My cat is now scared of my other cat

[Jessica_Merlin_Meep]

We are in the reintroduction process after a fit of redirected aggression with my younger boy (3 months in to this reintroduction and no end in sight...) The aggressor cat has gotten to my older cat several times since the initial fight and now my submissive cat is scared to even eat by the door, let alone seeing the aggressor cat. I don't know what to do. I get it, he doesn't want to get attacked again for no reason so he has a right to be scared, but how do I convince him that his brother cat is still the same brother cat? That he won't hurt him? We are still at the step in reintroduction where we feed by the door. STILL. It's been three months and we've had a few incidents where a cat got loose and a fight ensued, with the aggressor cat attacking out of nowhere. What do I do to make my submissive older boy feel better?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Make sure there are lots of places that he can retreat to, where the aggressive cat can't reach him. Try some scent swapping while they are separated (forgive me if I'm preaching to the choir). At some point, you may have to consider medicating the aggressive cat temporarily, until you can get a handle on this, then slowly weaning him off the medication. That's been known to do the trick when all else failed, and it is by no means always a permanent thing!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Do you know what started this? That could play role in how to resolve this whole issue. How does the aggressive cat act when no where near the older cat? How are both of them doing otherwise - eating/drinking/litter box usage/playing/etc.?

The age old question - have they both been to see the vet for a full check up since this started? An underlying illness of either cat could be the culprit. Sometimes cats will attack sick cats, and other times the sick cat will be the one doing the attacking.

Depending on what additional information you can give us, the answer might be to start introductions all over again - allowing the older cat to settle down first by not having to see or hear or smell the aggressor for a while.

 

[ArtNJ]

I know that Jackson Galaxy and certain folks recommend feeding on opposite sides of the door, but it seems to cause folks a *lot* of problems and is kind of a pet peave of mine. Being close to the door is triggering a hyper alert status - what I call "guard duty" - and a cat on guard duty must be vigilant! They don't want to play or eat. So getting cats to eat anywhere near the door causes folks a lot of problems. Theoretically, you could just move the bowls back and gradually closer, but we are still talking about a few minutes a day, and I'm not sure how its supposed to generate progress. Can you do double stacked baby gates so that they can see each other and the scared cat can see that nothing bad happens as a result? If the gates are up for most of the day, thats the kind of meaningful time that can generate progress.

I also want to reassure you that being on guard duty can continue for a bit once they are allowed to mingle. Its not a problem in and of itself. If you move to the baby gate step and your scared cat starts hiding under the bed all day or peeing on the floor, then thats a sign that there is still a big problem. But being on guard duty near the door is not.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The trick with feeding on opposite sides of the door (and what so many people seem to miss) is that you start out at a distance where neither cat reacts to the other, and that can mean totally across the room, and sloooooooooowly inch the dishes closer to each other, backing up when necessary. It's a long, slow process, and A ArtNJ 's advice is every bit as good, and may even be faster.