My cats just got into a fight

[Dar70]

I have two cats. Sam and Vincent. They are brothers. Had them for 5 and 1/2 years. I was awoken this morning by loud hissing and growling coming from the back bedroom I keep them in at night and found Vincent hiding behind their cat tree and Sam just sitting about 4 feet from him starring. I went in thinking maybe something got into the house that scared the crap out of Vincent. Sadly Vincent was hissing at Sam. I picked up Vincent who had some of Sams hair in his paw. Took him out of the room and gave Sam some fresh water and food. Sam ate like nothing happened.(Sam loves food more than Vincent and its calms him.) I brought Vincent back in about 5 minutes and the hissing and growling started again, this time with Sam joining in.

This has never happened between these two before. It actually kinda freaked me out. They are usually well behaved cats. Especially Vincent. He has never hissed at another cat before. loves people and is usually pretty jolly. I take care of my GF's cats every so often and Vincent is always trying to make friends even though they constantly hiss at him. Sam on the other hand is much more nervous around other cats and people and only gets along with Vincent. He even wouldnt eat for a couple days when Vincent was in the Emergency Vets to treat a blocked bladder. He hates being seperated from Vincent. He has gotten into fights with my GF's cats. Wont even let them near him the first few days and even after that just if hes eating.

So Im trying to figure out what the heck happened. Im wondering if one of them had a bad dream and lashed out and hurt the other or if they were playing and one of them got accidently hurt.(Their nails are a bit long and stupid me forgot to trim them this week) Looks like I may have to keep them seperate for awhile. Again this has never happpned in the time I have had them. Any thoughts. I hope this doesnt become a recurring thing or even worse they dont get along with each other anymore.

 

[Lindley]

My family's two cats sometimes fight a bit. One retreats and that's the end of it for a while.

But that's been going on since we got the newer one. Can't say I've heard of this sort of thing spontaneously starting.

 

[Starbreaker]

Jealousy could be a factor. Give him some extra love and attention.

 

[nevermore]

It happens sometimes. Happened with one of my cats ages ago, and it happened with one of my friends' cats just this year. Something sets one off and they don't calm down for a while, then it starts to become a behavioral pattern. You need to break that cycle immediately.

Keep them entirely apart for a day or two, and then let them get reacquainted, but only while you can supervise. Do not lock them up in the bedroom together again until you're positive that the behavior has subsided and they have been getting along unsupervised for at least a week or two. If that doesn't work, you may want to take the aggressor to the vet to check for physical problems and if none are found, look into a course of kitty prozac.

I would actually suggest not locking them up in a bedroom all night at all. I'm curious as to why you do this; I've never known anyone else who did.

 

[SeerSGB]

Have they been fixed? Cause it might be a case of just plan ole' pissed-of-male cat. In fact, unless you're planning on breeding them, I always tell folks to get their bets fixed, it helps with a lot of problems.

I would actually suggest not locking them up in a bedroom all night at all. I'm curious as to why you do this; I've never known anyone else who did.

I know a lot of people with cats that do this, mostly apartment dwellers. They don't want the cats out knocking things over or tearing up the place in the middle of the night.

 

[Kirk's_Tights]

I have two dogs and two cats now and they all get along great but there was a time, back when I lived at home, where I only had my cat that passed away last month and one of my dogs that I have now and he was a baby back then so he ran out of my bedroom as soon as I opened the door and it freaked my cat out and she attacked him. It took like 5 minutes to break it up because she would keep running at him and jumping on his back, digging those claws in, so I finally got them apart and stayed in the room with my dog until my cat calmed down.


It had never happened before and they were such close friends that they even slept cuddled together but anything can freak a cat out and make it go nuts.

I would actually suggest not locking them up in a bedroom all night at all. I'm curious as to why you do this; I've never known anyone else who did.

