Please help! There was a major meltdown in my house about 4:30 this morning. I have 3 cats - Bo, 3 years old - Trixie, 3 years old, and Jazz, 1 1/2 years old. All have gotten along well together - although Trixie is a little nervous and doesn't really appreciate the other's attempts at play.

This morning, I was awakened by the sound of cats screaming and knocking things over. I jumped out of bed and found Bo & Trixie all over each other, puffed up, growling and hissing. Trixie ran into my bedroom and under the bed - Bo tried to follow her but I quickly threw a bathrobe on top of him and held the edges down to keep him from getting to Trixie. For over 15 minutes, the two of them growled continuously until Bo settled down enough that I could get him out of the bedroom and shut the door, separating them. I kept Trixie in the bedroom for several hours (needless to say, I did NOT go back to sleep) until they both calmed down. However, the tension in my house is extremely thick and I'm concerned that our happy, relaxed home will never be the same. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Thank goodness I was here - but I have to work tomorrow and next weekend I'll be out of town for 3 days. I'm afraid to leave my cats alone.

It's been about 5 hours since this incident and Bo & Trixie can hardly be in the same room without growling at each other. Trixie's so on edge she could jump out of her skin. I don't know what brought this on - it's probable that Bo was playing with her and got too rough but there's never been an explosion like this before.

All of my cats are fixed. Bo is a very gentle and mellow cat who I've never even heard growl before - although he does play a little rough and Trixie has always been a little wimpy.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else before? Did things ever return to normal? Have the dynamics of my home changed forever? I know the situation needs time to resolve itself but, believe me, it was REALLY ugly this morning.