Cats suddenly dislike each other!?

kristy

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My cats are brother and sister from the same litter. We got them when they were 8 weeks old and moved to our new house when they were 10 weeks old. They were fine and settled and we let them out but brought them in at night. Getting on very well, playing together and cleaning each other. Then we fitted a cat flap at the end of March and since then one really hates the other, they attack each other if they are in the same room. Both have got very much closer to me and one is quite clingy now. This has been going on for 2 months now. I've heard that maybe one is coming back in with new smells on it from outside and the other is disliking this. I wondered if its a jelousy thing becasue i'm closer to them both now. We live next door to 4 other cats and across the road form 2 others, some get along and some don't. Any ideas what it is or how long it will last??? They will be 1 year old soon and both were neutered at an early age.
 

asecretk

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I sort of have the same thing going on with my two one year old siblings. They are both neutered and spayed as well.

Several months ago Pennie was getting very testy with Bob. She would hiss and swat at him for no reason than he was walking by. Bob on the most part ignored it. In the mean time she got very clingy with me. I felt like I had a shadow 24/7. She was very aloof before this.

Bob and I have always been close and he loves to snuggle and purr and he still does.


Then things settled down and they would play and chase each other again.

Now Bob is getting testy with Pennie. He actually hissed at her the other day but as he did she ignored it and went about her business.

If there is no hard aggression or fighting/blood shed I would wait and see if it passes.

It could be the other cat smells or just the basic outdoor smells of plants and other animals.

I think cats go through mood swings just like people do.

Some of my cats can be sleeping together one day and then avoid each other the next.
 

larke

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Once cats/animals grow up and start living outdoors, the males have no interest in hanging out with the females and vice versa. Their focuses are very different (hunting vs nesting) and only if they're raised in artificial environments indoors and never know anything different is there even potential for 'friendship', but possibly even the majority of that time the males eventually go after the females, who may fight them off viciously if they can, they often cannot. They're no longer kittens and won't act like they are, and your having let them outside now for some time may assure that they don't ever become friends again. But it's not that you did anything wrong, not knowlingly anyway, or even that they did, but they're not wind-up toys and are hard-wired to be what they are, predatory animals who fight for territory (if for different reasons) and once that's awoken in them, it's hard to put it all back in the box.
 

asecretk

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Originally Posted by Larke

They're no longer kittens and won't act like they are, and your having let them outside now for some time may assure that they don't ever become friends again.
While agree with the fact they are not kittens anymore I don't agree they they will never become friends again.

They are still new to being indoor/outdoor cats. My older cats that have been have been in/out for a couple years get along better now that they have sort of settled into it.

Six of my cats are indoor/outdoor and only the youngins' have gotten testy with each other. They do not get testy with the older cats nor the older cats with them.

I think in time and once they adjust things will get better.

I am not sure where you are located but I know that my cats stay in during the coldest days in winter, and we have a lot here, so I think that re-bonds (is that a word?
) them.
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by kristy

My cats are brother and sister from the same litter. We got them when they were 8 weeks old and moved to our new house when they were 10 weeks old. They were fine and settled and we let them out but brought them in at night. Getting on very well, playing together and cleaning each other. Then we fitted a cat flap at the end of March and since then one really hates the other, they attack each other if they are in the same room. Both have got very much closer to me and one is quite clingy now. This has been going on for 2 months now. I've heard that maybe one is coming back in with new smells on it from outside and the other is disliking this. I wondered if its a jelousy thing becasue i'm closer to them both now. We live next door to 4 other cats and across the road form 2 others, some get along and some don't. Any ideas what it is or how long it will last??? They will be 1 year old soon and both were neutered at an early age.
Cats seem to go through various phases in my experience. My present two cats hated each other at first and then they became love bugs in the first order. Then we recently went on vacation for 17 days. We have been back for two nights. Persi & Alley always slept together on the bed with us but now Persi has decided that only he has the right to be on the bed and has chased her off both nights. I think this is just a phase and then something new will come along.
 
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kristy

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Originally Posted by Larke

They're no longer kittens and won't act like they are, and your having let them outside now for some time may assure that they don't ever become friends again. But it's not that you did anything wrong, not knowlingly anyway, or even that they did, but they're not wind-up toys and are hard-wired to be what they are, predatory animals who fight for territory (if for different reasons) and once that's awoken in them, it's hard to put it all back in the box.
I think thats a bit harsh.... having let them outside doesn't ensure they will never be friends again... i know of many cats that get on fine inside and outside the house. I don't think i've done any thing wrong either by letting them have freedom and i know my cats are not wind-up toys i just wondered what may have caused the change in behaviour or if i can help them in any way.

Its the female cat that is mostly disliking the male... he is very calm and soppy with other people and other cats.
 

larke

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I'm sorry I expressed myself so harshly... it was early in the a.m. and there's a lot going on here, so I just put one word after the other, but I guess I've just seen a lot of the same behaviour over a lot of years with cats, and while it's great when things work out, it doesn't always, and I was just trying to put some perspective on them.. ie that very often they'll fight for dominance, in their own way and for their own reasons, and once they've been out for any length of time some wildness comes back with them sometimes. Sorry.
 
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