Ask Me Help Desk - Indoor female cat hissing and screaming at me

Please help I have two female indoor cats both spayed. A few weeks ago a male stray cat came around and started spraying due to a female stray we had been feeding. Needless to say the female had kittens a few weeks ago. And this is when one of my indoor cats started attacking the other one and has since started trying to attack me. What can we do we need help to keep our family together

Could you coordinate with a local animal shelter and borrow one of their cat traps in order to trap the male and get him neutered? He seems to be the kingpin in this situation and is causing the redirected aggression that your cat is experiencing. Until the male is out of the picture or has been neutered, every time your cat sees him or smells him, she will aggress. Of course, catching the mom cat and her kittens and taking them to a shelter or at least to be fixed will also help the situation (and the neighborhood).

There's a program called TNR, Trap-Neuter-Release. Ask your shelter about it, or Google it or Alley Cat Allies for more information.

Wondergirl's suggestions are good ones, and I very much hope that you'll be able to take her advice. But it would help us to help you if you could provide us with some more information about this very upsetting situation.

You say that the male began coming around a few weeks ago and that it was then that your female began showing signs of aggression. I just want to be sure about that. Do your cats go outside or have any contact with either the male or the stray female?

Some more questions:

How old are your cats and how long have you had them? How long have they been together?
When does your cat act this way? How often? What precipitates it? Does it just happen out of the blue or is it usually preceded by something? Is it constant aggression or does she lash out and then things return to normal?

Has her behavior changed in other ways? If so, how, and how long have you noticed these other changes?

You say that she has been attacking your other cat. Please say more about this. How often does it happen? Is it out of the blue or does it happen when the strays are around? Does she physically attack her or does she just hiss and scream? When does she attack you and what exactly does she do? The more information you can think to provide the better able we will be to offer you some suggestions.

I'm sorry for the barrage of questions. I can imagine how upset you must be and I want very much for us to be able to help you. Ss I keep saying--any information you can think to provide will be much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akoue

Wondergirl's suggestions are good ones, and I very much hope that you'll be able to take her advice. But it would help us to help you if you could provide us with some more information about this very upsetting situation.

You say that the male began coming around a few weeks ago and that it was then that your female began showing signs of aggression. I just want to be sure about that. Do your cats go outside or have any contact with either the male or the stray female?
no they do not go outside
Some more questions:

How old are your cats and how long have you had them? How long have they been together?3 years old had them since they were six weeks old
When does your cat act this way? How often? What precipitates it? Does it just happen out of the blue or is it usually preceded by something? Is it constant agression or does she lash out and then things return to normal? it first happened the day the male stray was picked up. a few times. dont know. the last time we had put the cats back together and they were doing fine until i played with the laser pointer with them because they love it and thats when the aggressor brutally attacked the other cat we had to take attacked cat to vet. we tried to break it up my wife tried to scruff prissy but couldnt get a hold of her and i was screaming for prissy to stop and i started hissing at her really loud. this was around april 25 and the two cats havent seen each other since. but now prissy the aggressor wants to bite me and my wife and she just isnt the same she gets really stimulated

Has her behavior changed in other ways? If so, how, and how long have you noticed these other changes? just over stimulation

You say that she has been attacking your other cat. Please say more about this. How often does it happen? Is it out of the blue or does it happen when the strays are around? Does she physically attack her or does she just hiss and scream? When does she attack you and what exactly does she do? The more information you can think to provide the better able we will be to offer you some suggestions. in the above answer

I'm sorry for the barrage of questions. I can imagine how upset you must be and I want very much for us to be able to help you. Ss I keep saying--any information you can think to provide will be much appreciated.

The answer is above

Quote:

Originally Posted by penningtonjc

the answer is above

None of the questions Akoue asked have been answered. It would be helpful to give these answers to give you a more accurate answer.

I had an indoor cat that did this to me. She was like my best friend, so I know that she wouldn't have done this if there wasn't something wrong with her. We took her to the vet, and it turns out that when she had run outside one night, she licked antifreeze. This absolutely broke my heart because we had to put her to sleep. There was nothing they could do for her back then. Please take this cat to the vet for them to do a poison test. Hope this helps.