misplaced agression

I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help someone here
can help. First, some background:

I have two indoor cats: Riley, a neutered male who is 5.5 years old,
and Sukey, a neutered female who is 4.5 years old. I adopted them both
as young kittens, getting Sukey around about Riley's first birthday.
Although Riley was upset at first, it only took him about 10 days to
tolerate Sukey and by 14 days they were fast friends. They played
together, slept together and Riley would groom Sukey, which they both
loved. Over the years, the overt affection tapered off, but they
continued to be playmates and were very content together - sharing a
food bowl, sharing litterboxes, and never a cross word between them.
That was until 3 days ago.

Tuesday evening the cats were looking out a window and saw a strange
cat outside. This happens from time to time and my cats get very
worked-upe, doing strange meaows and running from window to window to
keep the stranger in sight. I've never worried too much about it,
because I figured it brought a little excitement to their day, and it
only happend a few times a year. Anyway, somehow in this running back
and forth between windows in a heightened mood, Riley and Sukey got in
a scrap with each other. I didn't see it, but it sounded like Sukey
startled Riley and he turned on her. There was hissing and screaming,
and the upshot was that Sukey was really furious at Riley. The whole
rest of the evening she growled and hissed whenever she saw him. He was
freaked out by it and hid under a chair. He was hiding in my study, so
I shut him in with me while I finished my report cards. When I was done
several hours later, Sukey was still upset so I shut her in another
room with what she needed and went to bed. Riley joined me, but was
still very afraid. Every little noise startled him and he staired at
the bedroom entrance like he feared that Sukey was coming (there is no
actual door on my bedroom loft, and he apparently didn't reallize that
she was shut in another room).

In the morning we went down stairs and I let Sukey out. She ran up to
Riley like old times, but he was freaked and hissed. Sukey seemed then
to remember and started growling. Since then it has gotten worse. When
in the same room they hiss and growl at the sight of the other. At
first they kept distance, but then Sukey has started purposely chasing
Riley on sight. I've kept them separated almost exclusively since
Tuesday, so these observations refer to my tests to see where we're at.
If Sukey is shut-up, Riley proceeds as normal in the rest of the house.
If Riley is shut-up, Sukey goes to the room he's in and hisses and
growls. Now I'm keeping them totally separated, each in separate rooms
where they can't get to the other's door. What can I do to get them to
tolerate each other again? I don't need them to be buddies again, but
to just tolerate each other so they can live and eat without fear of
attack. Note, they are not bothered by each others smell, so typical
new cat introduction strategies that rely on getting used to smell are
not relevant here.

Any ideas? I'm a wreck myself in this. Oh - I've called my vet and they
simply recommended separation and Felaway (which I'm using). They said
this is very unusual and never heard of a case this prolonged. I have a
call into a pet behaviour person, but haven't heard back. Thankis for
any help you can give me here.

Becky, Riley and Sukey

On Fri 10 Jun 2005 08:06:07p, Rebecca Root wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
(news:2005061018060716807%rroot@indracom):

I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help
someone here can help. First, some background:

I have two indoor cats: Riley, a neutered male who is 5.5 years
old, and Sukey, a neutered female who is 4.5 years old. I
adopted them both as young kittens, getting Sukey around about
Riley's first birthday. Although Riley was upset at first, it
only took him about 10 days to tolerate Sukey and by 14 days
they were fast friends. They played together, slept together and
Riley would groom Sukey, which they both loved. Over the years,
the overt affection tapered off, but they continued to be
playmates and were very content together - sharing a food bowl,
sharing litterboxes, and never a cross word between them. That
was until 3 days ago.

Tuesday evening the cats were looking out a window and saw a
strange cat outside. This happens from time to time and my cats
get very worked-upe, doing strange meaows and running from
window to window to keep the stranger in sight. I've never
worried too much about it, because I figured it brought a little
excitement to their day, and it only happend a few times a year.
Anyway, somehow in this running back and forth between windows
in a heightened mood, Riley and Sukey got in a scrap with each
other. I didn't see it, but it sounded like Sukey startled Riley
and he turned on her. There was hissing and screaming, and the
upshot was that Sukey was really furious at Riley. The whole
rest of the evening she growled and hissed whenever she saw him.
He was freaked out by it and hid under a chair. He was hiding in
my study, so I shut him in with me while I finished my report
cards. When I was done several hours later, Sukey was still
upset so I shut her in another room with what she needed and
went to bed. Riley joined me, but was still very afraid. Every
little noise startled him and he staired at the bedroom entrance
like he feared that Sukey was coming (there is no actual door on
my bedroom loft, and he apparently didn't reallize that she was
shut in another room).

