Badly behaving cats, all the sudden

[sasvermont]

Gosh, I have read about this, but didn't think it would happen to me.

All of the sudden, in the past couple of days, my two Abysinnian cats have been fighting. Actually, Juni, the older of the two, suddenly doesn't get along with her little sister, Chloe! Juni has been chasing and biting poor Chloe so much that I am afraid one will get hurt.... I am tired of screaming at them. Chloe is terrified of Juni now! But, get this, Chloe is walking around this house, crying and looking for Juni. Juni is being kept behind closed doors in a spare room for the time being. I "timed her out" today for a few hours, then left her out and it was fine for about two hours. Back in the room with her after another horrible battle.

Chloe is low man on the totem pole around here. She has always been the victim.

I am going to try to leave Juni in the room over night and hope that she will get the message about her bad behavior.

What makes them hate one another after 8 or so years? They both seem healthy.... I haven't changed anything except that I closed off the door to the outside porch, where they had litter boxes. I moved boxes throughout the house, so that they don't have to freeze to death this winter. Once it warms up a bit, I will put them back outside. I didn't do it all at once. I put boxes inside, then eventually closed off the door. They didn't/don't seem too upset about not going out in the cold. They have little fat on them, so being cold is something they hate. I have closed off the door before, without any problems.

It will be interesting tonight to see if Juni yells her head off.... keeping us awake. I also hope Chloe will enjoy not having her sister beat on her!

Cats!

[Karen]

Gracious, I hope everything is calm this evening! Cabin fever this soon? Any catnip handy to let them play - separately - and wear themselves out, maybe?

[sasvermont]

Well, after only a short while, the crying of one bad kitty got to me. I couldn't stand to hear Juni cry so much. She wanted out of that room so badly. We are all sitting quietly in the living room, behaving. We are all in different chairs/sofas etc. but not fighting. I even tried to coax Juni outside on the porch for a quick run, but NOOOOOOO.

I am going to head to bed soon and I hope we have a quiet night.

I am thinking about taking Juni to the vet to see if maybe she is in pain and not just BEING a pain!! She seems healthy. I don't want to go on the almighty hunt though. By bringing the cat litter boxes inside, I am able to see/hear what each critter is doing, including Prue, trying to help Mom by digging the poop out of the box. Dogs! I have the boxes up high and behind barriers. Maybe it is the litter box thing.

Their swinging door to the porch / window was freezing shut. At one point last month, Chole was locked outside because ice formed on the door and she was not able to get back in. Fortunately, I was home and heard her scratching and crying. It was then, that I began to think it was time to move the boxes inside.

I think I am over thinking this, aren't I? Cats fight from time to time.

[Freedom]

Keep water squirt bottles handy, one in every room if need be, to help break them apart. Hollering may or may not work, it sure gets you more worked up though. And I am sure you know not to try and separate them with your hands; that route leads to the ER!

As to WHY, who knows? Until we have better translation apps from English to cat-speak, I sure don't know what gets in to them. Geesh! Hope you have a calm night!

[sasvermont]

Everyone was good last night. I left the heat on high in the living room, making the two skinny cats want to be there for the heat. I don't heat my bedroom, so they are less likely to sleep with me (and Lucy the cat and Prue the dog)......

I hope Juni has put two and two together and that if she is bad and fights, she will end up in a cold room, all by herself.

C A T S !

[Karen]

Hey, if it works, it works! Glad everything was peaceful, here's hoping for continued detente.

[Barbara]

Don't forget-there is always the option to send Chloe to Germany

[sasvermont]

Well, I kept the two offending cats, apart for over a week. Last night one managed to open a door and they seemed to get along UNTIL this afternoon. I had stopped at Petco and purchased liquid (spray) calming liquid. I soaked two cloth collars in the stuff then managed to capture each cat and put the collar on. WELL. You might think I put a cinderblock on them. They are sitting (in their own room of course) and looking sad and unhappy. MOM, what did you do? I hope the new collar soaked in love juice will do the trick. I am running out of tricks. I even reinstalled the window/door to the porch!

Ugh!

[kuhio98]

I'm wondering about cabin fever/winter blahs too.

Willow has turned into a royal *itch lately. She hisses and spits at all the kitties. She gets jealous if you give another kitty attention and tries to force her way between you and the other kitty. She grabs her brother by the neck and bites down pretty hard and growls.

Itty-bitty Pepper smacked the crap out of her and put her back in her place but Willy's feelings are hurt and he just tries to avoid her. But, he's sooooo sad.

[sasvermont]

The two cats are sitting in the living room, pouting. They must just hate having collars on! I have put collars on them in the past, so they know what it feels like to wear one. Maybe the aroma is getting to them. I surely hope so! The true test will be tomorrow and the next day, etc. etc. I will re-soak or soak another set of collars every few days. This just HAS to work. I have the collars put on nice and tightly so they don't slip down and into their mouths.

Juni is rubbing her furry face on my face right now. She does have an odd odor about her from her collar. Oh well. Odd to me, but just right for her!

Fingers crossed.

Spring is right around the corner, I hope.

[Karen]

The things our pets put us through, eh? Hope the collars keep working!

[sasvermont]

Even though we had a quiet night, just now Juni went after Lucy the black cat. Go figure. I put Juni behind closed doors to ease the situation a little. Chloe cleared out when she heard the hissing etc. so she too, is all worked into a lather. I noticed less of the hissing this time, but I was hoping for a cease fire and white flag waving, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyone want a cat named Juni-get-down?

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've been reading this thread and I can feel your frustration. I'll never understand how cats that used to get along very well will all of a sudden hate each other and just want to fight all of the time. Pearl and Storm used to be inseperable and they always cuddled together. Now they fight with each other most of the time. They can be in the same room together and once in a while I will catch them cuddling but their relationship isn't what it used to be. I've also heard that this can also happen to littermates. My females are also much more territorial than my males and they don't seem to accept new cats as easily either. I hope that your cats will start getting along better very soon.