View Full Version : My kittys are not getting along.Very worried
tenright74
Jul 26, 2009, 11:21 AM
I have two kittens they are 1year old they have been getting along great.Yesterday they slept in the same window together and they always play together.We went out for about four hours and when we came back the little one was hissing,growling and would go after the bigger one.They are both females and do not go outside.Any answers to why this would happen and will they come out of it.Thanks for any help
shazamataz
Jul 26, 2009, 11:22 AM
Are they spayed?
They might be having some territorial issues and had a fight while you were out.
tenright74
Jul 26, 2009, 11:24 AM
Are they spayed?
They might be having some territorial issues and had a fight while you were out.
Will they get over this or will I have to get rid of one I love them both very much right now I have them separated.
shazamataz
Jul 26, 2009, 11:26 AM
If you get them spayed you can try to introduce them again once their hormones have calmed down.
You shouldn't have to get rid of one of them, you just have to work out what the root of the problem is.
Wondergirl
Jul 26, 2009, 11:27 AM
Getting them spayed ("fixed") should solve the problem.
Ren6
Jul 27, 2009, 05:58 AM
If they were getting along just fine, I suspect something happened while you were out. I knew a couple of cats (litter mates) who would end up brawling when the roaming neighbor cat would pass by their window.
Also, once (years ago) one of my cats turned on the other because he'd been terrified by a loud noise. One of the ropes in my old window busted and the window came down with a loud bang. It took him days to get back to his old self.
I think this condition is called "displacement rage". Some people use a product called "Feliway" to help calm their cats down- I'm not certain if it actually works, however.
Good luck...
morgaine300
Jul 27, 2009, 11:21 PM
All you've described is "hissing, growling and going after the bigger one." It seems to have been interpreted that they're ripping each other apart or something.
How serious are you talking about? Cats do this. You might need to know cats pretty well to know whether this is serious or not. My two have been together a bit over a year. The older one has been used to having another cat around, but this is a different one of course. The younger one I don't think was ever around them.
Over a year later, they mostly get along and play together and such. But they do sometimes start hissing or growling, for who knows what reason. Something between themselves that they don't make me privy to. They will sometimes do this smack out of the middle of nowhere, and sometimes act like this for two or three days for no apparent reason, other than that they're cats. And they also "play fight," which looks like fighting but doesn't usually involve the hissing, though it can. (Even when they were new to each other and doing more serious hissing and such, I left them on their own to establish their own heirarchies and territories.)
I also wouldn't keep them separated unless one is seriously hurting the other. They have to learn to live with each other, and they basically have to do this on their own. And they can have spats sometimes. What you've described doesn't even sound like anything abnormal to me, unless there's more to this than what you're saying.
Wondergirl
Jul 28, 2009, 12:04 AM
They have to learn to live with each other, and they basically have to do this on their own.
On March 5, my soulcat and our top cat, Thomas Jefferson, died. Little Debbie had tried a number of times to overthrow him, but no luck there. Once he was no longer around to wield a firm paw, I could see changes. Rasputin, the "undercat" who has never uttered a meow, suddenly became quite "talkative," taking over Thomas Jefferson's constant commenting (Thomas was probably part Aby). Rasputin must have noticed a vocal void and decided to fill it. I think he was trying to announce a take-over. Kuro, probably part Maine Coon, has never had a cross moment with anyone, and continued to mind his own business. But Little Debbie immediately noticed Thomas's absence and decided to make her move. She casually wandered upstairs from the basement (Thomas had always guarded the basement door and wouldn't let her come upstairs) and made sure she was always the first to eat and drink. She lounged on Thomas's heating pad and, with her beady little eyes, surveyed her new kingdom from the comfort of the loveseat. She decided she didn't like Rasputin's caterwauling, so hissed at him every time he opened his mouth. He hissed back but, after only one physical encounter with Little Debbie in which fur flew, decided to hiss mightily back at her and then scamper to his personal space between the TV set and the wall.
I think they have mostly worked it out. Little Debbie seems to be top cat now, Rasputin is back to being the undercat, and Kuro still doesn't give a meow.
Ren6
Jul 28, 2009, 06:27 AM
All you've described is "hissing, growling and going after the bigger one." It seems to have been interpreted that they're ripping each other apart or something.
How serious are you talking about? Cats do this. You might need to know cats pretty well to know whether this is serious or not. .
The poster made it clear that in the year that she's had them, the cats have gotten along great. "Something" happened during her four hour absence that caused the one to treat the other like a stranger.
hheath541
Jul 28, 2009, 07:24 AM
My guess is that they are working on establishing a hierarchy. If they're both about a year old and have been raised together as the only cats in the house, which is what it sounds like to me, then they might not have felt the need have a hierarchy before. If neither of them is fixed then one or both of them going into heat would cause a fight over territory and dominance. I would suggest getting them both fixed as soon as you can.
Also, keeping them separated might just make it worse once they're allowed to be together again. As long as they're not actually hurting each other, drawing blood or pulling out huge clumps of fur, then they should be able to be together now. If they were trying to cause serious harm to each other then they were be bleeding and have bald patches where fur was pulled out.
morgaine300
Jul 29, 2009, 01:35 AM
The poster made it clear that in the year that she's had them, the cats have gotten along great. "Something" happened during her four hour absence that caused the one to treat the other like a stranger.
Yup, just like stuff happens that makes my two cats suddenly decide they want to fight instead of getting along. Cats still just do that sometimes, yes even after getting along fine. I don't find anything particularly odd about it. The "something" could very likely never be discovered and also likely isn't all that important. All of the cats I've had living together have fought at some point in time, even if seldom.
morgaine300
Jul 29, 2009, 01:36 AM
Wondergirl, sorry for your loss of Thomas.
But otherwise, an amusing little story. :-)
Wondergirl
Jul 29, 2009, 09:04 AM
Wondergirl, sorry for your loss of Thomas.
But otherwise, an amusing little story. :-)
Thanks, morgaine. Thomas chose me and insisted I adopt him from the cat shelter that I volunteer at. He was bossy, nosy, "talkative," always in my face, and I miss him terribly every day. I've now trained a couple of coworkers to give me forehead bumps once in a while. Thomas Jefferson would have been 15 on the Fourth of July (thus his name).
Sariss
Jul 29, 2009, 04:20 PM
As mentioned before, chances are they are just reaching the age that they are trying to establish who is the 'top cat'. But getting them spayed if they already aren't will help. :)
vaniibliing
Aug 3, 2009, 10:14 AM
Well, my cats are both females and are both 1 year olds my cats are exactly the same... well they were think about it ! Have they ever given birth to a litter? If bot of them have and their babies look a like they might have the same father, well what I done for my cats is that I held them both and made them loo at each other in the eye so they will have a good daydream about 2 minutes later take them away, and if you see that one of your cats specifically the on who is aggressive is chasing him and hitting him hold his paws and then make them sleep together :) This should work ! :) thanks for reading (L)
morgaine300
Aug 3, 2009, 06:33 PM
I'm still trying to figure out how you make cats look at each other, and if you could, they're going to have good daydreams? What planet is this on?
hheath541
Aug 3, 2009, 11:45 PM
I'm still trying to figure out how you make cats look at each other, and if you could, they're going to have good daydreams? What planet is this on?
The same planet where you can force cats to sleep together...