Aggressive mood swings - related to diabetes or???

I apologize for not being on much lately. Tink is doing EXCELLENT. Still diet controlled and almost never sees any BG#'s over 120. He's actually gotten a bit plump again, so I'm trying to monitor/isolate him at feeding so he doesn't steal others' food - my heaviest cat is now almost my lightest cat - which is ok, he needed to loose the weight... but he's physically disabled and wont stand up to another cat who pushes him away from his food. :YMSIGH:

Anyway... I have a question about behavior. Tink is normally a VERY laid back cat. He's always been shy with strangers and avoidant of new animal additions at first, but never aggressive. He does play from time to time, which is new since diagnosis & recovery from his DKA. He usually races through the house with the others once or twice a day, which I figure is good for exercise. He has a lobster plush toy that he carries around and howls with - usually in the evening. Not sure what that's about... but whatever. :lol: But my CONCERN, is that several times now he's gotten downright aggressive with my female cat. Everyone is fixed, but we've only one female. Normally she and Tink are the best of friends, always cuddling in the window shelf. He'll occasionally cuddle with someone else, but 9 times out of 10, it's with Venus. However at least three times in the last 6weeks, Tink has had episodes where he aggressively chases and fights with her. This is NOT play. Venus is terrified. The first couple times, me yelling at them was enough to make them stop. They might still growl at one another, but the physical confrontation stopped. However, yesterday I had to physically intervene. I let it go for the first few minutes, till they started knocking things over and I realized they were definitely NOT playing. Tink had chased her up to their window shelf and had her pinned against the wall. She was screaming, he was swatting and biting at her, growling & hissing as she tried to defend herself and escape. I yelled, clapped, etc and they were still going at it. The other two cats, who were watching, were in utter shock as well. I went over to the window shelf thinking my approach would end the fight... nope. I thought I was going to physically have to grab one of them - but knew that would result in my own blood loss. Finally Venus saw her chance to flee and did. Tink attempted to chase her but I got in the way. Went to grab him and he growled and hissed AT ME! He's NEVER done that. EVER. I talked him down and eventually picked him up - he was still squirmy and mad, but was past the psycho bite/scratch phase. I soothed him and after a few minutes he chilled out. I finally found Venus hiding in a corner, still breathing hard. Poor thing.

Thinking about human diabetics... I thought with the severity of this, and since it wasn't the first time, I'd test his BG. He had eaten 1.5hrs prior, but tested at 94. ??? Seems low for having eaten so recently, but still a good number. I was fearing it may be very low, though figured that would be odd since he's not on insulin. So... I'm thinking his BG isn't the cause... but curious if there's some other way this might be related to his diabetes. He's just NEVER been aggressive AT ALL before. He and Venus get along great usually... but at least three times now (that I know of, maybe more since I work all day) he's violently attacked her - with this time by far being the worst.

Open to theories, thoughts, suggestions...

 

First, separate them so she doesn't get hurt.

Give Venus a thorough check yourself for wounds, dehydration, dental condition, etc. Then, I would get Venus checked out by the vet. If she is ill, it can provoke aggression from other cats. I've seen that with my own group of cats.

While you get that arranged, aim for 15-20 minutes of active play with him twice a day to tire him out and give him some 1 on 1 time.

If medical problems are ruled out, you are at the point of separation and gradual re-introductions.

 

I'm not sure if I explained the situation well enough. Tink and Venus spend 99% of their time cuddled up. Separation and re-introduction isn't the issue - they aren't just not liking each other anymore or fighting all the time. Shortly before - and shortly after - these spats they've been having, they'll be cuddled up again. Ten minutes before this most recent fight, they were cuddled up sleeping together. They were back together half an hour later. They're probably the two most bonded cats I have at the moment. It's just that every once in a while, Tink seems to snap and decide to REALLY attack her, for no apparent reason (though I've not seen what leads up to this - maybe play gets carried away, or maybe it's completely unprovoked... I have never seen the beginning of it).

Still, I'll probably get Venus checked out anyway. Her body condition just isn't ideal - never has been since she was a kitten. Can't put my finger on it... but she looks more like a stray than a beloved indoor housekitty. But given the way they behave with each other ALMOST all the time, I can't imagine that's the cause.

This weekend was uneventful - and it's only happened once every couple weeks... but since it gets worse each time, I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

 

The active play may be beneficial, regardless.

