An overnight fight

kathryn41

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About 2 hours ago I woke up to hear a serious cat fight taking place outside the bedroom door. Lion, Bear and Tristan were on the other side of the door and there was a humungous, serious cat fight going on. I opened the bedroom door, Tristan raced into the bedroom under the bed and Lion and Bear took off, still fighting. I followed them into the living room and hoisted Bear up out of the fray. Lion immediately attacked, leaping up on top of me to get to Bear and the as I swung around to keep Bear out of his reach, he kept trying to attack. I let Bear go and raced for Lion, throwing a scatter rug over him to contain him. I separated them, then went looking for Tristan who was hiding under the bed. I calmed each cat down separately. Abbie and Freija were no part of this having been asleep on the bed at the time, and none of the cats showed aggression to them.

After they were calm I carried Bear into the living room where Lion was and held him until he calmed. I then put him down and picked up Lion and cuddled him. I started combing both of them and they were fine, still nervous and angst, but not having a problem with each other.

Then Tristan came in from the front room. Lion went over to say hello, they touched noses, then Bear came over and Lion attacked Tristan. Tristan jumped out of reach, wetting himself, and Bear took off after Lion. I had blanket ready and threw it over Bear, the closest one to me, and shoved him into the laundry room which was right there. Bear had also wet himself.

For the next hour I again spent calming down cats. Abbie and Bear were in one room and Lion and Freija were in the next. Tristan is in a third.

Right now, Lion and Bear are with me, both of them washing themselves. Bear has eaten and both of them are calling their nrmal 'where are you' meows when they are apart. Tristan is still apart. Lion was the main aggressor.

This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. They have always got along well and have always been best of friends and playmates.

What I suspect might have happened is that the back door is right by the bedroom door . . . the blinds are drawn at night but the bottom of the blinds were bent. There is a neighbour cat who comes and will jump at the window. The cats have reacted to her before, by hissing and growling. I suspect this may have happened again, and the cats already wanting in the bedroom and having the door shut on them turned their aggression on each other and things got out of hand.

So, I would welcome any advice from people who have experienced this themselves about how to proceed from here. I can buy a Feliway diffuser today which I will do. Is the vanilla trick a good one to use to reintroduce Tristan to Lion and Bear? I don't want to keep them separated too long in case they only remember the aggression and forget that they are friends, not enemies.

Thank you for any help.

Kathryn
 

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The same thing has happened to my cats now three times. Every time we have been visiting my parents so there has been some extra stress. First two times they accidentally ran into my parents' cat, I took her away and my cats turned on each other, last time they ran into my parents' dog and the same happened again. Last time was the worst and actually my cats are still separated. They have been seeing each other for short periods at a time and so far it is going well.
I don't think separation makes them to forget they are friends, it actually makes them to forget how the othet cat hurt and scared them. And while they are separated, you can change the rooms and some blankets so that they will have the other one's smell around them. Giving treats when they are together (and only then) is also good, because they will associate the other cat with treats
.
When my cats fought earlier I used the Feliway plug-in and it really worked, it made them more relaxed. This time I haven't because Valtteri has since been diagnosed with asthma and the Feliway is not really recommended then. The vanilla trick also helps.
The best thing is to be patient. And if they fight again you just have to start from the begining. Good luck!
 
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kathryn41

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Thank you!

This is the first time I have ever experienced anything like this. Today has certainly been a wary one all around. I have got Lion and Bear together and they are fine, unless something sets one off and he hisses, then the other one goes onto the attack. So I have been diverting their attention from each other at critical times and reinforcing positive interaction. Still, they are going to be separated overnight because they are still on edge and wary and loud noises and other stuff can trigger a repeat. The real problem is with Tristan - Bear especially has a problem. Tristan is in the spare bedroom and earlier today there was no problem when I was also in the room. I didn't get the door completely closed and Bear pushed it open and chased Tristan under the bed. I threw the blanket on Bear, then Lion came racing in and tried to attack the blanket. Bear slipped out and raced out of the room while I grabbed Lion and put him in the bathroom. I separated them again and half an hour later they were fine and were both sleeping on the cat tree. This peace is so fragile though!

