Brother Cats now hate each other :(

Hello all, i'm hoping you'll be able to help me out with a problem thats been going on for about 1 year now.

I have 2 cats who are brothers they're almost 2 years old Jazz and Guinness. Jazz is slightly hyper, brings in every animal under the sun and isn't the slightest bit scared of anything or anyone. When we got them, Guinness was very similar, slightly less hyper but still very, very affectionate (he's lick your face if you picked him up and you could hear him purr from half a mile away). However about a year ago Guinness stopped coming in the house so much, when he sees his brother (or when Jazz sees him) he goes for him and hisses and growls. They used to curl up on the sofa together but now only time they'll bear to be in the same room is at feeding time.

As far as i can tell nothings changed in their environment and i try as best as possible to treat them both the same but Guinness now growls at me when i pick him up. I can't help but feel someones hurt him when's he's been out and about.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Matt

Edit: i forgot to add that if Guinness sees me outside the house he'll run up to me and meow and will even purr a bit if i stroke him, he's only very distant inside my house.

:) First of all Welcome to Pet Talk & enjoy all the talks & pictures..
Second of all about the brothers is you know Sibling Rivalry.. Let them have their space apart.. They are noteing each other of their territory.. ;)

Hello Matt and welcome to Pet Talk! :) You certainly will love all of the good advice and of course pictures here. We're known for that ;)

Are Jazz and Guinness neutered? If not, this could definitely cause this sort of rivalry.

If they are, then perhaps since they've sort of seperated themselves a bit from each other (Guinness staying outside more and Jazz staying inside more) they've developed their own territories and feel protective of their territories. You may need to "re-introduce" them to each other, which can help bring things back to normal.

**hugs**

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Originally Posted by wolflady

Hello Matt and welcome to Pet Talk! :) You certainly will love all of the good advice and of course pictures here. We're known for that ;)

Are Jazz and Guinness neutered? If not, this could definitely cause this sort of rivalry.

If they are, then perhaps since they've sort of seperated themselves a bit from each other (Guinness staying outside more and Jazz staying inside more) they've developed their own territories and feel protective of their territories. You may need to "re-introduce" them to each other, which can help bring things back to normal.

**hugs**

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I completely agree with Karen. If they are not neutered then I would have this done asap. Those hormones need to be put back to normal and besides 2 un-neutered males leads to tonnes on kittens that only adds to the huge problem of overpopulation.

I would also get Guinness checked by a vet and make sure there is no something medically wrong. One of the reason I say this is because you said he used to be very affectionate and now he growls when you pick him up. Could be a sign that being picked up is painful.

If once they are neutered and checked out to make sure nothing is medically wrong I would try to re-introduce them. It may take some work but you need to try one thing at a time.

Medicals to make sure they are ok and neutering. Then go from there.

Please keep us updated.


And welcome to PT.

Michelle