 

Update:

I haven't gotten anyone to a vet re: this... but it is still continuing. Not often, but seems to be around once/week. And it's ALWAYS Tink attacking Venus. Yesterday it happened again. Tink violently attacking and chasing Venus, Venus running terrified, and the other two chasing after to watch the show. The other two cats do not get involved, but they're always there.

This time, I managed to swat Tink while he was in pursuit of Venus - but that didn't even slow him down. It's horrible to watch - he attacks her, she gets away, he chases until he gets ahold of her again... it just doesn't stop by itself! Half an hour later, they curl up peacefully together in the window. They sleep together, groom each other, etc more often than any of my other cats - they're practically attached at the hip! So I just dont understand these random acts of violence!

I do still want to get Venus checked out by a vet since she's just kinda scraggly. But it seems if it were a health issue causing the attacks, it would a) happen more often and b) all the cats would be attacking her... not just Tink.

 

I'm so sorry to hear that Tink is being temperamental. I can't help you much, but I have read a few posts over the past several months about cats becoming suddenly aggressive. One of the recommendations was to have the thyroid checked.

Here's the link to that full thread: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=116025

Hope you get it figured out!
Shelly

 

I haven't... but I will look into that. He's also been searching high and low for food, despite being fed 4x/day. Though he's also continuing to gain weight while only getting 6oz of Wellness GF per day (can recommends 12oz for his ideal weight of 12lb) - I'd think overactive thyroid would result in being underweight... but the appetite and aggression seem to fit.

 

A couple of months ago my cat Dusty started hissing at me and hiding for no reason. It took him a couple of weeks to come around again and I never figured out what caused that. During that time his glucose readings went up slightly from him being aggravated I guess. I'm sure diabetes like any disease causes changes to the body; hearing, scent, vision, and just overall wellbeing. In your case hopefully it'll just go away and they'll get used to themselves again. :roll:

 

Tink is still nothing but 100% lovable to me, and fine with the other cats 95% of the time. Which I guess is good, as that would make me think NOT a thyroid issue... but I'll still get him checked out (and Venus too).

He managed to get ahold of at least one piece of dog kibble this morning though... so I'm hoping that doesn't send him flying too high today. The dog eats all her food, but her bowl had apparently got bumped in her kennel, as there were several pieces hiding along the edge, under her kennel this morning. Grrr.... Never a dull moment. :roll:

 

Hello,

I just wanted to let you know I had the same issue. I have 4 cats (1 alpha) and 1 diabetic and 2 normal. Once the diabetic cat was regulated, he began stalking the alpha cat. We actually had the alpha cat start spraying in fear in front of us our of pure fear. It was awful and seperation only made it worse. After checkups on both, it seems both cats are fine but it was believed that my diabetic cat now wanted the alpha position. We put the alpha cat on a small dose of zanex and after 2 weeks all seems to be fine. We still have the occasional fight but nothing like it was. I understand your pain.

I hope this helps,

Susan

 

I agree with Shelly, I would get his thyroid checked. Stealing food and aggressive behavior can be classic signs of thyroid problems. Its about a 60.00 test to find out, just tell them you only want his thyroid checked.
I currently have a cat that is hyperthyroid and takes medicine for it.

Terri

 

Thanks... this is just so odd because it's so sporadic. Granted, it hasn't happened in a couple weeks at this point... so maybe it's done. I don't know. I dont really have an alpha. I have an obnoxious kitten (he's a year old, but doesn't know it) that likes to piss everyone off, but he's not involved in this.

Tink is back on insulin as of a couple days ago - his numbers destabilized for whatever reason. Fortunately the insulin seems to be working well (ProZinc) - as long as I remember it. I wrote it down after his PMPS test last night... then realized 3hrs later I didn't actually GIVE him the dose! BIG OOPS! Dealing with being back on insulin AND having a recovering parvo pup at home is a LOT to deal with! I'm gonna go crazy (and broke!)!!!

 

I forgot to ask the vet about that when we were in. Would thyroid issues possibly cause his numbers to rise? I'm trying to figure out WHY we're back on insulin, with no diet changes (though I know they can go out of remission).

 

The most common reasons for cats to lose remission are

Pancreatitis
Hyper-thyroid
dental issues -which may not be obvious
weight gain

These are from various vet journal articles, but I'm having a hard time finding the exact ones that talked about loss of remission. Too many bookmarked articles and I don't remember exactly which one talked about the loss of remission. Sorry.

 

He did look at Tink's teeth and said they actually look extremely good for an 11yr old cat! Didn't even recommend a dental! But, I should probably get him in for some blood work to rule out other issues.