Aggressive 2yo

I have two cats, a 2yo female and a 6mo female. The 2yo is getting more and more aggressive. Recently she had to be treated for fleas and worms (again) and after that she has been a nightmare. I can't get within a foot of her without her hissing at me. I have an 18 month old daughter and I'm really scared she will attack. What should I do?

jabsi said:

I have two cats, a 2yo female and a 6mo female. The 2yo is getting more and more aggressive. Recently she had to be treated for fleas and worms (again) and after that she has been a nightmare. I can't get within a foot of her without her hissing at me. I have an 18 month old daughter and I'm really scared she will attack. What should I do?

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It sounds as though she needs a vet check up.  There is a possibility she still may have fleas or worms which are making her very uncomfortable.  Did you take in stool sample after the flea/worm treatment to be sure she is clear?  Also is it possible she had a reaction to the medication.  I would call the vet to discuss.

MOD NOTE: merged

I have 2 cats, one is 2yo and one is 8mo. We rescued the 8mo 4 months ago, and ever since then the older cat has been getting meaner and meaner. I got them both spayed last week, and she still is mean. She attacks the other cat, and just this morning she hissed and batted at me! I have little kids, I can't have a mean cat. Any tips?

Did you talk to the vet about it at all when you took her to be spayed?  There may be more going on with her.

Mani said:

Did you talk to the vet about it at all when you took her to be spayed?  There may be more going on with her.

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I did, she said that it was most likely because they needed to be spayed. I'm kind of concerned that she's in pain so I called the vet yesterday, and after sending pictures over to her of her spay incision (I'm snowed in) she said that it looked like it was healing fine and she wasn't worried.

I doubt if it's the incision as she was like it before the spay.  I'd really be inclined to get her well checked over since the aggression is escalating.  You need to rule out any physical reasons.  Note exactly what she's doing so you can give the vet a really detailed account.

She used to be the sweetest cat and now she won't let me pick her up :/. Unfortunately I can't take her in for a wellness check for several more months due to lack of funds. Any tips in the meantime? Aggression is her only symptom. She even still likes to be around us, she just won't come up to us and won't let us touch her. I have to keep her away from the main parts of the house because my youngest doesn't quite grasp leaving Milky alone and Milky gets really agitated when she tries to touch her :/

You mention that the cats were just spayed. If your older cat's behavior is hormone related, it's going to take time for you to see any improvement. It takes a good 6-8 weeks for all those hormones to regulate and get out of the body.

Also, you mentioned that the aggression started after bringing in the new kitten. How did you go about introducing the two cats?

CatPack said:

You mention that the cats were just spayed. If your older cat's behavior is hormone related, it's going to take time for you to see any improvement. It takes a good 6-8 weeks for all those hormones to regulate and get out of the body.

Also, you mentioned that the aggression started after bringing in the new kitten. How did you go about introducing the two cats?

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I made new kitty (coco) her own space and gave them lots of time to get to know each other's scent, and then gave them supervised time. I thought I did everything right. Older kitty (Milky) has always been sort of sensitive. I didn't take in coco because I wanted another cat, she was found inside my husband's factory shaking and starving. I planned on finding her a forever home but I have had no success re-homing her. I knew it wouldn't be overnight but I guess I assumed it'd at least be getting better after a week.

A little bit of an update: Milky appears to be feeling better and acting better. She's been letting me give her loves, but still won't be picked up. She has been giving my LO warning meows now instead of instantly batting and hissing, so I'm able to work with my kids about gentle hands.

Here's a picture of Princess Milky herself (sorry it's blurry, she was sniffing the phone).