, sisters and normally get
along beautifully. They play together, sleep together and give each other
baths.

My husband worked the late shift Monday night, went to bed at 6 a.m. and
said the cats were sleeping together in their cat tree, so something happened
between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning (Nov. 4). I came downstairs
to find Tryx underneath the kitchen table growling and hissing at her sister,
Traylee. Her tail was all wet and there was some loose stool on the floor. They
playfight, but have never hissed or growled at each other before, so I
immediately thought something must be wrong. My husband and I took Tryx
to the vet and the vet told us she had a bacterial infection in her gut. When
we got home, the hissing and growling continued whenever Traylee was in
Tryx's line of sight and then they had a horrific cat fight. My husband doesn't
think they actually hit each other, but it sure sounded awful. Yesterday,
Traylee was eating and saw Tryx heading toward the litter box and ambushed
her when she was walking into it. They had another fight with spraying,
hissing and growling. After this, I separated them and put Tryx in the
basement and Traylee upstairs, which probably wasn't the best thing to do,
but I didn't know what else to do.

I called the vet twice last week, but all they told me to do was rub a towel on
Tryx and then let Traylee smell it and vice versa. They also told me since Tryx
was at the vet, she would smell different and it would take time for them to
get used to each other. I've taken them to the vet separately before and
they've never acted like this. In fact, when I had to take Traylee to the vet and
she had to stay overnight, Tryx stayed at the front door and didn't move until
Traylee came back home.

My husband doesn't think Tryx was ever sick at all, since she didn't actually
have diarrhea and was just mad at Traylee for something. He also thinks we
should just let them be and they'll work out their problems. Someone at work
said they had a similar problem, and confined them in a small room together.
I'm hesitant to do that because I don't want them to hurt each other.

Last night, when I was downstairs with Tryx, she came up the stairs because
she heard Traylee crying upstairs. Once she got near the top, she started
hissing and growling. A little later, Traylee was crying again, they both looked
under the crack underneath the door and Traylee hissed at Tryx and she
hissed and growled back.

How can I get my normally loving cats to love each other again?

ANSWER: Hi Carolyn,

It sounds like you have a couple of problems going on. The most likely thing that set them off was one or both of them saw a strange cat outside. This set them off in a case of redirected aggression. This in itself takes a little time for them to calm down. The best thing to do is to close the blinds, separate them until they calm down and reintroduce them. But you also took Tryx to the vet. Now in and of that itself would have been no problem. But they were agitated with each other. So this set up another layer of aggression towards each other.

You need to reintroduce the both of them together as if they were two strange cats coming into your house. Here's one that gives you a good guide to how to do it. http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/cat_library/cat2cat-intro.pdf
Follow this and in about two weeks all should be well. Just make sure that you take both to the vets together now. And chase any strays away from your home. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen


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

QUESTION: Thanks for you advice, Karen. My sister and I actually took them both to the
vet yesterday in separate cat carriers. They were fine when they were at the
vet. They didn't hiss or growl at each other there or on the car ride home.
However, the hissing and growling started as soon as we set the cat carriers
down on the floor at home. We took them both out one at a time as the vet
tech said in the hopes that it would settle them down, but no such luck. I
called the vet tech again and she basically said they would maybe just have to
fight it out. (They did have a fight last night). I don't think that's such a great
idea. I have them in their cat carriers now about five feet away from each
other and Tryx is growling. She also hissed at me when I tried to coax her
into the carrier. Should I try to reintroduce them slowly or let them roam free?
I'm scared by letting them interact with each other that that will just set them
back. And if I don't see any improvements, how long should I leave it before I
ask the vet for help again?

Answer
Hi Carolyn,

Get a product called Feliway Comfort Zone. This mimics cat's happy pheromones and acts like a kitty tranquilizer. Use this stuff and reintroduce them slowly. This takes a little time. Make sure that whatever set them off in the first place isn't around. Follow what it says in the cat intro protocol. This should work. But it will take a week or two. If it doesn't there are certain drugs that will relax your cats to try this again. But I don't think you will need them seeing how they lived together for a while. There will be some hissing before they settle down. Don't worry about it. They will go back to normal. It just won't be overnight.  Good luck.

Ciao, Karen