Please please please help us!

Hi everyone!

I am new to the forum and am posting this out of desperation. I have two cats - Roscoe (male, 1.5 years old, VERY intelligent, and an aggressive lover & player) and Bailey (female, same age, very shy, skittish and loving).

My cats have always been the best of friends. Of course they have had their moments with each other which is normal, but for the most part they've never had much of a problem with each other. They love to cuddle and get into mischief together.

As of right now, my female Bailey is not a very happy kitty. She will not let Roscoe come within 10 feet of her without hissing, growling, spitting and literally screaming at him. We have NEVER seen her like this and I don't know what to do. It's like she turned into a different cat completely over night. Roscoe has not been instigating her, but instead is very curious and confused as to why she is so upset at him. He's been moping around the house because I think he feels like he lost his best friend.

The only thing that I think set this off was this: two nights ago, Roscoe somehow weasled himself into a fabric bag that had paperwork and files inside of it. He ended up getting the handle caught around his waist and FREAKED OUT. My husband said the cat literally turned into the tazmanian devil. It took Nik a good half hour to calm the cat down enough to be able to get him uncaught. Bailey witnessed the whole thing.

As of right now, Roscoe is himself. I don't even think he remembers what happened two days ago. But I think this is what set Bailey off. She is very on edge and is constantly hissing, spitting, growling and screaming whenever he so much as glances at her.

Nik and I have separated the cats, Bailey is in our room - hoping to give her some security away from him. But I don't know what to do from there. She's always seemed to have an anxiety problem and I think just witnessing that has freaked her out or traumatized her.

What should I do now? I'm worried that she will never go back to her sweet old self. We feel like our family is broken. Please help!

Are both of your cats fixed?

be like! IMO your scardy cat is associating loud noise, bedlam and fear with the other cat. As you say, it was crazy for 1/2 hour. She saw how terrified he was and absorbed that fear too. You may be right. If that was the only thing out of the ordinary (sounds pretty darned out of the ordinary) that is where you have to look first. Ruling out anything physical with her, I'd give it a few more days. Maybe get her a new toy, a treat of food she never gets to try to redirect her and get her focused on something else. Cats can sure be nutso. There is such a fine balance in their relationships with eachother. Hope this helps. Someone will come along to give more advice. Keep us posted. Good luck

Hi and welcome to the forum, Is Bailey letting you get near her, hold her etc. like she normally would, or is her behavior extending to you as well?

Yes it could be that witnessing Roscoe getting caught in that bag did freak her out, but at the same time, it shouldn't bother her that much.

Do your cats go outdoors? I am wondering if there might be a reason that Roscoe "smells" different to her now. If that is the case it could definitely make her hiss, spit etc. as she doesn't recognize Roscoe's smell and to her he is now a "stranger" cat invading her territory.

Try dabbing, and just a tiny dab, of vanilla under their chins and at the base of their tails. That should make them both smell the same and get things back to normal. If you don't have any vanilla handy, try giving them each a very light spray of your perfume or cologne. And I mean a *very* light spray. You don't want to get their fur wet in any way, so make sure to spray from at least a foot away from them.

If that doesn't work, and do give them a bit of time, then I would take Bailey to the vet to make sure nothing is wrong with her physically. Sometimes when a cat gets sick she may react that way. It's their way of saying "I'm sick stay away from me, don't bug me!"

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you all for your quick responses and help!

To answer some of your questions, both cats are fixed and indoor cats. As of right now, Bailey is in our bedroom with her own litter, food and water. We gave her some rescue remedy for cats hoping that would help her anxiety and so far it seems to have worked a little. I managed to get her purring and her and I played with some of her favorite toys.

Her aggression doesn't seem to be directed at us, but we definitely have to calm her down and reassure her that everything is okay when she sees us.

My husband and I are going to go to petsmart to pick up another litterbox and some new treats and toys - i'm also maybe hoping to find other products that may help with anxiety.

Roscoe remains mopey, lonely and kind of upset now. I will keep you posted on our progress.

If anybody can think of any other advice, please throw it our way!
Thanks again!
Stephanie

What a sweet pic! I hope these two buddies patch up their differences soon! They are adorable!

Awww, that picture is priceless! What sweeties!!

If both are fixed and indoor only I'm guessing it was that episode that made her freak out. She is probably associating Roscoe with the "mean bag monster" and it will just take time for her to get over that. Did she start hissing at him just after it happened? Some animals, especially shy/skittish ones, seem to have long memories if they get freaked out about something. I agree, keeping them separated for now is a good idea, but you might want to let Bailey out, and hold Roscoe on your lap (or better yet, your husband's lap since he was the one that rescued him) for a few minutes and let her come to him on her own terms. It may take a few days, but I think she will get over this and things will go back to normal, eventually.

Hi everyone!The only thing that I think set this off was this: two nights ago, Roscoe somehow weasled himself into a fabric bag that had paperwork and files inside of it. He ended up getting the handle caught around his waist and FREAKED OUT. My husband said the cat literally turned into the tazmanian devil. It took Nik a good half hour to calm the cat down enough to be able to get him uncaught. Bailey witnessed the whole thing.

This same thing happened a few years ago to Moose. He got caught in a plastic bag and ran like crazy all over, trying to get the bag off him, and Rocky chased him. Moose then associated his fear and panic with Rocky and a big fight ensued. I had to separate and reintroduce them which took about two weeks.

Take things slowly; food was a big part of getting them back together. Get some Feliway diffusers too.

Good luck!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you all an update on Roscoe & Bailey...

We ended up keeping them separated, and gave Bailey a pheromone collar.
Seems to have done the trick. Today they slowly but surely have warmed back up to each other and are currently cuddled up in our bed drugged up on happy smells & catnip!



Thank you all for your help!
Stephanie, Nik, Roscoe & Bailey

Originally Posted by sblu

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you all an update on Roscoe & Bailey...

We ended up keeping them separated, and gave Bailey a pheromone collar.
Seems to have done the trick. Today they slowly but surely have warmed back up to each other and are currently cuddled up in our bed drugged up on happy smells & catnip!



Thank you all for your help!
Stephanie, Nik, Roscoe & Bailey

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Wonderful news! I'm so happy things got back to normal so quickly.

I just wanted to say that your pictures of Roscoe and Bailey are adorable! I'm glad they are friends again.

haha can you guys tell they missed eachother?

Awwww....that is the sweetest cat pile. So glad all is well.

Please tell us about the pheromone collar? I'm a big believer in Feliway plug in diffusers, but have not heard about this collar?

Originally Posted by Shanynne

Try dabbing, and just a tiny dab, of vanilla under their chins and at the base of their tails. That should make them both smell the same and get things back to normal. If you don't have any vanilla handy, try giving them each a very light spray of your perfume or cologne. And I mean a *very* light spray. You don't want to get their fur wet in any way, so make sure to spray from at least a foot away from them.

!

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Hi! I often advise the vanilla trick too, but when I do, I always warn people to use cooking vanilla only and to never use perfume. Perfume contains chemicals that can be harmful to cats.