I had hoped to get the Feliway today but had to go to the doctors instead to get antibiotics for the deep claw indents on my hand - only one appears bad but I knew I needed to have it treated. So tomorrow morning, Feliway!. I will try the vanilla trick too. I hope tonight's separation schedule will be one to allow my husband and I some sleep. He is exhausted and had a really rough two days at work - hehehe just didn't need this on top of things.

Thank you again - I really, really appreciate your imput and the knowledge you have gained from your experience.

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Well, day 2

an update: (Long)

Tristan was quite happy to stay in the spare bedroom. I was able to get Lion and Bear back on speaking terms without any further aggravations and played with them plus Abbie and Freija, trying to re-establish old routines. Come bedtime, I still wasn't sure if there would be a repeat of the aggressiveness, especially with Lion who is more willling to fight rather than just posture. I took Abbie, Freija and Bear into the bedroom with us and closed the door, leaving Lion by himself in the den asleep on the cat trees. It was a tense night with Lion and Bear crying for each other (not aggressive but their usual brother calls) through the door and the other two restlessly sleeping on the bed (as was I).

Come morning I opened the bedroom door, Lion raced in to say hello and be cuddled, and Bear raced out - then realized Lion was in the bedroom and came back in. They touched noses and everything was fine - they went into the bathroom with Joe while he took his shower - another normal morning routine. I remembered that I had some "Rescue Remedy" so I dosed them all.

I fed them, then fed Tristan, and then both of them crouched down outside the door to his room. I cleaned out the litter boxes, they came to investigate, then went to watch birds. Tristan pushed out his door when I opened it and went into the office. Lion saw him and followed. They touched noses, and that was that. I closed the office door and he sat in the window for a while there.

Then I relocated Tristan to the main bedroom with Abbie where they both curled up asleep on the bed, put Bear in the spare room and left Freija and Lion watching birds, while I went and bought the Feliway. I also picked up some Calm Treats that are supposed to help calm stressed cats down. We will have to see about those - they have turned their noses up at them so far.

Now the Feliway has some interesting side effects. I plugged it in in the outlet closest to the door where the fight happened, and used the spray in other parts of the house where they had fought or experienced stress. Tristan and Abbie were still in the bedroom, but all of a sudden it seemed that Lion, Bear and Freija had drunk jolt cola - they were filled with energy. It wasn't aggressive but it was somewhat frantic and I spent 65 minutes non-stop playing with them by running them after the laser light or chasing ropes or chewing their catnip toys. They were obviously 'happy' and I am not sure if all of that play was a release of extra adrenaline they were holding in or not, but it wasn't what I was expecting! Freija is still demanding play!

After they wore out a little, Tristan was crying at the door so I let him out and he came out and jumped up on the cat tree. Lion and Bear both came over and sniffed him. Tristan was extremely wary. He jumped down and went into the office and they followed, then into the bathroom. He was beginning to feel stressed with them close by and I could see him tensing, so I picked him up and put him back into the spare room again. At long last Lion is alseep on the cat tree and Bear on the top of the cupboards. Tristan is now out in the rest of the house walking around again.

I also wrote a note to the owner of the cat who visits overnight and tries to attack them through the window and who I am pretty sure was the instigator of this affair advising them of what has happened and asking him to keep the cat at home or I will take her to the humane society if she is on our property again (and will let him know that I have); went around all of the windows with a cat repellant, and blocked off the lower windows of the back door so that the cats can't see outside.

So, so far so good. We will see how it goes. As long as I can keep a re-occurance from happening things will be fine again - the cats seem fine with Tristan as long as he isn't exhibiting fear or aggressive behaviour. I will keep them separate at night still and while I am out of the house and I think we will get over this. I am just going to stay really vigilant in the meantime.

