Cat starting fights even with her sister

[Aurel]

Hello
I posted on the forum once and I appreciated all the advice. As someone who never had cats befoeeits bit hard to know what theyre up to sometimes.
We have two cats who were close and both came pregnant (there is third cat who later also gave birth and she is being sterilized next week but shes not too important). Vet said they are maybe about 1 year now. Both gave birth within week of one another. They raised their kids together and the kids saw each other as proper littermates. However now we gave most away to happy new homes and trusted folks (with tears bur also big relief) and only one stayed behind. Vicky an asocial troublemaker who also got her ear clipped when she hid in car and it started. so she is probably stuck with us as much as it angers me a bit (she keeps going over to the neighbour).
One of the cats Pinky, the larger one started to act weird this week. She started being agressive to her "sister" and when the other comes by she hisses or even chases her a bit. It does NOT look like playfighting. Its just such a 360 from when they came and from when they still had kits around.Today I was weighting kittens of the third cat and she came and hissed at them and even gave warning swipe to one month old kit on the weigh that was just sitting there quietly! (I chased her away). She lets my mom pet her and even plays with her but runs away from me and does not let me pet her at all. However there is also older tomcat that sometimes comes get food here and she does notjing against him. She and her sister are neutered. Phoebe the sister didnt change at all though and even started to play with Vicky in absence of her siblings much more than her "bio" mother anyway. I dont know what to do and its stresful cause now I am worried about how she will act to the new litter (well their mom is larger and older so probably cant do much).
As a reminder keeping them inside is not a solution because we live in rural place and my grandparents and dad are extremely unreasonable people.

 

[Kris107]

I'll give this one a go... First, outside cats just have a tougher life. Since they're living in a community, they will have some squabbles and issues. Some cats are just grumpier than others and need their space. Do you have plenty of "resources" for them outside? Several water stations and food stations? Some cats are very territorial and as you've noticed, only allow certain to come into that space. In the instance of these outside-semi-feral cats, I think there's a degree of letting them work things out.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I think I got lost with a couple of details. Is Vicky spayed? If not, that could also be playing a role in Pinky's behavior change. Is Pinky also aggressive toward Vicky? Is there a 4th cat that is pregnant? And whose kitten is Pinky aggressive toward? Are there other kittens as well? Is Pinky aggressive toward them too?

Any change in a cat causing them to be aggressive to another cat when they did not use to be can have many causes. There is something stressing Pinky out and she is directing her stress reaction toward her sister, and one of the kittens, it sounds like. And, depending on how you respond to her aggression, she could be feeling you are someone to be leery of right now.

It could somewhat be the newer relationship between Phoebe and Vicky that Pinky finds unsettling. If Pinky is not aggressive toward Vicky, then Pinky might find Vicky a harder cat to pick on as opposed to her sister, and she is demonstrating some signs of attempting dominance over Phoebe. With a household full of cats - and kittens - she might feel overwhelmed at this point.

Illness can also cause aggression, and it can be either the attacker or the 'attackee' that has some medical condition. If the attacker is sick, that does not mean that they will necessarily attack all other cats. It does not sound like you are going to be able to have both these cats checked out by a vet, but if you can, I would do that first to rule this out as a possibility.

The kittens might also be an unsettling factor, and for now I would just keep Pinky away from all kittens. Because it seems as if you cannot do anything to control these cats' comings and goings, I don't see how you are going to be able to keep Pinky and Pheobe separated, or at least offer both of them places they can retreat to from one another. But that would certainly be something that should be given some serious consideration.

Assuming there is no health issue involved, take care of these kittens and keep them away from the other cats, adopt them out, spay whoever still needs to be, and see if things don't settle down when you have much less going on.

 

[Aurel]

I am really sorry but I have had a sick day and I even wrote the original post on my phone not very well- I will try to clarify?

I think I got lost with a couple of details. Is Vicky spayed? If not, that could also be playing a role in Pinky's behavior change. Is Pinky also aggressive toward Vicky? Is there a 4th cat that is pregnant? And whose kitten is Pinky aggressive toward? Are there other kittens as well? Is Pinky aggressive toward them too?

Vicky is not spayed yet. We are spaying the third adult cat.... I think I can say her name is Chichi that will be way easier - next week and we are going to discuss spaying her with vet. My mom firmly believes its better to spay older but I uh, dont share this belief - I hope the vet clears this up. She is.....around 14 weeks? More than 3 months definitely. But no I did not see her being agressive to Pinky, who is her biological mom. Nor did I see Pinky being agressive to her really....
Chichi (the third cat) gave birth about month ago and she had seven kittens and they are the kittens Pinky was agressive to. Both sisters are kinda, not getting along with Chichi, they dont like her too much and hiss at her, although she started it (she was the first cat that wandered in and she was rlly unfriendly to them when they came around). Pinky and her sister Phoebe gave births concurrently, only week apart and they took care of the kits together and fed them regardless of who was whom. So back then she was not in the slightest agressive to Phoebe's kits.

The kittens might also be an unsettling factor, and for now I would just keep Pinky away from all kittens. Because it seems as if you cannot do anything to control these cats' comings and goings, I don't see how you are going to be able to keep Pinky and Pheobe separated, or at least offer both of them places they can retreat to from one another. But that would certainly be something that should be given some serious consideration.

I think that could be it..... Pinky and Phoebe are able to go away from each other actually! We have a lot of spare buildings around the house so if anything happens we can seperate them for a bit. Plus I can let in Phoebe when grandma and dad are out.

Assuming there is no health issue involved, take care of these kittens and keep them away from the other cats, adopt them out, spay whoever still needs to be, and see if things don't settle down when you have much less going on.

We are! We are very relieved we gave away these 9 and only have these now and I really hope it goes well with this batch as well. I really hope it calms down and well be able to break down opposition to having cats inside someday.... it took like four years with the dog

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Your mom is mistaken, but...when I was coming up, it was thought that Iater spaying/neutering was better, and for femaIes, after the first Iitter was preferabIe and actuaIIy suggest by many vets. MY, how times have changed! So, don't fauIt your mom, she's advising what she was toId for years was right.

I don't have any further information that hasn't aIready been given, but thank you for wanting the best for these cats!