I have two cats. Zephyr, my 5 year old black boy, and Tokiyo, my 4 month old dilute torti girl. When I first got Tokiyo, Zephyr and her played well and got along. We (my boyfriend, 2 cats and I) have recently moved from New Jersey to Ilinois into an apartment. At first Zephyr was ok, and now recently he started getting aggressive with Tokiyo. If she comes within any distance if him and is in his eyesight, he begins howling, growling, hissing etc. and will occasionally run up to her and make her cower on the floor, then disappear. Same goes for if he's laying in my lap and Tokiyo comes into view, he starts throwing a fit and jumps off my lap and runs away. Zephyr has also been sleeping under our bed lately too, a thing he has NEVER done for the 5 years I've had him. It breaks my heart to see him hide away and be so upset. Any suggestions about what may be wrong with him and how I can help him?
The first thing you need to do is eliminate the possibility of a health issue. You need to make an appointment with a veterinarian for Zephyr. Make sure to explain that you merged the two cats, then moved in with your boyfriend and moved to a new state. It will help in figuring out if it is a health issue or not. If you do not have a vet out in Illinois yet and you live in or near Downers Grove, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights or Palatine, I was from that area prior to here and can recommend some great vets in those areas.
If the issue is not health related then (and in my opinion it is likely to be) stress. Remember, Zephyr is a cat, not human. Hey have some different emotions, handle stress and situations differently and act very different. People often assume their pets are like miniature humans, with the same feelings, abilities and emotions as us. This is simply not so. My opinion is that there is likely a combination of issues at play, from stress to territorial problems. Zephyr may have felt a bit threatened in NJ (by the way I was raised in Fairfield) when you added Tokiyo. Zephyr may have been able to deal with the stress, but compounding it with the stress of a move and loss of his home, that may have been a bit much and his may be showing displaced aggression. He may also be attempting to establish himself in the new “territory” and establish himself as the top cat there. If his problem begins to manifest into actual full aggression and harm (scratches or bites) to Tokiyo, you may need to separate them and do a new slow reintroduction. In fact if the issue is not health, you may want to try this before any physical harm comes to either one. Also, if the issue is not health related, ask the vet if he knows of any animal behaviorists in the area. If you are in the areas I mentioned initially, I know of one in Carol Stream (near enough to Schaumburg). Final words: I am not a veterinarian or trained in animal care. My suggestions are based on my own past experiences with our cats, reading a cat magazines and health journals and talking with vets and behaviorists. Before you take my advice to heart, please consult your vet and see what they think of the situation and my suggestions. You should always do that before just taking a strangers advice. After all, you and your vet know your cat’s history, health and purr-sonality best, not me. :)
Please do post again to let me know what comes of the vet visit and situation as a whole. :)
I just recently moved and my oldest cat is attacking my other 2. She did that the last time I moved and it usually goes on for about a week. Do you think your cats are stressed from the move? It might be a delayed reaction because that's how my cats react. Let them have their space and work through their own issues. I noticed that whenever I'd interfere with my cats when they act like that it made it worse. Cats will be cats no matter how worried we are about them.
Yes. Cats get very nervous when their environment changes. Ever take one to the vet? Their personality can change for months. However there are products to help! Try Feliway. I don't know if I spelled it right, but I've used it and it really helps. My cat had chewed herself nearly bald and the flea meds the vet prescribed only seemed to make things worse (flea allergy, my foot!) Feliway was the only thing that worked !The chewing stopped and she stopped hiding. Turns out chewing is another sign of anxiety. So is aggression toward other cats! Hope this helps!
It's gotten progressively worse over the past week. He's fine whenever my boyfriend or I are around (friendly, purring, being his normal loving self) but if Tokiyo comes anywhere into view, he physically attacks her. Not to the point where he's biting and hurting her, but to the point where he's pinning her down and growling at her. I now keep them separated unless I'm there to supervise them because I'm afraid to leave them alone. I took him to the vet and he has a clean bill of health, and the vet told me that he doesn't seem stressed, but it may be a possibility. So none of that really helped. I'll look into that product and see if it does anything, because I don't know where else to turn to.
Don’t despair yet. Getting a clean bill of health was simply step 1.
As I asked in my 1st post, are you near one of the towns I mentioned? I used a cat behaviorist in Streamwood when I lived in Palatine. I am not sure if she still works at the clinic (it is 6 years since I last spoke to her) now but if not perhaps someone there can suggest another. Check the phonebook for Animal Hospital of Streamwood. They have a website as well so you can just Google the name.
Then there is going to a big name person. When I first had issues to resolve with 2 of my cats I contacted a well known cat behavior author. At the time she had a special message board on iVillage, but the board closed a while ago. However, she now has an excellent cat behavior website where you may be able to get a few ideas. The site lists her books, and they are all available at your local bookstore, and she has a consultation service where you can get a home visit consult (expensive, especially if you are not local to her), telephone consult that includes 4 weeks of email follow-ups (more reasonable) and email consultations. Her business is called Cat Behavior Associates, LLC and you can find it at http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com. At minimum I would suggest you stop at your local Barnes & Nobles or Boards, pick up a cup of coffee, take the following books off the shelves, Cat vs. Cat, Hiss and Tell and Think Like A Cat, and drink your coffee, eat a scone and page through them. If any of them looks like it may prove useful, then buy it or buy a boatload more coffee and stay the day.