In the morning we went down stairs and I let Sukey out. She ran
up to Riley like old times, but he was freaked and hissed. Sukey
seemed then to remember and started growling. Since then it has
gotten worse. When in the same room they hiss and growl at the
sight of the other. At first they kept distance, but then Sukey
has started purposely chasing Riley on sight. I've kept them
separated almost exclusively since Tuesday, so these
observations refer to my tests to see where we're at. If Sukey
is shut-up, Riley proceeds as normal in the rest of the house.
If Riley is shut-up, Sukey goes to the room he's in and hisses
and growls. Now I'm keeping them totally separated, each in
separate rooms where they can't get to the other's door. What
can I do to get them to tolerate each other again? I don't need
them to be buddies again, but to just tolerate each other so
they can live and eat without fear of attack. Note, they are not
bothered by each others smell, so typical new cat introduction
strategies that rely on getting used to smell are not relevant
here.

Any ideas? I'm a wreck myself in this. Oh - I've called my vet
and they simply recommended separation and Felaway (which I'm
using). They said this is very unusual and never heard of a case
this prolonged. I have a call into a pet behaviour person, but
haven't heard back. Thankis for any help you can give me here.

Becky, Riley and Sukey



I have 4 cats; two are littermates, less than a year old. The other
two are a ~4 year old male, former stray that was turned in to
animal control at a year old, and a former feral whom I trapped at
~6 months old; she's probably 2-1/2 years old now.

The oldest male is very aggressive and anything sets him off. He's
been fixated on attacking the female former feral for a while now -
since the death of a cat I had before the kittens arrived. Quite a
few things I've noticed made it easier on the female, two being:

A cat tree that has 4 posts that come up from the base. She can
maneuver herself around the posts in a way that the aggressor can't
get to her. The other is a means of escape when the aggressor
tries to corner her - I have a bannister in the living room that
drops a couple of feet to the landing at the front door. I made
room when I placed the furniture so that there is an escape route
through the bannister. This way, the chaser can't cover all of the
exit routes and the chasee always has a route of escape.

I have to add to this that my aggressor cat is on drugs to calm
him. He not only attacks this one other cat, he also used to attack
me.

--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:06:07 -0600, Rebecca Root
wrote:

I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help someone here
can help. First, some background:


Wow pretty remarkable story.......I'm sure you have other words for
it.......I can't help you but I will do some research and I am seeing
my vet on Monday I will mention it to him and see what he says.....you
mentioned three days how many days has it been now as of Friday?

Its interesting that the aggressor seemed like he wanted to make up if
I read that right and the meeker of the two wouldn't forgive
him.....?? is that right...??

Sorry you are having this problem I hope something starts making some
sense soon.


Brad

LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE AT THE GRAVE SAFELY IN A
WELL-PRESERVED BODY, BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT,
SHOUTING... " HOLY @#$%... WHAT A RIDE!"

"Brad" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:06:07 -0600, Rebecca Root
wrote:

I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help someone here
can help. First, some background:


Wow pretty remarkable story.......I'm sure you have other words for
it.......I can't help you but I will do some research and I am seeing
my vet on Monday I will mention it to him and see what he says.....you
mentioned three days how many days has it been now as of Friday?

Its interesting that the aggressor seemed like he wanted to make up if
I read that right and the meeker of the two wouldn't forgive
him.....?? is that right...??

Sorry you are having this problem I hope something starts making some
sense soon.


I hope you start posting normal sentences soon. Your incessant
misplaced elipses are idiotic.

Rebecca Root wrote:
I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help someone here
can help. First, some background:

I have two indoor cats: Riley, a neutered male who is 5.5 years old,
and Sukey, a neutered female who is 4.5 years old. I adopted them both
as young kittens, getting Sukey around about Riley's first birthday.
Although Riley was upset at first, it only took him about 10 days to
tolerate Sukey and by 14 days they were fast friends. They played
together, slept together and Riley would groom Sukey, which they both
loved. Over the years, the overt affection tapered off, but they
continued to be playmates and were very content together - sharing a
food bowl, sharing litterboxes, and never a cross word between them.
That was until 3 days ago.

