Okay, So What The Heck Is Goin On??!!

[mr wendall]

What on earth is going on with my cat Brownie???

My five year old cat Brownie is in heat right now. As you can see we haven't gotten her spayed yet. But she has a 5 month old daughter (whom we name Aja) and up to this point in life they have always gotten along, enjoyed each others company and are regular play mates.

But ALL DAY today Brownie has been hissing and growling at Aja and avoiding being in her company and on three separate occasions she actually struck out at her with her paw. Is there any explanation anyone can offer about this? Does it have anything to do with Brownie being in heat? Just 20 minutes ago Aja walked up to her where she and Brownie sniffed each other and Brownie hissed, growled and took a swipe at her? I'm wondering if something happened to Aja's scent that I don't know about. Has anyone ever dealt with this kind of problem before?

I really need help.

 

[mr wendall]

And just a few minutes ago she actually ran up to Aja to attack her. This concerns me a great deal. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. In the meantime we are keeping them separated from each other. And what really surprises me about this is that they were all cuddly and buddy buddy just yesterday. This is a very sharp change in behavior in the course of one day.

 

[flamingo1981]

female animals like dogs and cats can get so scary when they go into heat or about to? maybe this is it? Or if shes pregnant again she might get really violent. I saw the nicest most gentle cat turn very aggressive when she was pregnant. (not my cat)  I notice it in dogs also.

 

[mr wendall]

She's definitely not pregnant. She has not been outside since she's had Aja, so pregnancy is a 1000% impossibility. I really wish I knew what is going on and how to alleviate this problem.

 

[mr wendall]

I found out a while ago WHY Brownie is constantly hissing, growling at and attacking her own daughter Aja. In short, Aja is considered grown enough to be on her own (translation: Brownie wants Aja out of the house). Cats are solitary and territorial. Brownie is not being mean or nasty, she is being a cat.

What has me worried is the thought of Brownie's behavior not changing at all once she and Aja are spayed. If that is the case then I will have a very, very, very difficult decision to make. I love Brownie to death but I don't want her to keep attacking Aja and end up doing some serious and/or irreversable damage. My wife is completely atttached to Aja and don't want to see her go. I am completely attached to Brownie and don't want to Her go.

I remember a while ago I had posted about how much of good mom Brownie is and how she and Aja play all of the time (don't remember which thread). Then someone said there will come a time when Brownie will not be as close to Ajas as she was at that time and will not care too much about her. I didn't realize it would be like this. That person who made that post didn't warn me that Brownie would borderline hate Aja and want to see her gone one way or another. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

 

[furryminime18]

It may be because Aj a is not a male...I'm new to this whole seen but it could be that or maybe she feels threatened with her presence if there were to be a male show up. I just recently had a dachshund that was the ornery one when she was around my mom's male and female(her sister) dachshunds and when she got pregnant she wasn't mean but she sure let them know she was not up for playing. Maybe that's the case with your 2 if your familiar with how us females when we are 'in heat' doing our monthly we sometimes don't want to be messed with and can be grouchy. Hope it gets better!

 

[susank521]

Just from observing ferals I can say that females in heat, especially the older ones like your Brownie, can be aggressive towards other females.  Can you keep them separated until Brownie is through this cycle?Then get them both spayed

. Don't be too concerned yet about them not getting along right now. It happened so suddenly that you would think it is health (hormones) or environment related.  Just because they're mother/daughter does not mean that they will end up not getting along. But the longer Brownie is allowed to go into heat, the longer she'll see Aja as a rival. You don't want this to turn into the "normal" behavior.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

 
Just from observing ferals I can say that females in heat, especially the older ones like your Brownie, can be aggressive towards other females.  Can you keep them separated until Brownie is through this cycle?Then get them both spayed

. Don't be too concerned yet about them not getting along right now. It happened so suddenly that you would think it is health (hormones) or environment related.  Just because they're mother/daughter does not mean that they will end up not getting along. But the longer Brownie is allowed to go into heat, the longer she'll see Aja as a rival. You don't want this to turn into the "normal" behavior.

I agree with this 100%.  Aja is old enough to go into heat now and that may be another factor in this.  She is sensing Aja as competition for a mate.  The sooner they can be spayed; the sooner they can calm down.  I would look into it ASAP.  I don't think either of you need to worry about giving your cats up; but I do believe spaying needs to be the first step in fixing things.  You may want to keep them separated or at least supervised.  After they are spayed and recover some; you may have to reintroduce them.  That is completely normal.

  There are some good articles in the "sticky" at the top of the Behavior forum here on how to introduce cats if you need it.

Good luck!