Expert: Ali - 5/30/2010

Question
I have 2 cats both male. A male 2 year old Maine Coon cat named Havoc. Another male cat who is 1 year and 11 months old Tabby cat named Chaos. I got them just around the same time. Only a month or two apart. They have always been great together. They where fixed about 3 months ago. They are indoor & outdoor cats. Both are healthy friendly cats. However recently Havoc has been really aggressive towards Chaos. For no reason. Chaos will be sitting with me and Havoc will job up and attack him. No matter where he is when Havoc sees Chaos he attacks him. I have tried trying to keep them separate and then reintroduce them to one another & separating them when they began to fight. I am not quite sure what else I can do. I was told I could try and medicate Havoc but I would prefer to do that as a last resort.  I am really willing to try anything as I love them both a lot and don't want to have to give up either one of them.

Answer
Katelyn,

Your brief history left me with several questions and I think that it's best for me to have answers to those questions before I recommend any course of action. There may be a way to help these two boys without using conventional medications, I'm a big fan of homeopathy and it's a safe, gentle way to return pets and people to a state of balance. Before I suggest any specific remedies knowing a bit more about each kitty and their recent history may provide me with information that would allow me to suggest remedies that I've used before. It's also quite possible that you will need to seek the advice of a homeopathic or holistic veterinarian (the difference being that a holistic vet makes use of alternative therapies as well as conventional treatments while a homeopathic vet doesn't generally bother with conventional drugs) because I am not a veterinarian and I haven't received any formal training in the use of homeopathy, any advice that I give will be based strictly on my own personal experiences. The questions that I have are as follows (bearing in mind that I may have further questions after this additional information):

~ You mentioned that the boys were both recently neutered, were they also declawed at the same time?

~ Have there been any recent changes in your home or the cats' environment?

~ Are the boys routinely allowed out unsupervised on their own or together?

~ To the best of your knowledge are there any new cats in the neighborhood that may have overstepped their bounds and ended up within the territory that your two boys share?

~ What is Havoc's personality like in general?

~ Have you seen any obvious changes apart from the aggression towards Chaos?

~ What is Chaos's personality like in general?

~ How does Chaos respond when Havoc goes on the offensive?

Hopefully we'll be able to find a solution that works for everyone involved. I believe that there are some options out there that you can explore prior to using conventional anti-depressant/anxiety medications (generally what conventional vets recommend in situations like this, but I don't believe that it's entirely without risk to use psychotropic medications on cats) to deal with the situation. I look forward to hearing a bit more about your boys and I really hope that I can offer you some suggestions to help point you in the right direction when it comes to choosing homeopathic remedies that might be helpful. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to include them and I will do my absolute best to help you out in this situation or refer you to a homeopathic veterinarian that will be able to pick up where my personal experiences leave off.