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Harmony restored - I think - I hope!

I separated them all again last night taking Lion and Abbie into the bedroom with us, leaving Bear and Freija at large, and Tristan again in the spare room. At 6 am I got up, fed them, and everyone was happy so left our bedroom door open. Bear and Lion freely interchanged, and everyone joined us on the bed. We slept in until 10 - needed after those nights of little sleep!

The cats were crowding around the spare room door and Tristan wanted out so I gave it a try. He boldly stalked out ignoring everyone, and started exploring, sniffing and walking throughout the house with Lion and Bear following. He jumped up on the cat tree, and Lion followed - the two of them sniffed noses and that was fine. He jumped down and walked into the front office with Bear following. Instead of getting defensive, Tristan initiated the move towards Bear, they mutually sniffed, then Tristan jumped up to look out of the window. So far so good!

Since then, Tristan has run down the length of the living room playing - with no one in pursuit; Lion has raced past him, jumping over top of him while playing with a toy, and Bear and Lion have done arm batting wrestling together in play from different levels of the cat tree. Bear is asleep now on the cupboards top, Tristan is sleeping in the top perch of the cat tree and Lion is sleeping in the bedroom. Harmony. I think it may be ok.

The owner of the cat who jumped at the window and set this off also stopped by yesterday and we had a good talk. She is going to try and keep her cat in at nights and if the cat does show up, I will give her a phone call and let her know. As long as the cat doesn't surprise them at night like happened the other night then they can cope. Ah harmony - it is so lovely!

Kathryn
 

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Kathryn, just a comment as well as relief that things are getting back to normal.

When cats are stressed and fighting and a human jumps in to mix with the fray, our first instinct is to protect those who are being attacked. This is normal human behavior. Our next instinct is to pick UP the victim and hold it high overhead, again to protect, and again normal HUMAN behavior...

But in the cat's world, a cat that is higher than the rest of the group is an immediate threat to the others, especially if the cat is not the designated leader of the group or the Alpha. Making that cat more susceptible to increased attacks of fury which is why Lion attacked Bear while you had him in your arms.

Next time, use a dark blanket and throw over the group, or reproduce (if you are able to) a gutteral meow warning hiss- because YOU are ALPHA and if you tell them in their language that what they are doing is not acceptable to you, they will back off in respective corners and just twitch their tails at each other. But don't get into the middle of them, you will get bit- use other means to get their attention, because as stressed as they were they all needed a time-out-
 
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kathryn41

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Thanks Hissy,

I will try that hissing action. I did try to use a blanket but it didn't make a difference - probably because the blanket wasn't able to cover them enough or they could back out from it and keep up the attack.

I did know about the 'higher' up issue but didn't make the connection with Lion and Bear. Tristan was the alpha cat - although this altercation has changed that - and Lion was next. He is now taking on the alpha cat role and Bear isn't too happy about it. The real issue still seems to be with Bear and Tristan. We had a small set back this morning due to a totally accidental event.

I have been increasing the time all three are together - totally supervised and interrupting if things look like they are getting too focused or 'tense'. Tristan and Bear were in the bedroom and just walking out of the bathroom there when Abbie - who was very playful - came racing in and bumped into Bear. Bear got all huffy and tense, then Tristan turned and ran under the bed. Lion came into the bedroom in time to see Bear all huffy and Tristan going under the bed so started after him and they were face to face all yowling. I interrupted it before it went further and got Lion out of the room, then went back to get Bear. Bear was all huffy and puffed up even though he wasn't near anyone, and went tense when I touched him and started to hiss so I quickly put him into the closet nearby and let everyone cool off for a while. Lion and Bear are fine with each other still, but they were both a little tense when I carried Tristan out. I tried the vanilla trick with everyone and while everyone was watchful and stand offish - except for Tristan - he has no sense of when he should respond and when he shouldn't! -and watchful equilibrium is restored. Tristan is now back into the spare bedroom where he is sleeping, Bear is stretched out asleep in the living room and Lion is watching out the bck window, still a bit 'on guard'. Abbie and Freija are lying in the sun in the office.

