? Aggression concern with adopted

Discussion in 'Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars' started by Mocha aka Cold Play, Dec 4, 2016.

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  1. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    Many of you know of Latte.....the cat who did not adjust after Mocha was no longer with us.

    The adjustment between Latte and a shelter female went much quicker than Latte with Mocha. They seem to love to greet each other. Callie was adopted end of August.

    I can't always see what goes on, despite being home almost all the time. What I have seen is Latte will sometimes chase after Callie, but Callie goes under a chair and it ends at that point.

    I have however seen after I break up some face swatting that Callie ran full speed when Latte was walking away and could not see or hear her coming to attack. Callie literally jumped her full body spread upon the back of Latte who was twisting and screaming to get off, because she was pretty helpless being pinned. I broke it up.

    Today, I hear a scream, I believe to be Latte. Sounded an intense combat that I could not see. But, I said stop when I heard it and then I separated to two rooms. I am sure it was Callie who attacked. Latte will hide if she was in the wrong but she was instead growling at me when I just touched her to see if she was injured. When I opened their doors, Latte at one point went up to Callie (on a couch) and appeared if she was contemplating trying to return the anger but when she saw me, she left Callie. But, she stayed in other rooms, away from Callie.....not her behavior. They both love the family room, where Callie remained.

    I have a hard time with face swats even because I see it as an esculating problem if not told to stop. It is not play.

    I feel certain it was Callie who aggressed. I don't doubt Latte could have sniffed her and Callie over-reacted with this stand on her hind legs and arms posed to hit (I have seen that too). Mocha and Latte did not get along great but they tolerated each other and face smacks was the worst of it.

    I feel that if this continues.....because in my experience (limited) a cat who is attacked will try to even the score. I feel that she must be placed in another home. Am I over reacting?

    I am in the midst of trying to return to work for the first time in years and having these two alone could be a problem. DH is home most of the time but pretty oblivious.

    I can try to watch and of course listen but I am in the midst of cramming accounting for interviews and I can't watch exclusively.

    Callie does enjoy Latte too. But, it seems something is changing. If it is a pecking order and happens once, that is one thing but I have already known it to be twice.

    What do I do? It saddens me so.
     

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  2. Doodles & Karen

    Doodles & Karen Well-Known Member

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    Jun 2, 2015
    I'd probably make a vet appointment for check up's to make sure nothing is hurting/ bothering one of them. There are also the Feliway plug-ins that have a calming effect. Kitty Prozac or thunder jackets have been used too. If it were me I'd explore all options before rehoming especially if they get along the majority of the time.
     
  3. Julie and Eleanor (GA)

    Julie and Eleanor (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Jan 31, 2012
    A few years ago one of my cats started attacking the other cats, I took her to the vet for a check up, nothing was found to be wrong with her. The vet gave me some medicine to give her, some kind of kitty prozac I guess. She only had to have the med for a couple months and lived another 10 years without ever again attacking any of the cats.
     
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  4. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    I have a plug in on most of the time and the spats are occurring in that room.
     
  5. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    Maybe they both could benefit. Latte has some "allergy" that she tears at her hair (not food related). She actually cleared up as a result of Callie coming. That was a first. Vets have all said could be an allergy and hard to identify. They both are on the skittish side.
     
  6. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    Something else that "troubles me" is in the last month they are never seen in proximity. They used to routinely sleep on a bed at least near the other. Neither goes there any more. Callie goes to a different room and Latte finds a different sleeping place. It seems as if something broke their bond/trust about a month ago and neither is interested in fixing it.
     
  7. Sienne and Gabby (GA)

    Sienne and Gabby (GA) Senior Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    How did you introduce the two of them? Cats are extremely territorial. If you didn't introduce them slowly, there's always a chance that this is a territory dispute. See Pam Johnson-Bennett or Jackson Galaxy's websites for information on introducing a new cat at home. You may need to start over with introductions. This could easily be the case if something scared one of them and the scare was misattributed to the other kitty.

    Are they both floor or height cats? Do they both have safe spaces? If one goes up and the other down it's easier.

    How many Feliway diffusers do you have running? You may need more than one. You can also try Rescue Remedy or calming collars to see they they will help.