My apartment has a solarium and we keep our cats locked up in there at night because they destroy things when they get rowdy and they like to climb up where they don't belong. They are three months and five months old and are still learning so until they grow up a little and stop chewing wires and going behind the TV, they'll be in the solarium when we are sleeping or when no one is home, which is rare anyways.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Mine usually bat at each other with their paws first. Then they do this sumo wrestler hug thing, come to a stalemate after a few minutes, and then say to hell with it and walk off to do something else.

 

[Dar70]

I keep them confined to a bedroom at night because when Im sleeping they constantly wake me. Im sleeping in the living room right now.(fixing up the house at the moment so Im sleeping on the couch no bed) I checked on cat confinement and there is no problem with it. They have the biggest bedroom in the house. It has plenty of space, in fact Sam perfers to stay in that room most of the time. I have paint cans and plaster dust all around dont want them getting into it. I have confined trhem when im on vaction or when Im busy in the house before and cant be disturbed, during the five years and there been no problems.

 

[Lindley]

I would actually suggest not locking them up in a bedroom all night at all. I'm curious as to why you do this; I've never known anyone else who did.

At my family's place in Vermont, we put the cats and dogs in the mudroom at night or when we're leaving for a time. We could probably leave the cats out, but the dogs have to stay in there so they don't have accidents all around the house (they're getting old); and it's easier to keep the litterbox in the "animal room". So leaving the cats out with the door closed would cut them off from the litterbox.

We do leave one of the cats out intentionally on occasion, because she's a good hunter and will take care of any flies or mice which have snuck into the house for us.

 

[nevermore]

^^ Fair enough. My cats hate being confined and will yowl incessently until let out, so from my perspective it sounds cruel. If it works, then it works though, especially given the presence of potentially toxic items in the house.

Like I said before though, DO NOT confine them together until you have seen a demonstrated and long-term cessation of the current aggressive behavior.

I would actually suggest not locking them up in a bedroom all night at all. I'm curious as to why you do this; I've never known anyone else who did.

I know a lot of people with cats that do this, mostly apartment dwellers. They don't want the cats out knocking things over or tearing up the place in the middle of the night.

Weird. I live in an apartment, and all of my cats just settle down when I do. And they have never torn things up or knocked things down, at least not since they've been grown. Of the dozens of apartment-dwelling cat owners I know, none of them do this either, even the one who has a Very Bad Cat.

My apartment has a solarium and we keep our cats locked up in there at night because they destroy things when they get rowdy and they like to climb up where they don't belong. They are three months and five months old and are still learning so until they grow up a little and stop chewing wires and going behind the TV, they'll be in the solarium when we are sleeping or when no one is home, which is rare anyways.

Yeah, with kittens, especially in pairs, I can see this being a good plan. Kittens are such a pain in the ass, but I was lucky in that my older cat pretty much kept the others under control when they were little. Any cats i get in the future will be grown though.

 

[Dar70]

Well its been 6 hours now and I let them both out for awhile supervised. Vincent started to hiss as Sam got close to him. They than stared at each other in hunched down positions for about 20 minutes without a peep from either of them. Also looks like Sam suffered a small cut below his left eye from last night. Nothing serious though. Looks like Im off to the store to buy and extra litter box. Im really bummed about this. They are both well behaved for cats and affectionate except for Sams antisocial behavior with new people or cats. I always brag about it to my GF about it because hers dont like to be held and are not very affectionate.

Im hoping this does not last long. I would hate to get rid of one.

 

[nevermore]

^You're just going to have to be patient. I've been through this, and now my cats a pretty much ok with each other. It took about 2 years in my case, but my friends' cat was re-adapted much quicker with the help of medication. Its good that you caught it early and have the chance to nip it in the bud rather than have it become a habit.

 

[Dar70]

^You're just going to have to be patient. I've been through this, and now my cats a pretty much ok with each other. It took about 2 years in my case, but my friends' cat was re-adapted much quicker with the help of medication. Its good that you caught it early and have the chance to nip it in the bud rather than have it become a habit.

