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Update On Bandit

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
I posted a question about my oldest cat Bandit who snapped and attacked his brother Smokey. Bandit is still locked up in his own room. We have been letting him out supervised to visit with the other cats. He seems fine for a few minutes and then the the two boys will start growling at each other. We break it up before anything happens, but when they do fight it's to the death. Is this just a territorial issue or is there something I'm missing. I haven't really got any feedback on what to do other than take him to the vet, which we did and the vet said he was perfectly healthy. The Feliway diffuser is making the other two cats lovey but doesn't seem to have an effect on Bandit at all. We have had it in for a few weeks now, I don't think it's fair to Bandit to have him locked up but we have no other choice. I've had some say to let them duke it out and things will work out on their own but we don't want vet bills to pay for if one or both of them get hurt fighting with each other. Please help, I want things to go back to the way they were before. Bandit is still not himself, he's still more aggressive than he was before and I can't get the two boys to get along like they did before. They have never been apart and they seemed inseparable before this happened. Nothing new has changed and none of the reasons people say he snapped seems to fit.
post #2 of 5
Are they neutered? If not, that would be the place to start. I will have to think a bit more but that is the first thing that comes to mind.
post #3 of 5
One of the ways you can tell territorial aggression between family cats is that is happens only during certain times and/or places. Usually cats "time-share" territory. In terrirtoial aggression they have not come to an agreement about something. Perhaps it happens at a certain time/place - ie my own cats have some sort of issues about the back door in the evening 8-9pm. Or perhaps they fuss near some territory - prime perch, feeding station, etc.

In status-related (or sometimes called dominance) aggression every single time cat A sees cat B - cat A wants to kick butt. Does not matter where or when.

There is a good introduction protocol at HSUS website. Kind of lengthy so I don't want to repeat it here. It is important to let the cats set the pace of progress - each and every cat must be free of fear and/or aggression before moving to the next step.

Once the cats have started growling they have probably given each other some bad signals that are easily missed by us humans. The first thing to look for is pupil enlargement and staring.

I really don't advise letting them duke it out - especially they are fighting "to the death"

You don't mention where you are located? In most metro areas there are some people who work with cat behavior. There are also people who will work with you on the phone or via email. Is there any way you can get personalized help?
post #4 of 5
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the replies. I did forget to mention that both boys are neutered, have been since they were six months old, and the female is spayed. We introduced the female over a year ago and Bandit made growling sounds and hissed at her to show her he was the top cat but got over it and all have been living in peace since. Unfortunately we don't live in an area that provides help for behavior issues among cats. The vet suggested finding a new home or putting him down if it becomes a huge issue and he's a danger to us as well. He's my big boy, I'm not giving him up to someone and I definitely don't want to put him down for an issue like this. I just don't get how he can be up on your lap with his brother one minute and then trying to kill him the next. He hasn't been the same since this happened. It doesn't seem to happen at certain times, when we let Bandit out the two boys sniff each other face to face and the back end too and seem fine, then the growling starts and we separate them again. I wrote in my previous post a few weeks ago that when we had Bandit in the carrier that he had moments where he would stop hissing, growling and spinning in circles and just stare off into space. I'm wondering if it's something mentally or if he's become chemically in-balanced somehow. The vet mentioned Prozac to calm him down enough to be around the other cats, but we can't afford medication. I love him so much and just want the Bandit I know back.
post #5 of 5
You mention that the boys sniff each other and seem fine and then the growling starts. How much time does this take to go from sniffing to growling?

Whay you might do is start a log of incidents - write down when and where the incident occur and also what where the cats doing in the minutes before the incident. This may help connect the dots with what is going on.

What out for subtle signals in between sniffing and growling - watch for staring, pupil dialation and hair puffing.

I agree that Bandits growling, spinning and staring into space may be medical/chemical/neurological. If you can ever get it on tape that would be good. It is often quite difficult and expensive to pin down medical causes.
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