I will try the Alpha stance and see how that goes - if they will back off and just twitch tails that would be a big improvement!

Thanks for your advice,

Kathryn
 

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It's good to hear that things are improving.
When I have allowed Vilma and Valtteri to get together after separation, I have found it best to separate them again after either one starts to show stress. And giving them treats when they are together, side-by-side if possible.
Like Hissy said it's our instinct to pick up the victim... When an introduction went wrong some time ago and Valtteri was going to attack Vilma, I wanted to prevent it and picked Vilma up to take her out of the room. Valtteri jumped at my leg. I got quite nasty tooth and claw holes in my leg ( all 4 "corner" teeth and 10 claws ) and my jeans had big holes. I knew I shouldn't pick her up but instinct...
Let us know how it's going.
 
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kathryn41

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Update - Saturday (long post)

Well, it has now been 8 1/2 days since the Big Incident and I am very pleased with the way things are going. On Wednesday, Tristan pushed open the door of his room and ran nose to nose with Lion. They sniffed each other, then Lion went into the room to investigate and Tristan went into the living room. Lion came out again and went up to Tristan, his tail up in the air and making these little trilling noises he does when he is being kittenish. He was happy to see Tristan! Joy completely filled him, and they spent some happy time playing to gether, even wrestling, with absolutely no hint of distress. I am able to let them spend more and more time out together, although at the first sign of huffiness or wariness I use distraction or separation to prevent anything developing. I am also rotating the 'neutral' cats between the ones involved in the skirmish so that everyone is still interacting together. The only ticklish part now is between Tristan and Bear - Bear still shows some outward aggressive postures, and if Tristan shows defensiveness or tries to leave, it can escalate, so I am preventing that from happening.

Thursday Lion went and 'called' on Tristan's door so he could come out. I was able to have all of them together in the same room at the same time under very close supervision and had either Bear or Tristan on my lap or at hand to prevent any problems. Yesterday, they all spent quite a bit of time together without any difficulties, all sleeping in various locations or sitting on the cat tree. There are still a few signs that things are close to the surface, especially during play time when energies get overstrung and any of the cats running too close may cause Lion or Bear to go 'on guard'. Bear and Freija have had a staring contest as well in which I watched but didn't intervene, and they worked it out.

This morning was another first. Tristan spent the night in a separate room, but I let the other 4 have the run of the rest of the house together without separating anyone. I let Tristan out this morning, and when Bear saw him he started to get a little huffy. Tristan - smart cat - didn't run or move away this time, and Bear came up and sniffed him, and Tristan sniffed him back. Bear started to follow Tristan around - and he became more relaxed. Then Bear sort of pushed up against Tristan and Tristan licked his face a few times. Not quite 'peace' yet, but they are re-establishing their relationship.

I have been actively using flower essence remedies as well - not only the Bach essences but FES Quintessentials (www.fesflowers.com) as they seem to be even more effective. Hehehe, I am taking them too:-) and know that I feel their effects very quickly. I am targeting specific traits so am using Oregon Grape (promotes loving inclusion of others, expectation of good will, ability to trust and counteracts defensive behaviour, expectation of hostility and antagonistic projections), Red Clover (promoting calm and steady presence and counteracting susceptibility to mass hysteria and anxiety or external group thought 'panic'), and have added Tiger Lily (positive social interaction, collaboration from balancing male/female spiritual energy against overly aggressive male energies and excessive competition) as well as Dill for Bear and for Freija who are both very sensitive to environmental energies ( promotes ability to experience and absorb wide variety of sensory experiences preventing overwhelm due to excess stimulation or hypersensitivity to environment and outer activities). I am also using another homeopathic remedy called "Nervousness" by Newton on the other cats to help them stay calm, and adding CALM DOWN for cats (Baxter Environmental Products) to their drinking water.

