Expert: Norman Auspitz - 9/4/2009

Question
hi norm.  i apologize in advance for the length of this email:

i wanted to know what to do about cat aggression toward other cats and humans.  our cat, jade (4.5/unspayed/1 litter 2 yrs ago) has recently turned violent toward her former mate molson (4/neutered).  they were previously inseparable and have never fought.  they moved in with me and my cat, kaia (2/spayed) about 4 months ago.  both jade & molson took over the apartment and both spatted with kaia frequently - though never violently.  kaia is now an outdoor cat exclusively, as she was miserable inside - she never took to the others and prefers being by herself. this living situation remained as such until we introduced squid (a rescued feline/unneutered/somewhere between 6-9 mos old) a month ago.  molson and squid get along just fine.  jade became depressed after the introduction for a period of about 3 days, then warmed up to him, sleeping by him, playing, etc.  a few days ago, jade suddenly and uncharacteristically became very violent with molson; i threw a blanket on them to break up their fight and she turned directly on to me.  she hissed and stalked me and the other cats all over the apartment.  she has also attacked my roommate (her owner).  we are at the point where jade has to be constantly separated at all times.  she is twitchy and nervous even upon hearing the other cats behind closed doors.  she does not attack us when the other cats are not present.  we had 2 vets opinions: one thought she is pregnant, the other discredited that and said she is just pissed off; otherwise she is neurologically/physically fine.  i did not think squid was old enough to be a dad (he is getting neutered this week), but i suppose it is possible, though we did not see any precursors of mating-type behavior between the two.  jade isn't just mad at squid, though - she absolutely hates molson now, and primarily has attacked him.  barring pregnancy (which is impossible to tell at the moment), what is going on?  could it be she just finally lost it and got very jealous?  she is affectionate toward us only when the other cats aren't around, and very, very clingy with her owner.  do you think no-stress feline spray might help (pheromones)?  we can't continue to just continually separate them  all forever, especially when they were all fine for over a month.  could kaia being outside and coming in triggered her(for a few days she was coming in and out, and is now exclusively outdoors)?  is it just having an un-neutered male around?  do you think fixing both cats will solve this problem (they both have appts)?  cat medication?  we are at a loss, we don't want to get rid of her but obviously can't tolerate such severe aggression, as she has drawn blood with both the cats and us.  it is important to keep in mind that jade has always been a very sweet, calm, docile cat - the last cat i'd ever think would be aggressive.  this is why we took her to the vet, we thought she was seriously ill.  what types of behavioral modification techniques should we employ, in effort to get them all socialized with each other again?  any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.  thank you!

Answer
Heather,

If Jade is pregnant, she needs to be isolated from all the others.  If not, she needs to be spayed. She has had so many changes so quickly that between the changes and her hormones, she is probably extremely moody.  In addition, they should probably check her thyroid levels.  

It is possible one or both or the vets are correct, and she is pregnant and the many changes so quickly are driving her to distraction.  However, usually, when there is an abrupt change in behavior it is just as likely a medical condition as it may be behavioral.  If she has been in season, this too exacerbates an already tense situation.  Just because she is in season, she may not want to be bred which will cause more tension as your unneutered male will attempt to breed her!

Once Jade is spayed, if things do not turn around after a couple of months it may be time to rehome one of the cats.

As to giving psychotropic drugs, you can talk this over with your vet and see what options there may be.  I have heard very mixed reviews on effectiveness of these therapies with cats. One final comment, they may all, eventually get along, but it may be an uneasy truce!!!!!

Best regards... Norm.