Trouble in Paridise...

Almost posted this as a follow up to the “How do we know if we need to re-introduce cats†thread, but wanted to start a new one since this is a little more severe.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m seeing a disturbing level of aggression developing in my male cat Wingnut -- to the smaller female Moonbat (both 1 1/2 years, spayed/neutered). For some reason, it seems to occur a lot in the morning when Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m taking a shower. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll hear a ruckus, stick my head out the bathroom door and see Wingnut chasing Moonbat frantically all over the bedroom. Occasionally he will catch her, sheâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll get in a defensive posture, Wingnut starts smacking her repeatedly and in some cases, even bites her. She'll scream, take off and the process starts over again. In the cases where I'm there to see it, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll intervene and split them up, sometimes with a water bottle on Wingnut.

After a few minutes everything calms down and Wingnut is his relatively calm self again. Later, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll even see them socializing or curled up on the bed together, or sometimes grooming each other.

This morning however it was pretty bad. I was taking a shower and heard them TEARING up and down the stairs. Afterwards, I went downstairs and there were tufts of Moonbat hair all over the floor in the kitchen. I went and found her and amazingly, she looked okay (no obvious bites, scratches, missing fur). She also seemed okay mood-wise. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m thinking Wingnut just roughed her up a little but intentionally stopped short of doing any real damage.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m worried though that if this continues to escalate, Moonbat is going to get hurt. I saw in the other thread there are some products that are supposed to calm cats down, make them less aggressive. I would appreciate any advice on this from people whoâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve used these in a similar situation, as to their effectiveness.

Thanks!

Whenever Spooky gets aggressive, we know it's time for a vet visit for her, her teeth are hurting and she needs a dental (and usually a tooth pulled).

However, when Lazlo goes after Tuxedo, we know Tuxedo needs to go to the vet because he's sick with something.

So it could be as simple as one of them is sick and Wingnut is either acting out or senses it in Moonbat.

Laurie

If this happens, and you see them cuddling up and even grooming each other afterwords, it might be playing - he might be playing too rough though... Cats play very rough, and it is hard to differentiate a fight from play. They chase, they smack each other, they bite, etc. That's how they play. You inspected her, and there was nothing wrong - I think they are playing... I miss the days when Lucky and Bugsy would play like that - I was also worried, but seen them cuddling and loving each other made me realize they were just having kiity fun. It might be a case where he was not socialized enough when he was little to know when to stop - do you know how for how long he was was mom and sibs?

Originally Posted by carolinalima

It might be a case where he was not socialized enough when he was little to know when to stop - do you know how for how long he was was mom and sibs?

Click to expand...

I got them both from the animal shelter on the same day. Actually, I picked them because they were in the same cage, curled up together sleeping and looked very much like a bonded pair

They've always been real good to each other. Wingnut would get a little rough sometimes but when I saw them socializing normally just wrote it off as kitty play.

The hair on the floor this morning though -- that's getting to be too much. He must have really gotten on her bad to do that (even though she looked okay afterwards).

I'll see how they are doing when I get home today. Starting to think about calling the vet and maybe take Wingnut in for an exam.

With this answer, I personally - given our experience - would consider this a change in behavior, and any time there's a change in behavior it's always best to see a vet. Cats don't have any other way to let us know there's a problem.

If he's fine, and you then confirm that she's fine... then we have to work on the problem from a behavior standpoint. But I'd pursue the medical angle first.

Laurie