Expert: Norman Auspitz - 10/1/2009

Question
Starting in July, out of nowhere my female cat Emma starting hissing and making these horrible loud noises and she chased and cornered my male cat Nike. They have never done this before and have always been friendly around each other with the occasional play fight. Nike peed or sprayed or something, even though he is fixed along with Emma. We separated the cats in different rooms for a day and then brought them back together and they were fine. After that it happened a couple more times about a month apart from each other, but in the past week Emma has attacked Nike 5 times in the past 4 days. I don't know if she actually touches or bites him, but she growls at him and he gets completely terrified. It usually seems to start when I am petting or playing with Emma and Nike walks into the room. Is it a bad case of jealousy? What can I do to stop this behavior without having to find a new home for one of the cats?

Answer
Katherine,

This is a tough one.  So, a couple of questions: (1) Is there a strange cat hanging out around the household that they can see out of a window? (2) Has Emma been checked out by the vet for any possible health problems (especially with respect to thyroid)? (3) Has there been anything that has changed in the household, like the addition of a new 4 legged or 2 legged resident?

These are the things that usually change how cats get along with each other.

In the case of number (1) you might consider a time out of the two of them in an interior room oft he house where there are no windows to the outside, until things calm down.  In the case of (2), there is usually, some aggression towards the human owners as well, but not always.  In the case of (3), it might take time for things to settle down.

In truth, cats have to find their own ways in relationships and things can change for some of the reasons listed above.  You have not given me their ages as, even though they are fixed, the sounds of females calling and breedings in the neighborhood can elicit some hormonal responses at some level. Any human interference in cat relationships tends to be counter productive and often has the opposite of the desired effect.

Best regards... Norm.