And - I got in touch with an Animal Communicator to see if she could help identify what each animal was feeling about the situation. I have been working with her since last Sunday, and her insight has been especially helpful. She has offered a number of energy calming/cleansing techniques that I have been using to good effect along with actively communicating with the cats and letting them know what I am doing and what I want them to do. I am also using a lot of positive re-inforcement for the desired behaviour and trying to be aware and sensitive to whatever messages they are sending.

So, nearly 5 days since our last actual exchange (between Lion and Bear when Bear inadvertently jumped out of the bathtop on top of Lion - no fight but definite posturing that I interrupted and then separated them) and the animals do seem happier. I am also learning an incredible amount of new things and am looking at taking a course on animal/interspecies communications because I want to explore this further.

We aren't out of the woods yet, but there is a lot of sunlight coming in between the trees, and now at least I believe we will be able to return to the happy mutually convivial environment we had before this incident.

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Good news and bad news (another long post)

Yesterday was golden. I separated Bear in the morning just so I could get some sleep - he kept meowing at me all night, plus it was very windy and stuff was hitting the house, and of course, the air flight path had to be right overtop of the house all night from the airport. When I let Bear out with the other 4, everything was wonderful. There were no raised words or fluffed tails or any indications of aggression. The cats spent all day together - all five of them - with no problems, playing, sleeping together, eating together. At night, I decided to leave things as they were and so Tristan joined us in the bedroom for the first time since the incident. All 5 of the cats were in the bedroom and everyone behaved perfectly.

I got up at 6 to feed them and went back to bed for another hour's sleep. About 15 minute later I heard the howling again. I found Lion and Bear about 3 feet apart yowling at each other all fluffed up, Lion by the entrance to the front office. I took the blanket I had grabbed and put it between the two and backed Lion up into the office and closed the door. While I was settling Bear I heard yowling from the office - I didn't realize Tristan had seeked refuge in there. I opened the door and turned on the light - they were half a room apart so I gently lowered the blanket overtop of Lion. He was quiet and I picked him up, closed the door behind me and took him to the bathroom where I could release him. I then got Bear, gave him Rescue Remedy and then put himin the spare room. I then went back, checked on Tristan, dosed him with Rescue Remedy and found he had wet himself again. Finally, I checked on Lion, gave him Rescue Remedy and let him out of the bathroom. Lion checked the whole house, then sat on the cat tree and relaxed. As Bear was crying and tryin to claw under the door, I put Abbie in the room with him to keep him company.

About an hour later, I opened the door to the bedroom where Tristan was. Lion walked in, saw Tristan on his cat tree and jumped up beside him on the window sill. Then Lion jumped down and went out. I left the door open. Tristan jumped down, ate something then came into the den. Lion met him and then the yowling started again. They both jumped up to the cat tree and I picked Tristan up - he is the alpha cat - and put him back into the bedroom. That is where things are right now. Lion is playing here with me, going to each of the doors and giving his 'let's play" trill at the door, but I am going to leave them apart today for much of the day until the quiet sleep time this afternoon then try to start basic re-introductions again.

At least, now I know that they can return to their harmonious state. It was so good, too!!! For some reason, Bear took after Tristan who turned and ran, and then Lion ran after the two of them and tried to compete with Bear. His animosity to Tristan is new this time. I hope it is only because they were both still on edge and that reintroduction will go better. Unfortunatley, I have no way to put up a screened access to any room. Already my husband is extremely annoyed about how the cats are controlling the household and isn't too interested in trying to understand what is going on. Of course, he happens to be working from home today as well. Oh well, back a few spaces . . .

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Well, another update:-)

It has been 15 days since the big fight. Things are much better! Tristan is still separated at night -which he doesn't like, but is pretty well able to spend the day and evening out with the other cats. Lion and Bear are pretty relaxed and playful again, and it only seems to become a problem when a) Tristan is feeling insecure or nervous or b) the cats have been playing and someone gets over-excited and hisses or growls.

