Cats are doing Rude Stuff and I DON'T KNOW WHY...Ideas? Advice? Help?

[badgerpup]

Got a recently-developed behavioral issue between two of my cats and I do not know what is causing it.

Riktor and Wimsey used to be good friends...good enough that they could both sit on the top seat of the cat tree and read the paper together. They weren't best buds, and occasionally they'd have 'words' (read 'squabbles'), but for the most part they were friends.

All of a sudden, Riktor is targeting Wimsey for ATTACK.
Serious attacks... as in "You are a STRANGER. You do NOT belong here!" It's ON. Not just a squabble, either...the fur really flies.

I can understand them being mad at the kitten...but he doesn't seem to be involved. :banghead:
Riktor is becoming accustomed to D'Artagnan, even to the point of playing with him just a little. Wimsey, too...
I saw him flop down on his side in front of the kitten and then vocalize.
It's hard to tell if that was "Piss off, kid' or 'Play with me'...but with the flop-and-stretch I'm going to go with the latter.

Wimsey did get a bath the other night, so he probably smells 'wrong'...but Riktor was targeting him even before this.
If Wimsey's in the vicinity, Riktor's head goes down, his eyes go flat...and if I don't break it up RIGHT NOW, there's gonna be a cat fight. :nuke:
He doesn't target Esme, Finnegan or D'Artagnan...and Wimsey doesn't pick fights with anybody.

Any idea what's causing this, and what I can do to STOP IT?

Side note: D'Artagnan will be undergoing 'the procedure' next month...he'll be about 5 or 6 months old by then, near as I can tell. Might this have something to do with it?


Thanks...:pals:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. It might be some kind of redirected aggression thing.

Riktor could be pissed off about the new kitten and is taking it out on Wimsey. Cats can be real assholes sometimes, especially when their routines or circumstances are disrupted. Have you tried Feliway?

[silverweb]

2. How old is Riktor?

My 18-year-old started going through some really weird behavioral changes when she hit about 16.

[badgerpup]

3. Riktor just turned seven in June...

...and he IS the least adaptable of the clowder...he doesn't do changes well.

I'd gotten a Bach remedy for Wimsey, since he was having the most trouble accepting the kitten, but it was pretty straightforward.

I figured he'd settle down once D'Artagnan was neutered. Wimsey'd pretty much ignored Finnegan until after Finn was neutered, then they became best buddies.

Maybe I should be giving this remedy to Riktor as well?

[silverweb]

4. Hmmm.... "7-year" itch ?

Sorry, that was impossible to resist... but he really could just be going through a phase.

If it's Bach Rescue Remedy that you got for Wimsey, that's great stuff, and maybe it would work with Riktor. I've used it on Mischief for moving, going to the vet, and when introducing a new kitten into the house (3 times so far), and it does have a remarkably calming effect.

Beyond that, I can't be much help, but I'm sure there are far more knowledgeable cat people here who can offer suggestions.

[grasswire]

5. have you tried feliway?

That might sort things out.

[spooky3]

6. hi, it looks as if others who replied have had luck with Feliway also.

[david13]

7. First off, I would say, don't bathe the cat. They do their own bath

and probably believe you are torturing them. They don't understand hygiene like we do. They have their own rules.
Dominance. A cat must show, or try to show dominance over another cat. Amongst chickens or other birds, it is known as the pecking order.
It is also a form of play. No matter how old, they like to play.
Can you stop a cat from being a cat?
They say real men have cats, as they can tolerate the independent nature of the cat. But insecure men have dogs, as they need to feel the power and imperative of giving orders to another critter.
I say the cats know more about being cats that any psychiatrist, psychologist, vet, etc.
dc

[badgerpup]

8. Normally I do NOT bathe them...

...but Wimsey had been helping the neighbor fix his car and there was grease all over his fur.
Also figured that getting rid of fleas and ticks would probably not hurt.

I've had my guys long enough (and hopefully know them well enough) to be able to distinguish between a dominance display spat to establish pecking order and a real fight.
A dominance display usually involves posturing, noise, and culminates with no worse than a few swats on the head to the cat who challenged the pecking order.
Point made...and then everything's cool again.

Playing (with these guys, at least) has an almost ballet-like quality...in the wrestling clinches there's a slow grace and gentleness...they pull their punches and they seem careful not to hurt each other.
It's really beautiful to watch.

This is a fight. Riktor JUMPS on Wimsey, it's a tangle of screaming, kicking, no-holds-barred flying fur...
and if Wimsey breaks away and heads for the hills, Riktor's right on his ass.

I realize they're cats, and I respect that. As far as I can, I allow them to BE cats...I've only interfered with their reproductive capabilities and they get vaccinations and medical treatment for wounds and injuries as needed.


OK...so I feed them and spoil them rotten...but that's my job...or so they tell me...:crazy:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. This went on at my house for a bit.

One cat was at the vet, came home, smelled funny, and a HUGE ruckus ensued. As you described, it wasn't the usual play-wrestling or dominance spat; the cats seemed genuinely pissed off at each other, and there was a lot of that loud screeching. I had to separate them and keep them apart for about three weeks (the instigator was kept upstairs; the others lived downstairs). I also plugged in a couple of Feliway dispensers. When I decided to let them mingle again and opened the stairway door, it took another three weeks before the picked-on cat would go up the stairs. They are back to normal now, but it took awhile. "Normal" means occasional hissing and chasing, but no really overt hostility. And all three of them sleep with me again.