Male cats aggressive to female cat

by Karen
(Cary, NC)

Apparently my sister had to have a 5-1/2 year old female tabby cat's teeth pulled - -she still has her front teeth and after coming home from this procedure the two male cats (that have always been loving and playful toward her) are making her be very aggressive. She is urinating and defacating outside the box (not normal at all for her) and she is hissing and being very aggressive when one or the other just approach her to play. Could it be she feels like her space is being violated because she is defenseless for lack of teeth or could it be something else? My sister's vet put the female 5-1/2 year old on kitty anxiety meds but it did not agree with her digestive tract at all. They have all lived together now for many years so this behavior is very odd. I just wonder if she is having other issues -- like possibly kidney failure because of the bad teeth for so long and that is why she is acting so strange. My sister is going to have to give her away because of this behavior (and she is not able to have children so these cats are her "kids" and keep her great company when my brother-in-law is working long hours on his public utility job). Any help I'd appreciate it. I lost my male Maine Coon cat of only 5 years last November to lymphoma and kidney failure so I can empathize with her difficult decision. Her female is acting a lot like the female in our house at the time my male was so sick - almost like she knew he was dying before the vet and my family did.

Reply
Hi
This behavior sounds to me like something called aggression truama. This is caused when animals have a fright and blame it on another animal and so act aggressively to wards them. the trip to the vets could have been the trigger for this.

It is a very common occurrence and needs some time and effort on your part to help all the animals regain their confidence in each other, this will in turn reduce the anxiety.

I have written a page about aggression truama which explains the process to help your cats here

cat-aggression-trauma.html

It is a little time and effort heavily but it really can help the situation.

best wishes kate

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