Expert: Ali - 2/14/2010

Question
Hello Ali
I emailed you with almost the same question several months ago.  I have two females (Nippy and Tess, 5 years old, sisters), when I emailed you before, we had just moved into a new house and Tess had seen the neighbor cat and a fight broke out between our girls.  We kept them apart for 2 weeks, and eventually they became sisterly again.  However, yesterday for no reason that was apparent to my husband and I another nasty fight broke out!  This time we did not shoo them away from each other, but forced them to keep their distances, we tried to keep them as well as ourselves calm, and a few hours later they were napping together.  This morning, again for no reason that we could see, another fight!  They have mostly kept their distance from each other, but if one gets to close the other begins to growl, and the situation has not resolved itself like yesterday.  As before, Nippy seems to be the agresser ( I had mentioned previously that Nippy was never the "top cat" in the house).
Recently, our roommates bother was found dead and within hours, our home was filled with her family members, all very upset (for about a week).  Could this situation be a lingering affect of that or just another power struggle?  I really don't want them to live apart under the same roof, and I would love to find a way to better the situation.
Thank you for any (additional) help you can offer!
Marissa

Answer
Marissa,

My condolences on the loss of your friend. It's not uncommon for sensitive cats to react negatively to stress within their environment (which can include strong manifestations of negative human emotions in some cases) and I'm sure that it's been a tough time for everyone in your household over the last while.

Since we've tried separating the girls and only gotten a positive response for a short period of  time it might be time to change our approach. My recommendation at this point would be to retry the use of Rescue Remedy by rubbing the remedy a drop at a time into each cat's ear flaps or the relatively fur free portion of skin in front of the ears (being very careful not to get any into the ears since the flower essences in Rescue Remedy are preserved in a grape alcohol solution that may cause some stinging if it ends up inside the ear canal). After administering the Rescue Remedy step back and watch their behavior closely, it may settle down on its own or your kitties may need the help of a holistic vet trained in homeopathy or a homeopathic vet to determine which remedies would work best to get these fur kids back into a calm state of balance. Since I'm guessing that you've been busy over the past couple of weeks dealing with your roommate's family and friends it's possible that the cats have simply stored tension and anxiety within their environment and the fights may be the only way that they know to deal with those negative states of mind.

Sometimes helping kitties like this to expend as much energy as possible through the use of independent play (recharging catnip toys an ensuring that the favorite kitty toys in your household are divided up equally in two separate places to minimize the potential for conflict may be helpful), interactive play and treasure hunts (where you hide treats, catnip toys and other special items in different places throughout the home to allow your fur kids the challenge and thrill of hunting "prey" items down and figuratively moving in for the kill). On a positive note providing equal attention and play time with each kitty and her favorite humans will help to encourage the cats to do something constructive with all of their negative energy, frustrations, anxiety, etc and playing with your cats and paying special attention to both of them will also help to alleviate the stress levels of everyone in your household.

In the event that the girls continue to lash out at each other in spite of all efforts to help them be calmer and more accepting of each other it may be wise to consider seeking the advice of a homeopathic veterinarian, a holistic vet trained in homeopathy or even a veterinary behaviorist specializing in feline behavior just to be sure that you're on the right track. After all each kitty is an individual with her own personality and needs, this means that if one homeopathic remedy works for one kitty it may not work for the other. It's also important to realize that there's a good chance that each kitty's specific needs may change over the course of treating them for this aggression issue meaning that they may each require a change of homeopathic remedy to help them return to a healthy, happy state of balance. With any luck these approaches will provide a more lasting solution to the intercat aggression between these two girls, if not I'm more than happy to help you try and figure out other possible ways of helping the girls within the realm of my experience. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me again, I will help you out to the best of my ability.