Hi everyone,
I have had the joy of having two sibling cats for the past 5 years. A couple of months ago, my male cat saw a stray outside, and turned his aggression on to his sister. It was a horrific and violent fight, and I managed to step in to prevent any further harm to my female. I separated them immediately, and consulted with a behaviorist who talked me through a reintroduction. After three devastating attempts at reintroducing them, I made the heart wrenching decision to return my male cat (the aggressor) to the rescue group where I had adopted him. That was two weeks ago, and although they have kept me updated on him (he has not been adopted out yet), I cry constantly every day because I miss him terribly. I am completely devastated by this, and saddened that it came to this. I had never heard of redirected aggression before, but had I known that this was a possible outcome, I would have shielded my cats from the outside world. I tried to live with the two of them in separate rooms, but my female was so distressed by the end of the day, by staying in my bedroom.
I don't know if I will ever get over this. I can't even speak to pet loss support groups because I am ashamed of the fact that I let him go.
Is there anyone out there who has been through this, and if so, how did you cope.
I am heartbroken and lost without my boy, and I know there's no hope of my ever seeing him again.
Thank you to anyone who understands.
I have had the joy of having two sibling cats for the past 5 years. A couple of months ago, my male cat saw a stray outside, and turned his aggression on to his sister. It was a horrific and violent fight, and I managed to step in to prevent any further harm to my female. I separated them immediately, and consulted with a behaviorist who talked me through a reintroduction. After three devastating attempts at reintroducing them, I made the heart wrenching decision to return my male cat (the aggressor) to the rescue group where I had adopted him. That was two weeks ago, and although they have kept me updated on him (he has not been adopted out yet), I cry constantly every day because I miss him terribly. I am completely devastated by this, and saddened that it came to this. I had never heard of redirected aggression before, but had I known that this was a possible outcome, I would have shielded my cats from the outside world. I tried to live with the two of them in separate rooms, but my female was so distressed by the end of the day, by staying in my bedroom.
I don't know if I will ever get over this. I can't even speak to pet loss support groups because I am ashamed of the fact that I let him go.
Is there anyone out there who has been through this, and if so, how did you cope.
I am heartbroken and lost without my boy, and I know there's no hope of my ever seeing him again.
Thank you to anyone who understands.