Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cat Fights

This is the face of evil, apparently.Tim is 12 years old. My other cat Peter just turned 4 on Tuesday. For the four years we've had both kitties they have gotten along. They play together, lay together and clean each other. They get along great. Or got along great. A week ago they decided that they hate each other with the fire of a thousand suns. Mostly it's Tim attacking Peter. Usually when he's eating. And then Peter spends the day hiding under our bed or in the closet growling and hissing whenever Tim walks near.

I called the vet even though neither kitty seems sick. She suggested buying this spray called Feliway that releases pheromones that calm kitties. It's not working. She also suggested separating them. Have you ever tried to separate two kitties? We lock one of them at a time up in a bathroom while the other has free reign in the house. The isolated kitty then loses his mind. Banging on the door, moaning and crying incessantly.

Under supervision, the kitties are allowed to be together. They warily sniff each other and lay near each other. Then something sets them off and it's yowling, fighting, chasing, and Peter under the bed again.

I'm at my wits end.

What should I do? Has anyone had an experience like this before?
Do they EVER get over it?

2 comments:

rjtaylor said...

Supposedly you can wrap one cat in a towel for a minute, then wrap the other cat in the same towel (not at the same time). This will get the cats to smell somewhat alike and might restore peace. Maybe. Good luck.

Jane In The Jungle said...

We have 5 kitties, ages 11, twins 9, 9 months and 6 months. They fight at times, feeling each other out, establishing hierarchy. They have to work it out themselves even if it means 1 seems traumatised for a while. It's just the way it works for them.