Tuesday evening the cats were looking out a window and saw a strange
cat outside. This happens from time to time and my cats get very
worked-upe, doing strange meaows and running from window to window to
keep the stranger in sight. I've never worried too much about it,
because I figured it brought a little excitement to their day, and it
only happend a few times a year. Anyway, somehow in this running back
and forth between windows in a heightened mood, Riley and Sukey got in
a scrap with each other. I didn't see it, but it sounded like Sukey
startled Riley and he turned on her. There was hissing and screaming,
and the upshot was that Sukey was really furious at Riley. The whole
rest of the evening she growled and hissed whenever she saw him. He was
freaked out by it and hid under a chair. He was hiding in my study, so
I shut him in with me while I finished my report cards. When I was done
several hours later, Sukey was still upset so I shut her in another
room with what she needed and went to bed. Riley joined me, but was
still very afraid. Every little noise startled him and he staired at
the bedroom entrance like he feared that Sukey was coming (there is no
actual door on my bedroom loft, and he apparently didn't reallize that
she was shut in another room).

In the morning we went down stairs and I let Sukey out. She ran up to
Riley like old times, but he was freaked and hissed. Sukey seemed then
to remember and started growling. Since then it has gotten worse. When
in the same room they hiss and growl at the sight of the other. At
first they kept distance, but then Sukey has started purposely chasing
Riley on sight. I've kept them separated almost exclusively since
Tuesday, so these observations refer to my tests to see where we're at.
If Sukey is shut-up, Riley proceeds as normal in the rest of the house.
If Riley is shut-up, Sukey goes to the room he's in and hisses and
growls. Now I'm keeping them totally separated, each in separate rooms
where they can't get to the other's door. What can I do to get them to
tolerate each other again? I don't need them to be buddies again, but
to just tolerate each other so they can live and eat without fear of
attack. Note, they are not bothered by each others smell, so typical
new cat introduction strategies that rely on getting used to smell are
not relevant here.

Any ideas? I'm a wreck myself in this. Oh - I've called my vet and they
simply recommended separation and Felaway (which I'm using). They said
this is very unusual and never heard of a case this prolonged. I have a
call into a pet behaviour person, but haven't heard back. Thankis for
any help you can give me here.

Becky, Riley and Sukey

This is pretty common behavior. I have one cat who used to attack ME.
I think your vet is guiding you in the right direction. Just be
patient, do whatever you can to prevent them from seeing the stray cat
next time he comes around. Let us know what advice you get from the pet
behaviorist. Might be some interesting stuff to share with everyone.

Sherry

Becky,

Misplaced aggression is actually fairly common in cats, and it can
sometimes be set off by simple, mundane actions -- for example, seeing
another cat outdoors. I recently wrote to Steve Remington (in a thread
thread where he asked if damage had been done by "too rapid kitten
introduction.") Holly had suddenly become antagonistic toward Duffy
when I had a sunroom added. The reaction came in the final week of
construction, when I think the noise and disruption finally went past
Holly's point of tolerance. However, all is well now! If you will
look up that thread, you will find a message where I described the
actions I took.

MaryL

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 00:07:08 -0400, "Mary"
wrote:


"Brad" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:06:07 -0600, Rebecca Root
wrote:

I'm having a real problem with my two cats. I really help someone here
can help. First, some background:


Wow pretty remarkable story.......I'm sure you have other words for
it.......I can't help you but I will do some research and I am seeing
my vet on Monday I will mention it to him and see what he says.....you
mentioned three days how many days has it been now as of Friday?

Its interesting that the aggressor seemed like he wanted to make up if
I read that right and the meeker of the two wouldn't forgive
him.....?? is that right...??

Sorry you are having this problem I hope something starts making some
sense soon.


I hope you start posting normal sentences soon. Your incessant
misplaced elipses are idiotic.



But you are just drawn to read my posts huh.......??...last time I
checked there was no requirement to read my
posts.....sweetheart.......

I am a freespirit......non conformist.....don't follow the crowd and
all that good stuff.......you are......ummm.....well you know what you
are....

Brad

LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE AT THE GRAVE SAFELY IN A
WELL-PRESERVED BODY, BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT,
SHOUTING... " HOLY @#$%... WHAT A RIDE!"