Cats squabbling

Midway is a huge orange tabby and has been in permanent play mode since we got him.  He has often pounced Montressor in play, even though Montressor has never been thrilled about it.

Their squabbles have gotten worse in the last three or four months.  I thought at first it was Montressor feeling more sensitive, leading to him hissing and growling at Midway when he got pounced.  They are both up there in age, Montressor has always been the submissive cat and Midway has always been the dominant cat, so I didn't really pay any attention.  I'd watch with a squirt bottle in case I needed Midway to back off in a hurry, but I didn't watch body language closely.

Last night, they had a squabble on the brand new cat tree.  However when Montressor jumped off the cat tree, and a second time later, I noticed that Midway was walking slowly towards Montressor with his tail twitching.  That's not play.  Midway has never shown that body language before.

The thing is, I can't figure out what triggered it, and I don't know what to do about it.  Three or four months ago, we were well settled into the new place.  In fact, things were so settled that the third cat, Shadow finally stopped territory marking.  About all we did was move the litter box so we could put the Christmas tree in its place.  We have no local friends so no one ever comes over, so that can't be disturbing the cats.  Well, my daughter did start a part-time job so the cats are sometimes alone for a few hours.  However the last place we lived prior to June, she had a part-time job and they were alone for even more hours.

They both saw the vet at the beginning of January.  They were taken together which should have helped with the communal scent, no problems were found, and the hissing and growling pre-date the vet visit.  Montressor, who has been so good at vet visits that one vet tech called him a perfect gentleman, did flip out and growled and left a 4 inch scratch on the vet tech.  That was a shock, since he's never been that keyed up at a vet visit before.

Midway did mess with Shadow one time, he bopped her pretty hard on the head.  That is also highly unusual, as both cats are convinced that the other is the dominant cat, so they live in a state of acting like they believe in mutual assured destruction and tend to give each other room when walking by.

I just want peace between the kitties.  Any ideas for making that happen?

It is positive that you have noticed the changes in your cats' interactions, it is often very subtle behaviours that are easy to miss when cat relationships alter.   

It is not uncommon for relationships to alter over time as one cat becomes less fit than another, less agile, or one becomes more confident than another for some reason.  The first thing I always wonder is if there is some underlying health issue but if they have just seen the vet I am assuming this is not the case.   You do not say what ages your cats are but it is always possible their maturing could be behind some of this.    

From my own experience having two cats previously, and reading others' threads here on TCS it seems quite common for cats who share a residence to go through periods where they are unsettled with eachother and relationships have to be re-established.   I don't think I would separate them unless they were causing serious harm to each other or showing worrying changes in behaviour indicating anxiety, but look at your home and see if you can add in any more safe places for all of them, and make sure that they all have access to litter without being observed or obstructed by the others.

I hope you see things settle down quickly.

MServant said:

 
It is positive that you have noticed the changes in your cats' interactions, it is often very subtle behaviours that are easy to miss when cat relationships alter.   

It is not uncommon for relationships to alter over time as one cat becomes less fit than another, less agile, or one becomes more confident than another for some reason.  The first thing I always wonder is if there is some underlying health issue but if they have just seen the vet I am assuming this is not the case.   You do not say what ages your cats are but it is always possible their maturing could be behind some of this.    

From my own experience having two cats previously, and reading others' threads here on TCS it seems quite common for cats who share a residence to go through periods where they are unsettled with eachother and relationships have to be re-established.   I don't think I would separate them unless they were causing serious harm to each other or showing worrying changes in behaviour indicating anxiety, but look at your home and see if you can add in any more safe places for all of them, and make sure that they all have access to litter without being observed or obstructed by the others.

I hope you see things settle down quickly.

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I hope they settle down too.  Montressor is 16 and Midway is 12, so I doubt that maturing is the reason.  Montressor is hanging around the upstairs more to avoid Midway, so that indicates some anxiety.  That and trying to take the poor vet tech's arm off.

arouetta said:

 
I hope they settle down too.  Montressor is 16 and Midway is 12, so I doubt that maturing is the reason.  Montressor is hanging around the upstairs more to avoid Midway, so that indicates some anxiety.  That and trying to take the poor vet tech's arm off.

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Oh no, poor vet-tech'.   And Montressor of course as it was no doubt pure adrenaline there.  

When I referred to 'maturing' I was thinking about aging processes and how cat health and fitness alters over the years.  Sometimes what can happen as a result is dominance can swap round if the more dominant cat becomes less agile or a little slower for some reason.  For my former cats it shifted when the formerly very athletic cat started to develop early signs of arthritis.  Her devious sister took hold of the oportunity and took over in a manipulative and devious way with only subtle signs of bullying to show for it.   They settled down in to their new rolls but their relationship was quite different.  E.g. they swapped the end of my bed each of them slept at, and my cat with arthritis was much more nervous until her sister passed away.   It is hard to watch but it is part of living with cats who share territory.  Some people keep their cats in different areas of the home if things remain tense and their cats start to harm each other.  Thankfully that wasn't something I had to do as my apartment is very small.

MServant said:

 
Oh no, poor vet-tech'.   And Montressor of course as it was no doubt pure adrenaline there.  

When I referred to 'maturing' I was thinking about aging processes and how cat health and fitness alters over the years.  Sometimes what can happen as a result is dominance can swap round if the more dominant cat becomes less agile or a little slower for some reason.  For my former cats it shifted when the formerly very athletic cat started to develop early signs of arthritis.  Her devious sister took hold of the oportunity and took over in a manipulative and devious way with only subtle signs of bullying to show for it.   They settled down in to their new rolls but their relationship was quite different.  E.g. they swapped the end of my bed each of them slept at, and my cat with arthritis was much more nervous until her sister passed away.   It is hard to watch but it is part of living with cats who share territory.  Some people keep their cats in different areas of the home if things remain tense and their cats start to harm each other.  Thankfully that wasn't something I had to do as my apartment is very small.

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I can definitely understand the role swapping due to aging, but Midway has always been the dominant cat.  Montressor has always acted like being the low cat on the totem pole was no problem, he never tried to assert himself.  (I take that back, when he and Midway would groom each other, he'd get crazy with the ear cleaning and then start biting the ear.  Midway would have the look of his face of "Again??", put up with it for a bit and then play wrestle with Montressor, they'd be a quiet ball slowly going around.  It had to be play since it was slow and quiet.)

Ironically at the vet, after Montressor clawed the first vet tech pretty good, the second vet tech talked about scruffing him.  At the time, the vet was listening to his heart.  The vet said no need, had the first tech pet him and managed the rabies vaccine with Montressor not noticing a thing.  Weird he flipped out with the stethoscope but didn't notice a needle in his hip.