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Old February 24th, 2010, 08:30 PM
catlover19 catlover19 is offline
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Please help!

We have 3 cats 2 males (Smokey and Bandit) and 1 female (Tiggs). The two males are brothers and grew up together. The female was introduced over a year ago. No problems since the initial greeting of the three. The boys play-fight frequently, but nothing serious. We picked up my boyfriends daughter from school and came home. She doesn't live with us but has been over many times and we never had an issue until now. Bandit has hissed at her in the past but never attacked and nothing more happened. As usually the cats greeted us at the doors and wanted attention. Bandit usually likes to wrestle, he's purring the whole time, not meaning harm at all. My boyfriend was wrestling with Bandit and his daughter was on the floor making cat sounds when Bandit seemed to snap and attacked his brother Smokey. Not playing this time, they were both hissing, biting, and pulling fur out, I've never seen them act this way before. We separated them for a while and then let them get re-acquainted after they both had time to calm down, it didn't work, they were fine for about 5 minutes and then it was the same thing all over again. I read some articles online about cats getting stressed and aggressive with an unfamiliar scent being in the house and my stepdaughter has 4 cats at her house and we were wondering if that might be causing the issue. Please help, we have him in a room on his own and he's meowing at the door to be let out but we can't, I went in to check on him and to give him some attention and he seemed fine on his own, he was purring and seemed very happy but after a few minutes he hissed at me and I had to leave since I was afraid he would attack me. He's a very lovey cat and this is not like him, please please help!
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Old February 25th, 2010, 07:45 AM
Hazmat Hazmat is offline
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A change in behavior usually warrents a trip to the Vet. for a check up.

How old are the boys and have they both been neutered?
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Old February 25th, 2010, 07:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by catlover19 View Post
He's a very lovey cat and this is not like him, please please help!
This is a giant red flag. IF he is indeed used to your stepdaughter coming over and the smells from her cats then it could well be his health. When was the last time he was to the vets for a checkup? If he has a UTI or some other issue he is in pain (cats hide pain very very well) and needs to be checked.
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Old February 25th, 2010, 07:54 AM
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It is quite possible that Bandit does smell the other cats on your stepdaughter and got wound up from the wrestling with your boyfriend and redirected aggression towards Smokey.

Are your daughter's four cats altered? Are your cats altered? Have your cats had a vet check including bloodwork? Thyroid check?
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Old February 25th, 2010, 05:51 PM
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I've gone through something quite similar. I have six cats, all of whom lived harmoniously for almost ten years. A couple of years ago, one of them, Oscar, very suddenly became very, very aggressive towards one other, Zander.

The first thing is to take your cat to the vet. In my case, Oscar's aggression was probably caused, in part at least, by the fact that he was feeling pretty crappy. There's a whole lot more that went on but two years later, I still have to watch those two although things have calmed down a lot (thanks to Prozac for Oscar).

Once you've verified that the cats are healthy, there are some options you can follow to try to maintain harmony and calm. The first thing is the vet though - behavior change is one of the biggest signs that a cat is having health issues.
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Old February 26th, 2010, 01:04 AM
catlover19 catlover19 is offline
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Thank-you for all the replies. For the questions that might help pin point why this happened, both boys are neutered, we had all of them in for a check-up and annual shots about six months ago. We let Bandit out this morning and he seemed to be fine, a little timid and unsure of his surroundings but he wasn't paying any attention to the other cats at all. He seems like a totally different cat then what he was like yesterday. He's almost back to being like he used to be, Any small noise will stop him in his tracks. When we let him out he went into our living room and sniffed everyting, it seemed like he was looking for something. We had to work and ended up putting him back in a seperate room until we were home to monitor if anything went wrong. He's out now and we will be leaving him out overnight to get familair with the other cats and his surroundings again. He was very happy to see us and was purring like he always does. Does anyone think this could happen again?
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Old February 26th, 2010, 07:12 AM
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Are the cats at your step daughter's house fixed? If not, maybe that is what upset your cats.

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Old February 26th, 2010, 02:09 PM
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You mentioned Bandit hissed at your boyfriend's daughter on a previous occasion. It's possible that he does smell her cats on her hands and clothes. Some cats can be upset by other cats' scent. The fact that she was making "cat sounds" while Bandit was in a high state of arousal by being wrestled with was likely just enough of a trigger to direct his arousal/anixety/maybe anger at his bro Smokey. This aggression may or may not be a one time thing. You'll have to watch them carefully together and at the first instance of any aggression by Bandit to Smokey, say "PSSST!" and a firm "No". Redirect him with a toy or crumpled ball of paper, or if he ignores you have a spray bottle with water handy to squirt him while he's showing aggression. You need to show Bandit that you won't tolerate this kind of behaviour. I think he was likely still in bad mood when you went into the room and he hissed at you. If this repeats in another "time out", enter the room with some treats, and call him to you. This should change his mind in a hurry.

I suggest you tell your bf when he plans to bring his daughter to visit you next time that you request that she wash her hands well before coming and wear freshly laundered clothes, so there isn't a scent from her cats.
Hope these suggestions work out for you. It would be nice to hear an update.
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Old February 26th, 2010, 06:23 PM
catlover19 catlover19 is offline
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I do have an update. We left Bandit out overnight and things went fine. We had to leave in the morning and wouldn't be home until the afternoon and we would have my stepdaughter with us when we came back. We put Bandit back in a seperate room while we were gone and waited until we were inside with her to let Bandit back out. He was fine, sniffed around but that was it. His meow is a little different now, I'm not sure if he strained his voice from growling and hissing. He is a very vocal cat and normally meows to get your attention. Things seem to be back to normal. We are hoping it won't happen again. We have a spray bottle on hand just incase and we are keeping a close eye on him.
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