In either of those cases, I need to separate Tristan away from the group for a cool down and then re-direct the attentions of the near-combatants with some sort of a toy or something else. Four seem able to handle things just fine as long as it is two females and two males - any two males - although Bear is the one who gets more easily aroused and upset - then Lion gets triggered and stays upset long after Bear has calmed down.

We haven't had words or huffiness or anything similar for several days now, and we have been able to have all cats playing together interactively with me without incident.

So, so far so good! We are still trying to deal with unexpected loud noises - but that too is improving as evidenced during yesterday's ice storm when we lost branches off of trees with loud cracks - and once the cats saw nothing was going to hurt them, they calmed down quite quickly.

So, we aren't resting on our laurels yet, but I am feeling much much better and optimistic - and so are the cats. We are, however, continuing with all of the flower essences for the cats, my husband and me!

Kathryn
 

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I just found this thread. I'm glad things are improving for you
 

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Hi Kathryn-
I've been following this thread with interest - it's quite the saga!

How effective do you think the Rescue Remedy and other natural calming essences have been? I tried Rescue Remedy once (for one of my cats) but was unsure if it had a positive effect. I may not have used it properly.

Your experience with your cats shows how relationships between them can be completely knocked off kilter by what might seem at first to be insignificant events (ex. another cat outside the window). When my Louie got his head stuck in the handle of a shopping bag, and was trying to rid himself of it by running around the house, my other 2 cats became very fearful of him. Though they'd all lived together for years, Louie had suddenly become unfamiliar! It finally took anti-anxiety meds to resolve that situation, after months of unsuccessfully trying behavior mod and other strategies.

Looking forward to more progress reports! Best of luck to you and the kitties.
 
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kathryn41

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Hi KTLynn

Oh, your poor Louie! Freija actually did that once but fortunately I was there and was able to grab the bag off of her before she totally panicked and have always been extremely careful about any type of bag with handles ever since.

To be honest, I am not as convinced with the Rescue Remedy itself as I am with some of the other flower essences I am using. I did a fair bit of research into the various different ones available and am currently finding the FES Quintessentials to be more effective. I am using Oregon Grape which specifically targets aggressive behaviour; Tiger Lily which addresses aggressive territoriality; Red Clover which targets mass hysteria or group thought panic and dill which targets overwhelm from too many environmental stressors. I am also using CALM OUT a homeopathic remedy in their drinking water and another homeopathic remedy to combat NERVOUSNESS- plus the Feliway rom diffuser. I did use Rescue Remedy at first, but it didn't seem to be as effective as these individual essences are. I am also taking the Oregon Grape and Red Clover myself, along with Pink Yarrow which targets lack of emotional clarity and poor emotional boundaries to try and lower my own stress levels. I also think Quaking Grass would help (targets dysfunctional group interactions and inability to compromise) and I am also checking into the cat specific Multi-cat and Anti-aggression essence formulas that were in a link Hissy posted (fairycats, I think).

I am putting it in their food, their water, and any water sources that they drink - like the flower vase as well as giving them dropperfuls into their mouths- which they do not appreciate:-).

I know from the effects I have personally felt something happens, and I am pretty confident that they are playing a role in helping to reduce stress and restore harmony here -a lthough it is obviously a cumulative effect from everything I am doing:-).

Thanks for the good wishes - I really appreciate them!

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Well, I am hoping this will be the last update on this thread . . .

Things seem to be pretty much back to normal here. This week, I have started to let Tiristan stay out when we are going to bed. He had been separated at night since that is when the fights occured. He would sleep with us on the bed or on the small cat tree in the bedroom. Since they all seem to sleep until around 4 am, I got up at 4 am or as in today at 5 am which is when they started to wake up and play, and put Tristan into the spare room until regular waking up time.