In the mean time if you are afraid to leave them alone I would suggest separating them. I would not close them off from each other though. Rather than putting one alone in a room and closing the door when you are not at home, go to your local Walmart or Kmart and purchase 3 baby gates (used to gate off a room, stairs and such) and stack them to gate off a doorway with part of the house on one side and part on the other. This way they can still interact some, but Tokiyo cannot give chase or have any openings to attack, but they can still see each other, smell each other and hear each other.
I hope some of this helps you some.
Final words: I am not a veterinarian or trained in animal care or behavior. My suggestions are based on my own past experiences with our cats, reading a cat magazines and health journals and talking with vets and behaviorists. Before you take my advice to heart, please consult your vet and see what they think of the situation and my suggestions. You should always do that before just taking a strangers advice. After all, you and your vet know your cat’s history, health and purr-sonality best, not me. :)
Please do post again to let me know what comes of the advise (a possible consult with a behaviorist or reading some of the info from Pam Johnson-Bennett) as a whole. :)
Hi there - I'm still new to this neighborhood, but noticed your post. I see you have already received lots of advice, but if it turns out to be stress due to the new environment, there are a couple of products you can try, too. Comfort Zone and Feliway seem to ease a cat's stress. We've used it a few times for different things, to help curb marking when a new cat was introduced to the tribe, as well as when we moved from one end of the country to the other. It can be used like a plug-in room freshener, or the spray can be applied to a cloth, which is how we used the comfort zone on our long drive from GA to TX. There are no drugs, just pheromones. We were all in the vehicles, drove straight thru, and had no problems, so I know it works pretty good for stress! No one freaked out! I'll be watching for an update on your cats! : ) Joan
Catkeeper6 does have a great idea, I use Feliway myself here at times (the make Comfort Zone as well). You can find both in most local pet stores, online stores and of course eBay. I would still recommend you separate them with gates while you try the comfort zone though, just in case.
Joan, that was a good drive. We used the stuff when we moved from Chicago to Montana. Over all the trip was uneventful with 5 cats and 2 cars, but it may not have been without the Feliway as well. Good idea.
Yes, Dave it was a very long drive - all the cats were in the van (with my daughter and me) and the dogs rode with my husband. All in cat carriers, to keep them safe from each other, and it also allowed us to anchor them. The dogs wore harnesses for safety. We drove it straight thru to make it easier on the animals, ha - we didn't bank on getting lost for an hour or so!
I cannot imagine the drive nonstop. We did the Chicago to Montana in 3 days with 2 nights stays on the way. ^Hamlet^ and ^Itchy^ rode up front with me in a large carrier (big enough to hold 2 beds) and Leo rode on the top of the boxes in the back. All were strapped in of course. ^Electra^ and Calliope were in the Jeep with my wife and a good friend. It was a LONG 3 days.
Leo has traveled a lot, more than the others by miles. He tends to have seizures if I go away, so he always comes with me. He flew to NJ with me when my dad died, flew 2 times from Chicago to NJ and 2 other times from here to NJ. He aught to have an air miles card. As much as I loved ^Hamlet^ and would have loved him to always come with me, he just hated traveling and it would have been too mean to take him. :(
Zephyr is actually doing a lot better. I recently got a 2 month old flame point Himalayan for Tokiyo to play with, and they have become inseparable. And now Zephyr doesn't bother with Tokiyo at all. It's not what I hoped, but it's better than him trying to kill her, at least I think. :)
coolcybercats: To be honest, I have no idea what towns are close or far. I've only been here for a month, but I live about 20-30 minutes away from St. Louis in O'Fallon, if you know where that is. I would love to look into a behaviorist as soon as I am financially on my feet again (which should be soon!), but I will definitely look into that website in the meantime. Thank you for all your advice! You're extremely helpful! Oh, and please let me know if you have kitten soft claws available. The new baby LOVES to scratch everything and I don't believe in de-clawing any animal.
heather_kitten10_88, The towns I mentioned and where I used to live was close to Chicago. Sorry. But check out those books then. I always like having some good books in my collection if they may be of help some day, and behavior books for cats usually will be. :)
Yes, I do carry the kitten soft claws. I have 3 listings for them. A Charity Listing, one that comes with a laser toy and just the soft claws. I am attaching the 3 listing numbers to this message if you want to look them over.
for what it is worth, mine is a very much a "people cat" and gets jealous of other animals and also cries and sometimesacts bizarre when she does not get enough human attention.
maybe since you 2 were at the vet with her, she wasn't stressed there.
Thank you, coolcybercats. I looked into the behaviorist you told me about and got a few of her books. They work wonders! I've been applying the constant praising to Zephyr and he has become extremely loving and is constantly nearby. And every time he goes to attack one of the other cats, all I have to do is give him a stern "No" and point to the ground in front of me and he stops what he is doing and comes over. It's great. He still gets a little mean when he's in my lap and one of the kittens comes over, but otherwise, all is well. Also, those books also gave me a lot of information I didn't know about, like a cats preference to bowl types. My newest kitten, Kiya, kept eating my adult cats food (which we all know she's not ready for!) and when I would put her in front of her food bowl, she would run back to his. So I switched the bowls and now she eats her own food (I guess she just likes blue). These books are great and I recommend them to anyone who has any behavior problems with their kitties. They really helped! Thank you all so much for all your advice!
)
)
)
)
)
