cats fighting

by Janine
(canada)

I have 5 cats, they have always got along with each other, a few times here and there when playing they get upset, only 2 are related ( brother and sister), they range from 12 yrs down to 2 yrs, here is my question, we have never taken a long vacation so this yr we decided to go for 10 days, my daughter who lives down the road came every night to make sure they were all right and stayed a few hrs, since we have been home they have been fercly fighting with each other, hair all over, and a few good scratches on each, this does not happen during the day at all but at night, my one boy likes to play with the rest of them and runs all over, now if he does that they all get fighting because one decided to hiss, I dont know what to do, at night we try to keep them seperate but its kinda hard.

Answer by Kate
Hi
This sounds to me like trauma aggression. This is caused when something happens or changes around the home which unsettles or frightens the cats. They the take out their fear on each other, sort of blaming their fear n the other cats rather than the actual cause.

in these cases the cats need to be reintroduced to each other in a controlled and secure way. this process is described here

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

Don't worry with a little patience and persistence this situation can be turned around.
best wishes Kate

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