The Critter Corner

By Dr. Steve Velling

“Family Feud, Part 2”

Angus and Eddie, two tabby cats, didn’t get along.  Angus would stalk Eddie all the time, including when Eddie would try to eat, sleep, or go to the litter box.  Eddie got to hiding in Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ bedroom, and that’s also where he decided to “relieve” himself.  That’s about the time when Mrs. Jones gave us a call here at the animal hospital.

Last month’s article dealt with interdog aggression, and as you can tell from above, this month’s article deals with intercat aggression.  There are many different types of aggressive behavior in cats, including blocking access to territory, staring, chasing, hissing, growling, biting and of course attacking.  This can lead a “victim” cat to hide, stop eating, or stop grooming, for example.  Litter box use by all cats should be examined since social issues (along with medical) often contribute to non-litter box usage (as in the above case).  Further, in order to achieve a diagnosis and then hopefully a resolution, the aggressive behavior should be categorized into territorial, social status, redirected (as when an indoor aggressor cat sees a stray cat outside the window, then “takes it out” on the victim cat), fear, defensive, offensive or intermale.

As you can see, with so many different scenarios, a history of the behavior is imperative.  We typically ask people to fill out a 2-3 page history of what’s been happening at home.  Once that is in place, then we can see how to solve the problem.  For instance, in territorial disputes, one cat will usually chase another.  This may result in one cat living in a restricted area to keep away from the aggressor.  Therefore, it may be necessary to create separate areas for food, resting places, and litter boxes for each cat in order to create harmony.  Cats don’t usually share space equally, so this can be a challenge for people.  It also helps for the aggressor to wear a quick release elastic collar with a bell on it to forewarn the victim of their approach and thus allow escape.  When territorial aggression is severe, cats may need to be separated at all times to avoid injury, or alternate living arrangements found for one of the cats.

Fortunately for Mr. and Mrs. Jones, we were able to get Angus and Eddie to get along through a combination of separation, synthetic pheromones (Feliway aerosols), and time.  There were controlled interactions, and after 3 months, Angus stopped beating up on poor Eddie.  Yay!  If you are having any frustrated feline issues, give us a call.

Till next time,          Dr. Steve                                                  www.ashburnanimals.com

p.s. After a fight, be careful if you pick up your cat.  They may be so agitated that doing so may trigger your kitty to lash out at you!  It’s better to throw a big blanket over your cat and then pick it up.

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