True. But I cant keep them seperate for 2 years. I will have to go to the vet and see what he says. They are both due for their booster shots. But again they have been litter and sleep mates for 5 years. This is damn strange. Im wondering if the cat next door who frequents my front yard made a disturbance last night and caused them to think it was each other. This cat has been on my front porch at night howling and hissing. Sam and Vincent love to look out the window that faces the front. I seen them jumping off the window sill frightened of something before. If nothing works I guess they will just have to deal with each other, because I cant keep them seperate forever. I will try for a week or two though, but I cant continue it. My house is torn apart and I want to get it back in shape by September.

 

[Ghost07]

I had that same problem with my cats and it WAS because they were shut up in the bedroom...the room just got too small for the two of them, and they got irritated with each other in such close quarters.

I live in a small apartment, so maybe that is a factor, too. So long as they have the entire apartment, I've had no more serious problems since.

Each cat is different, and, if you think about it, YOU might get irritated if you had to spend a lot of time locked in a room with another person, even if he WAS your brother.

Locked in a room with my sister for 8 hours? I'd want to kill her!

 

[NJOberheim]

I have 5 cats and they all kind of set up certain rules among themselves. For example, 2 out of the 5 are not allowed in the bedroom, etc. Periodically if one breaks the 'rules', or one of them is just in a bad mood, a fight breaks out. I hear hissing, growling and screaching. If im home, I yell "Stop!", and they disperse. However, Im sure that it happens when no one is home to seperate them. I see clumps of hair on the floor when i get home sometimes. Anyway, my point is that i've had them for about 4 years now and all their eyeballs are intact.

I think your cat's will work things out. Especially since they are siblings. Im not so sure if separating them is a great idea since they might start designating separate territories. Its tuff in your case cause you have to lock them up. Locking them up together right now might be kinda dangerous since there is no retreat for the attackee.

You might want to try to post on http://www.catforum.com. I've gotten some good advise in the past.

Good luck!

 

[Cakes488]

Often it can be an outside influence...for example they saw another cat outside and that can really set them off. When my cats see this...they can just attack blindly...they no longer recognize that that is your arm and they don't recognize their mates. This has rarely happened with my boys but it's happened.
Even last night...I'm at my sisters house taking care of her cat while she's on vacation and I had my dog over. This cat fucking attacked my dog (he was a stray)...like went out of his way to scratch, hiss and spit at her! He then attacked my leg because they don't realize oh wait that's cakes right there and not the dog. So it can just be instict. I would grow concerned if this continues on a more regular basis.

 

[Dar70]

Kind of a catch 22. If let them roam the house they will fight, same room they fight, seperate rooms they may forget each others scent and become even more remote. Its sucks. I just had Vincent out and he was on my lap rolling around and happy as ever wanting to be petted and he was making sure to keep his scent on me. Sam is in his room. Im not sure who was the agressor. When I had them together ealier they both hissed and Sam made the first swipe. I will bet it was the outside cat though that caused them to get nervous. With Sams injury and his now aggressive behavior , I have a feeling Vincent may have gotten scared last night of the outdoor cat and swiped blindly at Sam. I have a sided house and outdoor noise is very perceptable indoors. It sometimes sounds like its coming from the inside.
i will bet that is what happned.

They are still not liking each other right now.(I let them out for awhile again) Vincent seems to want to get near Sam but Sam hisses. So Im guessing Sam isnt trusting Vincent right now. I think I will keep them seperated for a couple days and see what happens than.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Sell tickets!

 

[Lindley]

Get a spray bottle and fill it with water. If you respond to any hiss or attack with a few sprays, it might help get the message across that you aren't happy.

 

[nevermore]

^No, no , no. Squirting cats with water is not the answer to everything. They're freaked out for some reason. Freaking them out more is not going to help the situation at all.