     
  8. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    They were slowly introduced and allowed to explore the other's space when not there. This went on for almost 2 weeks but Callie wanted to be out and there was no fussing when they saw each other or eating. I don't think it was the introduction because again, that was the last weeks of August. I did not even see a paw swap until maybe 2 months ago when they were greeting too long for one or the other.

    I have one felliway in and I have another unit that I could order the liquid for. I was thinking of that.

    Callie was a single cat and Latte has only been one of two cats, so Callie while adjusted very well from the start may have reverted to wondering why this cat is around?

    I have the tiered cubbies that Latte uses to sleep. Callie never touches them. I had even washed the cushions before she came. Other than the tiers, we don't have space. One usually goes on the back of the couch (Latte) and Calli on a table or on the couch itself or the floor. They each have places to run to if they felt the need that would be away from the other. So, I say both floor cats.

    I do have rescue remedy and rescue calm. I will give them the remedy first. I used that before the move here and it worked very well.

    Maybe it is the lack of sun for over a week that is irritating? It is to me too. They keep trying to find the place to lay in the sun and it is not there.

    Thanks will see how it goes. Let there be peace on earth and in the condo too!
     
  9. Kathy and TiTi

    Kathy and TiTi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2016
    I have the same problem, and my solution is separation. It is clearly territorial for my cats. I like the kitty prozac idea. I think I shall try it.

    The suddenness of the war leads me to suspect that something happened to make them utterly suspicious, one of the other. That's a hard syndrome to break.
    Did you say that you moved recently? That is a disaster for cats. Before the move, everyone knows who belongs where, what areas belong to cats that will not share them, and on and on the territorial rules go.
    When you move, there is territorial chaos. No cat understands what to do, which areas are his/her own, and where it is safe to go. This occurs even when there's only 1 cat in the household. I think separation, prozac and patience might solve this.
     
  10. Mocha aka Cold Play

    Mocha aka Cold Play Well-Known Member

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    Sep 23, 2015
    My only clue is Latte used to wait behind our column in the room with a separate kitty closet/walk-in for Callie to leave the litter box. She seemed to do this because Callie would run when she has a stool to "get away!" I think Latte may have thought of it as a game to chase her because Callie could not see her until she passed that column. But, Callie likely has been not enjoying that chase game because she would go under a chair. However, I have almost closed the litter room so it is not as visible when a cat goes in to wait for the other and the chasing lessened considerably to hardly at all. But, it may have raised insecurities in Callie who now is not sure what to do but defend herself if she questions her space being too close.......seems to happen when they greet that someone gets too close too long. I don't know. They need to talk! I do usually play with them together 2x a day and I have not been able to with job applications and an interview coming. I need to see if the play time gets them trusting again. I have seen Callie chasing a large pom pom and it sends her all over the room, and once it landed her right at Latte and Latte did not move and was ok. Latte likes to watch her chase the pom poms every time.

    But, this move went fine with Mocha and Latte adjusting and no issues. So Callie coming to the mix 8 months after Latte has been here, should not be any different than her coming in any home because Latte was already adjusted with Mocha at first and then being the only cat (she was sad) left.
     
  11. Kathy and TiTi

    Kathy and TiTi Well-Known Member

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    Feb 12, 2016
    Ah the litterbox danger zone.
    Get another litter box and put it in an entirely different area. Cats routinely guard litter boxes. It's a territorial thing. They often will wait until the other cat is in the litter box, and then attack the cat right while she's doing her business. If you only have 2 cats, then having 2 litter boxes in two different areas will help, because one cat cannot be in two different areas at the same time. Worth a try anyway
    anyway.

    The introduction of a new cat raises the same territorial problems as does a move from one home to another. My suspicion is that Latte did not think Callie should be using the litterbox. That may have been the attack that started the war.
     
  12. marniepaul & miles

    marniepaul & miles Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2011
    That's a tough one. We adopted a tiny kitten from the shelter and at some point he decided he was the alpha cat. He randomly attacks Stratus (who is 15 mo old) for no reason. We had to take Stratus to the vet on Black Friday (yeah, that's where I do my holiday shopping LOL) because Logan had injured Stratus. Stratus was limping, had become listless and stopped eating. He had developed cellulitis and an infection in his injured limb (we couldn't see where it was punctured, but it was swollen). He just finished a round of antibiotics and is fine now, and we got Logan fixed so hopefully he'll quit flying through the air like a devil kitten (although getting his *** snipped didn't seem to make much difference LOL).

