Oh no, it happened again

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/268349/redirected-cat-aggression-separation-making-it-worse

My cats were separated for about 5 months and were on fluoxentine (generic prozac), for about 7 months due to redirected aggression after a couple of neighborhood cat visits.  I chronicled their progress from total separation to living together again in the thread linked.

Well, tonight, I locked my cats out of the bathroom while I cleaned the bathtub.  When I opened the door, I bumped against it and my cats who were right up against the door waiting for me, freaked and ran into the living room.  Dory, the skittish one, started hissing and growling and attacked her sister Josie.  At one point, Josie jumped onto a window sill and I thought she was going to fall through the window screen.  I grabbed Dory and stuffed her into a nearby carrier.  And they have been separated all night.

As luck would have it, I'm attending a two day conference this week.  It's in town so I'll be home at night but usually I work from home.  I'm trying to figure out if I should not take any chances and separate them this week until the conference finishes on Friday.  I also have some fluoxentine left and wonder if I should give them the med and nip things in the bud?  Though fluoxentine does take time to work so I'm not sure if it's going to make any difference initially.  But...to further complicate things, I will be out of town starting next Saturday and be gone for a week.  Again, I wonder if I should be extra prudent and separate them for the entire time I'm away.

In the longer term, I worry if Dory is just a skittish cat.  She gets frightened and lashes out at her sister.  I thought it was because she doesn't like strange cats, but it seems to be anything that scares her enough will set her off.  I worry that any loud sound or event will set her off while I'm away and she will attack her sister until one or both are completely exhausted or worse...because I'm not around to separate them.  I'm reconsidering if Dory should just be on a low dose of fluoxentine indefinitely.  

It's disheartening because I stuck to a very regimented 5 month separation in order to reconcile my cats and poof, in a couple of seconds, a freakout has seemingly set us back to square one.

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.  

Oh dear.  These things never happen at convenient times do they?    How are things today?

Thanks for asking, Mooch.  The next day, they were reunited a couple of hours after a big breakfast.  They usually fall into a deep slumber from the late morning on.  Taking advantage of this meant they were with each other for many sleepy hours.  There has been some chasing and staring since then but nothing malicious.  I step in either activity goes on a little too long.

I'm contemplating whether to separate them for the week that I will be away.  Or start Dory on fluoxentine.  Both options are unattractive but it scares me that there is a chance Dory will freak out again and they could be fighting for hours until the cat sitter comes by.

Oh boy, that IS disheartening.  How many days before you leave for your week away?  If you still have another week, maybe you can see how things go for a few days before you decide.

I'm leaving in 8 days.  Last night, there was some wrassling and it wasn't just play.  I did break it up right after I heard a hiss.  No fluoxentine yet, but I did increase their daily theanine intake and added some chamomile tea to their food.

tdonline said:

 
I'm leaving in 8 days.  Last night, there was some wrassling and it wasn't just play.  I did break it up right after I heard a hiss.  No fluoxentine yet, but I did increase their daily theanine intake and added some chamomile tea to their food.

Click to expand...

I sure hope that works!

Another freakout tonight.  I'm not sure who started it but I'm leaning towards Dory being startled by something... One minute she was fascinated by the DVD player opening and closing.  She then walked over to where Josie was playing with the turbo scratcher toy and all hell broke loose.  **(@#$$% darnit.

So they will definitely be separated during my trip.  Dory will definitely start on a low dose of fluoxentine.  Josie may also go back on fluoxentine...she plays her part by being a bit of alpha bully.

So sorry this is going on, you've worked so hard with this!  But it sounds like a good plan to keep them separated and get them back on the meds.  Here's hoping all goes smoothly during your trip and you don't have to worry too much!  

The plan is for them to be separated when unsupervised but be okay with each other when the cat sitter visits.  With that in mind, I'm keen on them getting along for even a few minutes.  Today is the first time they have been out together since being separated as of Saturday.  They had staring and swishing tails when they saw each other through the sliding door opening.  So I was a bit concerned they weren't going to be okay by the time I leave this coming weekend.  I ordered calming collars but have read certain side effects and I didn't want them to wear a troublesome collar while I was away

I do have walking jackets though.  So I sprayed the jackets with feliway and they are now in the living room for their usual long noon slumbers. I was hoping the sprayed jackets would make them smell the same to each other.   I'm going to be stepping out soon so I'll separate them again.  They'll be separated in the late evening too as that seems to be the time Dory loses her mind.  Hopefully in the next day or two we can do without the walking jackets.  Dory licked Josie's head a lot.  Hopefully her scent on Josie will be reassuring.  

I think this is the best I can hope for--separation when unsupervised and together when I'm here (and awake) as I can't trust Dory to not ever freak out again.  It would seem the only way I could mitigate it is if I heavily medicate Dory and I don't want to do that.  2.5mg of fluoxentine every other day is as much as I want to dose as Dory suffers severe constipation from the drug.

And thank goodness for Chewy.com.  I hope to not sound like a shill but they were very quick to deliver the items I ordered this weekend.  They are things I needed to accommodate my cats being separated for my trip.  I usually order through Amazon, but I will certainly keep Chewy in mind for any future pet needs.  I had deliveries from Amazon and Chewy today.  The difference was that I ordered the Chewy items Saturday night. I ordered the Amazon stuff over a week ago.