Cats fighting

by Alan Jelliff
(alton Ga)

I have had a female spayed cat for 5 years and a male spayed cat for 1 1/2 years. Both are indoor cats and have gotten along well. Recently the male cat has attacked the female every time it see her. We have had to keep the cats seperated as I fear the male may harm the female. This behavior has come on suddenly. The male cat does fine when not near the other cat but as soon as he sees her the growling and hissing begins. Any suggestions?

Answer by Kate
Hi
This is a common problem and one that i am asked quite a lot. It does seem that for no apparent reason to us two cats who have previously got on fine suddenly take a dislike to each other. often there is a cause it's just one that we have not noticed.

This may have been brought on by one cat being frightened by something, a loud sound, having tail trodden on etc and they transfer their fear onto the other cat, sort of blaming them even though it had nothing to do with them. this is known as trauma aggression.

the thing to do is to help rebuild the confidence the cats have in each other. this needs to be slowly and calmly using the introduction method described here

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

I hope things settle down again soon
best wishes Kate

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