The problems now seem to come only when they are 'playing' and get too wound up. Lion got overly focused the other afternoon on Tristan who was just sitting in the catbed and started hissing, so I got him redirected and Tristan judiciously withdrew to a safer place and all was well. A few times Tristan has withdrawn under the spare room bed and Lion has also gone there and sat down on the floor beside. I would watch for a while and took Lion out a few times, but lately now, Tristan darts his paws out from under the bed and Lion darts his in and they are now playing. The only other incident which I didn't allow to develop is when Tristan went under our bed and Lion started to stalk him there - that was one of the places where a fight took place - so it is now seeming to focus on location and not individual which is good.

They are still separated into groups when I leave the house just for safety's sake and as I said, partially overnight. Each day I try and allow a further bit of freedom from my attention and by watching the other cats in my area I know if there are problems elsewhere or not. Most of yesterday Bear, Tristan, Abbie and Freija curled up sleeping together on the bed with Lion on the cat tree.

Tristan is also learning how to 'greet' Lion and Bear to avoid any undue attention - he will do something totally normal when they come to him, like approaching them with his tail up or sitting down and washing a paw or something like that so that they don't think it is something 'unusual' and go on guard. When he gets defensive they get alert, so as long as he isn't defensive or overly playful in response, everything is fine.

So, still lots of road to travel before I am comfortable leaving them all together unaccompanied but they are doing great. I have made a special flower essence blend for Bear to help him deal with area stress, and the others get what appears appropriate to the circumstances each day. They seem to be working as even at night Bear has calmed down dramatically and no longer does his forlorn calling and seeking attention when we are trying to sleep.

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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So, ok,

we had 'words' again this morning:-(. I have been sick with a cold and wasn't able to sleep last night so at 3 am got up and went into the living room to read. Tristan stayed in the bedroom with Joe, and Lion and Bear came and cuddled with me. They would get up and play for a little, then come back for more cuddling.

Joe got up at 7 and Tristan came out for some food. I fed them and everyone was getting along fine. Joe went in for his shower and to get ready for work and I was sitting at the computer when I heard two cats race past me and then the low yowling starting. I jumped up and saw Lion and Bear facing off with each other, so put the blanket overtop of Lion and then sat on Bear to hold him down since he was about to attack the blanket. He howled for a bit then settled as I talked to him. I let him up and then went over to Bear and with the blanket backed him up to the bathroom and then picked him up and cuddled him. I carried him around for about 5 minutes cuddling him while Bear sniffed around the 'fight' area, then put Lion down in the bathroom and went and got Bear. I carried him into the bedroom and cuddled him for a bit, then left him there with the door closed. Abbie and Freija were both in the den and Tristan was in the spare room. I don't know exactly what happened - but I don't think Tristan was involved this time. They calmed down very quickly and after 15 minutes they were back together without any wariness with each other. Sure wish I knew what it was that set them off this time. Joe tends to be pretty noisy getting ready in the morning - don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. It is the only thing I can think of this time.

Kathryn
 
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kathryn41

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Well, I have a better idea of what happened this morning - and I believe Tristan was involved which in its way is reassuring.

When I was cleaning up I noticed an inordinate amount of cat fur in the bedroom that wasn't there this morning. Looking at it closely I saw it was Tristan's and Bears, so what I suspect happened is that while Joe was in the shower Tristan or Bear was in the bedroom and the other one came in. If Tristan shows any defensive behavoiur Bear goes on the offensive, and I suspect that is what happened. Tristan then raced out of the bedrioom into the spare room with Bear following and Lion must have been in the den or living room and intersected Bear - which is what he has done in all of the other cases as well. When I allowed Tristan out to interact with the other cats, he and Lion were absolutely fine - neither of them got huffy or showed any signs of distress or concern. When Bear saw Tristan however he started to puff up and start his low yowl so I put my housecoat overtop of Bear and picked up Tristan and returned him to his 'sanctuary'. I am getting very tired of this especially when just last night they were play wrestling together and taking turns chasing the krinkle ball in the bathtub.!

Kathryn
 
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