Cat aggression - 3 cats that have been getting along fine for years

[stevie_rae]

Hi all,

I have 3 cats who have coexisted together for a minimum of 4 years. 4yo Ragdoll male, 6yo DSH female and 8yo DSH male. We moved to a new house 6 months ago with not much trouble, they settled into the space a lot quicker than expected. We have been letting them outside supervised. Today when they were outside my 8yo Male jumped on my 6yo Female (he often does this inside and they need to be separated as she will often get startled and angry. I think he is trying to play, as it seems to happen when he is in a playful mood, but goes about it the wrong way and escalates. As soon as they are redirected or spend some time apart they are fine). She got more scared than usual (I think because they were outside, and they still aren't 100% comfortable out there), my 4yo came to see what was happening, and she attacked him. It resulted in an all out brawl, with the 8yo and 6yo both attacking each other. The 4yo was terrified and trying to get away. It was very escalated, a lot of hissing, screeching, growling etc. No major injuries that I can tell but lots of fur lost. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

We kept them separate for a few hours, and when their body language looked calm, we have tried to reintroduce on 2 occasions, both times trying to go back to their regular routine. First time it started quite calmly, but escalated to some growling and hissing, with the 4yo initially being scared / hissing, and the 6yo cornering him. So we separated again. Second time things got really out of hand, they all kind of went at each other again, I picked up the 4yo as he was being cornered by the 6yo and she was attacking him, he proceeded to urinate all over me. Up until this point I thought it was just the 4yo triggering the others (i.e. he would cower and hiss growl when seeing them, and they appeared to escalate on the back of this), but the 6yo and 8yo are now growling through the door. Since this point they are all in separate rooms, however are growling and spitting at each other from behind the doors even though they cant see each other. It's like they don't even recognise each other any more.

I'm really stressed out as nothing like this has ever happened before. I know the process of introducing as I had to introduce them all quite slowly (e.g. feeding on other sides of the door, slowly opening the door etc). Do I just go back to doing this? Has it happened to anyone else? Even when they were first being introduced I never saw this level of aggression.

Hope someone can help out.

Thank you

 

[di and bob]

It is redirected aggression which led to nonrecognition. It often happens when cats are under stress and something triggers them to attack anything in reach including each other. In your case it sounds like something outside was the trigger and things escalated to an all out attack. Being cats, I'm sure they are still not 100% comfortable with the new surroundings and the move. It will take days, even weeks for them to get back together. It WILL happen, but it will take time. Take a towel and rub eachg one of them to transfer scents. Keep a calm, relaxing environment with treats and lots of stroking, and giving confidence back to them. They must be kept calm and separated for a while, and then supervision for a time. Let them see each other so they don't forget each other, but not able to personally make contact. Like one in a large dog kennel where they can be kept safe. I wouldn't let them outside for an indefinite amount of time, there are too many threats and excitable things out there for them right now. Remember that they are so scared out of their minds that YOU could be the focus of an attack too. Make sure each one has a safe room, area to retreat to, that can be defended and they can use to feel safe. this is a scary thing, I had the same thing happen when one of my cats had an emergency and I wasn't able to take all three to the vet as I usually do. it took a week for them all to get back to normal, every time my sick one came near tehy would growl and get ready to attack. I would say NO loudly and redirect them either away from the area or gave them a toy to distarct them. Things will get back to normal, it will just take time.

 

[stevie_rae]

It is redirected aggression which led to nonrecognition. It often happens when cats are under stress and something triggers them to attack anything in reach including each other. In your case it sounds like something outside was the trigger and things escalated to an all out attack. Being cats, I'm sure they are still not 100% comfortable with the new surroundings and the move. It will take days, even weeks for them to get back together. It WILL happen, but it will take time. Take a towel and rub eachg one of them to transfer scents. Keep a calm, relaxing environment with treats and lots of stroking, and giving confidence back to them. They must be kept calm and separated for a while, and then supervision for a time. Let them see each other so they don't forget each other, but not able to personally make contact. Like one in a large dog kennel where they can be kept safe. I wouldn't let them outside for an indefinite amount of time, there are too many threats and excitable things out there for them right now. Remember that they are so scared out of their minds that YOU could be the focus of an attack too. Make sure each one has a safe room, area to retreat to, that can be defended and they can use to feel safe. this is a scary thing, I had the same thing happen when one of my cats had an emergency and I wasn't able to take all three to the vet as I usually do. it took a week for them all to get back to normal, every time my sick one came near tehy would growl and get ready to attack. I would say NO loudly and redirect them either away from the area or gave them a toy to distarct them. Things will get back to normal, it will just take time.

Thank you for the reply. We kept them separate for 2 days and have slowly introduced again. They are acting fine tonight so fingers crossed it has passed us. I agree with no more time outside for a good while! Thanks for your ideas, the slow introduction definitely worked

 

[Lisannez]

Thank you for the reply. We kept them separate for 2 days and have slowly introduced again. They are acting fine tonight so fingers crossed it has passed us. I agree with no more time outside for a good while! Thanks for your ideas, the slow introduction definitely worked

You are lucky that it was that quick, awesome. We have a ragdoll that gets this mis directed and/or non recognition aggression with her sister cat and sometimes it lasts for over a month