After Bathing cat, other cat is attacking bathed cat

by Pam
(Chicago, IL )

I bathed my 5 yr old neutered male cat. While i was bathing him, my pregnant female cat jumped up on the counter where I was bathing him at and started hissing and growling at him. Now, the pregant female is viciously attacking the male for no reason. The two were like best friends always, never a fight ever. Now the male hides under the bed to keep away from the female. It's been 2 days since the bath and no peace in sight.



Answer by Kate
Hi
This is a common issue. It is all to do with fear. her behavior is known as trauma aggression.

basically she was frightened by the water or seeing the other cat being bathed (something cats don't like very much https://www.our-happy-cat.com/bathing-a-cat.html ) and she has turned this fear onto the other cat, sort of transference.

Your best option is to separate the cats for a day or so then to slowly reintroduce them using the safe method described on this page

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

Don't worry things will get better as she calms down.

best wishes Kate

Comments for After Bathing cat, other cat is attacking bathed cat

Click here to add your own comments

Cats keep fighting after I bath both of them
by: Monica

Hello , well I bath both of my cats, separately.
But once they were both done , my female cat started hissing at my male cat non stop , couple minutes later they started fighting I quickly separated them . It was really scary to watch , I’ve tried getting them together but the hissing does not stop from my female cat , my male cat is more chill and he just looks at her . More like he wants to play with her , he will try chase her but she’s become really agreeskve towards him . They have both been separated in different rooms , it’s now been one week . And I’m really stressed as I don’t know how to deal with the situation.

Answer
It could simply be that your female cat has associated bath time (Which cats find Stressful) with the other cat. It may also be a scent thing. Try rubbing your male cat with a clean towel then rub the towel on your female cat. This can sometimes help. But it may take a few goes.

Best not to bath cats very often. It isn't particularly necessary and can affect there skin and coat.
En

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Cat Questions.