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They live together very close for 3 years till now. I found out that my big cat didnt recognise his brother because of his smell (after shower of not yet neutered, i dont know). I already separeated them in 2 rooms and sometimes let the big cat smell the little one's blanket.
One is neutered and one is'nt
Any ideas??? Help me. I have to go for 3 weeks in 10 more days. I cant leave them like this
I had a similar issue. Caused by a move, and exposure to stray and wandering cats coming up to the house, resulting in one attacking another. Search for other posts on this topic. I tried everything. Eventually re-homed the attacker, and now the older, docile cat is so very happy and relaxed. I have been told that it is possible to get them past this. Was advised to crate both cats for a few weeks and isolate them in a small room or closet, and give them minimal attention, then gradually re-introduce them to each other. I wasn't willing to do that to the older cat, who I feared would be harmed by this.
I would not leave them alone together. I assume you have a pet sitter coming in? At a minimum, they'd need to be separated all the time, and that's hard for a sitter to manage.
Why is one not neutered? That could be part of the problem here.
I also ask the same question as Sicilee ... why is one neutered and the other not? ... and I agree that could be part of the problem, or the whole problem. How old are the boys? About three? Are they indoors only?
Why aggression rears its ugly head seemingly "out of the blue" can be because of a variety of causes. There's always a reason behind a behavioral change, and many many times it's a medical thing - something isn't right. It's not always an issue with the aggressor either - it could be that your neutered kitty is giving off some communication that humans just can't see, but your intact one can.
Understandably time is short for you, but if I was in your shoes I'd take both cats to the vet for check-ups to see if there's something medical. It could be that either one has a UTI. Or your intact male's hormones are raging. Or one or the other has some sort of digestive issue going on or even parasites. Sometimes there is no evidence of any of this, at least to human eyes and noses, in the litterbox.
How many litterboxes do you have? The general rule of thumb is one for each cat plus one extra. If the problem is behavioral and not medical, maybe the brothers just don't want to share boxes anymore.
Or maybe there is an outdoor cat wandering around intruding upon your cats' territory as Sicilee wrote.
In the meantime I would keep them separated; however, I would give lots of loves and attention to both to calm the situation. Your state of mind highly influences theirs. You can also do "site swaps", meaning let each take turns in each of the two rooms. This helps to avoid establishing separate territories which you don't want.
Until you know which cat is actually the "victim", I wouldn't necessarily place "blame" on the aggressive one. Humans don't have the ability to see a trigger that sets off an argument - we just see the argument.
Thank you for your answer.
I know my falt is only take one to neutered, the other one used to have some health problems when he was young, so Im afraid that neutered is not good for him (surgery, medicine)
But now I know that I was wrong.
Do you think separate them for 3 weeks, 2 rooms, cant see the other could make them forget the other?
Thank you for your answer.
I know my falt is only take one to neutered, the other one used to have some health problems when he was young, so Im afraid that neutered is not good for him (surgery, medicine)
But now I know that I was wrong. Do you think separate them for 3 weeks, 2 rooms, cant see the other could make them forget the other?
I doubt it. They will still know the other is around from the scent. Besides your only putting off the problem instead of fixing it. One not being neutered is likely the problem and you need to take care of that first. If there is still conflict after that, you may have to go through a re-introduction routine (lots of threads on that here on the forum). Cats are social creatures, and separating and isolating them for a long period of time may cause more problems that it fixes. You need to find out what the conflict is, and go from there.
I doubt it. They will still know the other is around from the scent. Besides your only putting off the problem instead of fixing it. One not being neutered is likely the problem and you need to take care of that first. If there is still conflict after that, you may have to go through a re-introduction routine (lots of threads on that here on the forum). Cats are social creatures, and separating and isolating them for a long period of time may cause more problems that it fixes. You need to find out what the conflict is, and go from there.
Okay thank you. I think I should take the other one for neutered after my trip. And now separate them is the only thing I can do, everyday I give them some minutes to see the other to see if they can go through it or not.
lovelyalaskan -- no judgmental blame being laid! We all learn as we go along, sometimes from mistakes and sometimes from experiments (successes and failures) - both are learning processes, and that's what counts. Asking questions and/or sharing experiences in places such as this forum is a huge plus.
The best part is that you've been observant and caring and are being proactive. For now, keeping them temporarily separated is the best situation for all (including for you). So, take a breath, relax, go on your trip. In this way you can step back, assess, and then go forward once you've returned.
lovelyalaskan -- no judgmental blame being laid! We all learn as we go along, sometimes from mistakes and sometimes from experiments (successes and failures) - both are learning processes, and that's what counts. Asking questions and/or sharing experiences in places such as this forum is a huge plus.
The best part is that you've been observant and caring and are being proactive. For now, keeping them temporarily separated is the best situation for all (including for you). So, take a breath, relax, go on your trip. In this way you can step back, assess, and then go forward once you've returned.
^^this^^
After 30 Years of living with, and being owned by multiple cats, I'm still learning.
lovelyalaskan -- no judgmental blame being laid! We all learn as we go along, sometimes from mistakes and sometimes from experiments (successes and failures) - both are learning processes, and that's what counts. Asking questions and/or sharing experiences in places such as this forum is a huge plus.
The best part is that you've been observant and caring and are being proactive. For now, keeping them temporarily separated is the best situation for all (including for you). So, take a breath, relax, go on your trip. In this way you can step back, assess, and then go forward once you've returned.
Thank you so much. I have a few day left before my trip. After 3 days separated, I'm letting the neutered outside and the other one in the case, and feel better result. No more hissing.. only smelling and watching. I will leave them for a while and send them back to their separeated rooms, tomorrow try again.
They live together very close for 3 years till now. I found out that my big cat didnt recognise his brother because of his smell (after shower of not yet neutered, i dont know). I already separeated them in 2 rooms and sometimes let the big cat smell the little one's blanket.
One is neutered and one is'nt
Any ideas??? Help me. I have to go for 3 weeks in 10 more days. I cant leave them like this
It's been years ago, but we had two cats at the time that were close. The female especially, she was attached to the male. We move from a house to an apartment and they couldn't look at each other without hissing for a month. They would lay under our bed and just hiss... while we were trying to sleep.
This apartment also had a lot of stray cats, and it's possible that they detected the presence of cats owned by prior tenants.
It took about a month or so then they were back to normal. As long they are not fighting or acting aggressively toward each other, it should pass.
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