    I agree on the kitty Prozac. It sounds like you have a lot of good ideas to try here, and just being alert and aware of the problem is important. I hope they start getting along, because rehoming would be tough too. Good luck!
     
  13. Kathy and TiTi

    Kathy and TiTi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2016
    Ah the litterbox danger zone.
    Get another litter box and put it in an entirely different area. Cats routinely guard litterboxes. It's a territorial thing. They often will wait until the other cat is in the litterbox, and then attack the cat right while she's doing her business. If you only have 2 cats. then having 2 litterboxes in two different areas will help fix that one, because one cat cannot be in two different areas at the same time. Worth a try.
    anyway.
     
  14. Gill & George

    Gill & George Well-Known Member

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    Oct 27, 2015
    I think trying a second litter box may be a good idea. George is an only kitty, but when he goes to our petsitter/friends house there kitties are there too (they are indoor outdoor kitties and do their business outside) when George stays with her he is strictly an indoor cat so he goes with his litter box, well to cut a long story short, he get's on just fine with the other kitties, just so long as they don't try to get in his litter box. He had quite a spat with Specs a young neutered male when Specs decided he would use the convenience:rolleyes:.
    The rest of the time he was ok with Specs and the others sleeping next to each other on the sofa.
     
  15. Sienne and Gabby (GA)

    Sienne and Gabby (GA) Senior Member Moderator

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    Dec 28, 2009
    Ideally, you should have 1.5 litter boxes per cat. A second litter box may be a very good idea!
     
  16. Tuxedo Mom

    Tuxedo Mom Well-Known Member

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    Dec 2, 2014
    Being territorial over litterboxes can certainly cause "bad feelings" and possibly aggression. For my two I have 3 litter boxes. My son's two kitties stayed with me for a few months while he was waiting to get his house. They had 2 litterboxes of their own in a different part of the basement, but sometimes wanted to use my own kitties' boxes. One of mine was NOT happy about that and there were several big fights that happened. I finally had to fence them off in a separate area where they could not get to my litterboxes and let them roam for short periods of time with my two, That fixed the problem.
     
  17. Tiger(GA) and Ruth

    Tiger(GA) and Ruth Well-Known Member

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    Apr 15, 2014
    What are the ages of your kitties? Did you acquire Callie from a shelter? I can definitely relate to your kitty problems and I do feel your pain! I adopted 2 kittens(they are not related to eachother) from the shelter about a year and a half ago and it was a disaster at first:-( My male tuxie Buster was an orphaned mis-behaving tyrant who would pester my tabby girl K.C. endlessly. I was near ready to rehome Buster but when I called the shelter they immediately put me in touch with a Animal Behavior Specialist. She wanted me to send her video recordings of interaction between the two and later when we met with her, she observed them for over an hour and had a list of 50 different suggestions that we went through. One of the very first things I tried was to get a safety harness
    https://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/store/ars/item/60409/Crazy-K-Farm-Kitty-Holster-Cat-Harness-Denim-XL/94846?origin=ARS_GPLA_60409&gclid=CjwKEAiAvZTCBRDvnoOaoa2j3xISJABxPjN9o2Yv4VW8RbLM_IZH02r8walTF65qliEcM7LMC7XSixoCtXHw_wcB
    and a leash for Buster and I started training him for eventual walks. It served to distract him from his usual antics and I have never needed to pursue any other course of action. Even now, if i have to leave them, I either put them in their rooms or if for a short period of time, i put Buster's harnss on and I have not had any further problems. The other thing to remember is that your cat's status in the household is changing daily. Something as insignificant as a stray cat approaching your back window can change the dynamics in your kittie's world. This actually happened to us as well. There was this huge white outdoor kitty who was antagonizing Buster, unknown to us until I caught it and put a kitty deterent out there. Please don't give up, and please keep us posted!
     
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