severe agression

[magix1]

Help! I am owned by three cats, two neutered males, ages 4 and 12, and one neutered girl who is just a year old now. I also have a month old baby that the little girl cat loves to death. My situation is thus, my old cat accidently snuck out and was missing for three days. Luckily for me he came home. The minute he came in the house, the little girl cat went crazy!! She immediately starting attacking him. She then went after the younger male cat as well. It took everything I had to break up the fighting! I took the girl cat to another room for the night and kept going in to visit her. I went alone and sometimes with the baby so she could see him too. The girl cat loves to sleep with the baby and also sits on my lap when I am feeding the baby too. I decided to let her out the next morning, and she went nuts. She followed me everywhere, she climbed on my chest when I was feeding the baby, she once again attacked the other male cat that didnt even sneek out of the house for three days!! I am at a loss!! I dont know what to do!! I am afraid for all the cats and for the baby! My female cat acts like the male cats are going to hurt the baby or me. She seems to have went insane overnight?? Any suggestions on what I should do?? I love all my cats, and they never had problems before getting along and playing together. Even the boy cats play and have fun with each other. Please help!!

[Guest]

This could be the problem -

Since you are keeping the female cat away from the male cats, she isn't remembering how they smell and so when she sees them again, she doesn't recognize their smell and get's aggresive because she thinks that this cat is invading her territory because she doesn't recognize their smell. you really need to keep them together. I know you don't like to keep them apart, but it will only make things worse. Cat's don't "remember" in the brain...they just remember smells.

Here's an idea - let your female cat sleep on a certain towel or blanket one night. Then the next morning, take that towel or blanket and rub it on your two male cats. Then try to put them together. She will smell herself on them and maybe will not get so aggresive and protective. It's worth a try.

You migh just have to re-introduce them. Get your male cat and your female cat and sit between them on the couch. Let them see on another and smell one another, and if the female get hostile, then (content removed by admin) and say "NO!". Just let them spend some time together, this is the onl way they will learn to accept each other and share their space.

She might also just being very protective since there is a new baby in the house. I don't know -it might have something to do with the new baby. But try what I have mentioned above, that may solve the problem.

Good luck, and keep us posted!!

[Gina]

Okay, I am no pet behavior specialist, but I do know that it is never okay to hit a cat! Please do not try this! It will only makes things worse!!!

Please... she's only doing what is very natural.

Gina

[Mona]

First of all Please DO NOT hit your cat.

THe first thing that I noticed is that your male was outside, and could have been around other females and males, so this is no doubt the problem.

Bathe the male that snuck out to get the odors off , as a matter of fact it would be a good idea to wipe all of the cats off with a wash cloth or kitty wipe, dry thoroughly and reintroduce.

I hope this works for you, otherwise there may be a conflict between them.

Good luck and please let us know what happens.

Mona, Honeybun and Chloe

[magix]

I just wanted to clarify one MAJOR miscommunication!! I did not, nor would I ever and the key word is NEVER strike or hit my cats!! I am not sure where you might have read that in my post, but I will assure you, all I did was break the fight up between the cats....NEVER did I ever hit them!!!

[Cleo]

magix, Gina wasn't referring to your post but to the disciplinary suggestion by Nurse_Jamie.

I agree with Mona and thought the same thing. Your male cat that snuck away has definitely picked up an odor foreign to the house. Your female cat obviously recognizes this and I'm sure is being protective of you, your baby and the domain. I would bathe them all, wash all beddings and blankets and reintroduce.

Good luck!
Cleo

[Tina B and crew]

Magix...Cleo is right...Gina isn't addressing anything you said in your post about hitting cats. It was this she is referring to

Let them see on another and smell one another, and if the female get hostile, then hit her head and say "NO!".

Here is how I have always handled any household aggression. First, the cats get seperated to where they can't even see each other. I usually keep them seperated for about a week before I try to re-introduce. During this time the advice that Nurse_Jaime gave about sleeping on a towel or blanket is a good one to try before you re-introduce. You can also try bathing...I found my cats always got a little more freaked out by the bathing, but it depends on the cat. If you bathe one, bathe them all. I think it was MA that once suggested dabbing just a small amount of vanilla on their chins when they are to be introduced again.

When I'm ready to re-introduce I always do it slowly, preferably through a glass or screen door or a carrier so that they can see each other but not get at each other. If they show any signs of aggression (growling, hissing, flattened hears) don't allow them to be together. Simply seperate them again. If they don't react you can let them come in the same room...try either giving them a treat or playing with them together. This usually stops my aggressor Gizmo in his tracks (treats do anyway). In time they should learn to become friends again, or at least tolerate each other. I have two that this happened to almost 10 years ago and to this day they can't pass each other without a fowl look, a hiss and sometimes a swat...but they rarely fight.

Good luck! keep us posted

[Spez]

I agree with Mona and Cleo. Whenever this has happened in our house, everybody gets a bath with the same shampoo. (We had this a couple of times after one of the kitties had been at the Vet.) Seems that the more they smell alike the lest offended they are.

[magix]

I must start out with a big thank you to all that responded to my dilema! I thank you one and all. We have had a change for the better in the household today and I wanted to share with you what we did. I have a very realistic looking stuffed cat toy that looks exactly like my cat that snuck out of the house and returned. We rubbed the toy cat onto my real cat and would talk sweetly to my girl cat that was having the agression problems. At first she would run up to the stuffed cat and would act like she was going to fight with it. She then realized the cat was not going to fight back. We did the same thing with the other male cat she fought with as well. We left the stuffed cat with her in a separated room from the boys and just let her check it out at her own pace. Today I let her roam the house again with the boys doing their thing and at first she would growl at them. Then little by little today, she backed off. The boys have not been the nicest to her today, she has kind of made them feel a little on the offense but she seems to be back to her old self. She still wants to sit on my lap when I feed the baby, but she has truly backed off from being the aggresor. I am so happy that we are making progress! I just had to share with you all! Thanks again!!