Help please--cat fight

[Glacier]

My cats just had their first ever fight that resulted in bloodshed! There's often a little growling or hissing but they've never ever hurt each other before!! My Ivy princess was actually bleeding after Onyx cornered her under a desk. Ivy has always gotten picked on a little bit, but this is too much. She appears to have a puncture on her tail. (It's stopped bleeding now and she seems fine)

Some background:
Ivy has always kept herself quite seperate from the other cats. She's a snotty princess who has no real use for them but she not mean at all. She's the victim. Shortly after Twicket died Ivy starting having some litterbox issues--she prefered Paxil's bed over the box! She had a full physical and no health issues were identified. Dominique and Twicket were her friends and both very nice to her. So we thought it was just stress and grief. I've been adding rescue remedy to their water ever since at my vet's suggestion and it did seem to help.

Onyx is 3 times Ivy's size. He's really a gentle giant. Polly Paws used to pick on him, but they've reached a truce and he just stays away from her. Rather than fighting back to Polly he seems to be picking on Ivy instead! Onyx also has litterbox issues for no physical reason. The vast majority of the time he pees in his box, but occasionally he will use a cupboard or the tub! He likes hard surfaces so I keep one box almost empty for him.

Dog fights I know how to handle, cat fights I'm not so sure about! Any suggestions? I'm thinking I may have to suck up the expense of a feliway difuser and try that. I can get my vet to order to order a couple for me as there's no where to buy one locally. I will be setting Ivy up with her own room for when I'm not around--or maybe I should isolote Onyx, he's the bully! Any other suggestions?

[jenluckenbach]

I would seriously consider medicating Onyx. I am not sure I would trust feliway. In my opinion the odds of it working are hit and miss.

[Sonia59]

I have no advice :( Seems to be a stress and domination problem. I hope your kitties are fine now and that no new fight will happen. I know it's not of great help for you...sorry

[catmandu]

I am very fortunate in that the Found Cats seem to get along so very well.I have never really seen them fight,just the odd hiss.
You might have to keep Ivyand Onyx seperated ,if thier meetings actually result in blood being spilt.
Thats a shame when Cat Roomates cannot get along!

[Lobodeb]

I, too, have no advice. I'm sorry this happened but glad that Ivy is ok.

Good luck!

[sasvermont]

I would ask for a little sedative for the cat doing the initiating..... and I have found that sometimes, just having a break in the mood calms everyone down and they forget they were ever enemies.

[Cinder & Smoke]

She appears to have a puncture on her tail.
(It's stopped bleeding now and she seems fine)

:eek:

Ouwchie!

I've heard that Tail Injuries can become more complex than they appear at first. :(

Will Ivy let you examine her tail now?
You might try to determine if it was a Bite, a Puncture, or a Claw Slash -
then call your Good Buddies at the White Coat Lab for suggested First Aid.

At the minimun - a Tail Bath with Peroxide should be attempted. (Good Luck! :p )

/s/ Phred

[catland]

I've been in this same struggle at my house. Some of what I do (to stay sane) is:

1. Zero tolerance policy towards hissing/fighting. The agressor gets a time-out in a back room for 10 minutes. If that doesn't seem to do the trick, I try the scruffing routine - grabbing them by the scruff of the neck like a mama cat would and pinning them to the ground - not hard, just firm so they know who's in charge (and its not them).
2. Rewarding good behaviour. If they are in the same room and not being bad, then I consider that to be good and I give them attention and praise.
3. Barriers. There's something about breaking eye contact that helps. If I can see tension building, I put a barrier in between - it can be anything - just so that they can't actually stare at each other any more.
4. Watching for the real instigator. In my house, its little girl Jan. She's the one who picks on Strauss, which upsets him and makes him want to locate Sid to vent his agressions. So the tough thing has been to recognize that she is the one starting a lot of the problems.
5. Feed in separate locations. This seems to help at my house.


Best of luck - I know its not fun when they get in their moods.

[lv4dogs]

I'm sorry I'm of no help but I wish you the best of luck.

Meko & Tiki don't really get along that much either & I'm always scared that something like this will happen. (I have caught them sleeping & eating together 3 times but thats it). I'd really like to hear the suggestions that you get.

[Miss Z]

I totally agree with Cinder & Smoke, you should get your cat's tail checked out. Cat saliva and claws can carry infection, and a puncture wound is open to anything like this, and before you know it, you could have an abcess on your hands.

A few years ago Zsa-Zsa was attacked by the resident Maine Coon and she was bitten around her neck. If we hadn't have got her treated quickly then her wounds could have easily become infected.

[Barbara]

I'm impressed by Catland's answer. Here Tigris is something bullying Filou. Sometimes it's only Tigris being in a bad mood (so you tell me I should eat that food and won't open a fresh can? Then I'll beat my brother up) but more than sometimes it is Filou just teasing Tigris (saying I can get away with everything)- sorry for anthropomorphizing ;)

I believe that that barrier idea would help here too.

[rg_girlca]

I hope that Ivy's tail is okay. :(

Usually Sades and Mooky tolerate each other with some hissing and swatting in between, but a few weeks ago, there was an all out war between them. Sades had cornered Mooky under my son's couch and I swear it sounded like two male cats fighting outside. What a horrible, horrible sound, especially at 1:30 in the morning. Sades, being the instigator got put in my room for the night.

Catland has given some very good advice that I have be doing with my two also.

Good luck and I pray that this will be the last time this happens for you also.

[Glacier]

Thanks everyone. Ivy seems fine this morning. She slept in her usual spot last night, curled up under the covers beside me. No sign of distress. No more trouble with Onyx. I think part of the problem last night may have been Ivy was already already under the desk when Onyx came by. She hangs out there quite often. I know cats hate to be cornered so mabye she felt trapped and escalated things.

I did try to clean her tail, but I can't actually find the wound! She spent a good deal of time cleaning her tail last night. She is the cleanest cat I've ever met! I'll keep a close eye out for any signs of infection.

I talked to my vet this morning--one of my dogs is having surgery today so I had to go to the clinic anyway! He just happened to have a Feliway diffuser in stock. I'll be getting that when I pick Paxil up tonight. I'm not sure it will help, but it won't hurt! If the aggression continues, I will ask about medication.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Everything was peaceful again this morning. I hope it stays that way! Maybe the cats are just tired of the dogs causing all the chaos and decided to cause their share too! :p