Hi My Beautiful Cat People,
I have a cat mama dilemma I was hoping you could help me with.
I have 2 female cats from the same litter. they are just over 1 and have always got on well with no issues.
Over the past 2 days they have got very aggressive towards one another. hissing growling and chasing eachother. Kali is bigger than her sister Luna and is very intimated by her.
Kali recently gave birth to 3 kittens and everyone says this must be the problem but the kittens are 5 weeks old and they were fine up until now.
I've had to keep them in separate rooms for now as I dont have a garden. but as u can imagine it is very distressing. because they hate being boxed in but I cant watch them fight.
I'd like to add that Luna is spayed but her sister who had kittens is yet to be. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
have any of you experienced any similar problems with your cats and if so do you have any advice?
Cat Sisters Fighting
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Ruth B
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Re: Cat Sisters Fighting
Welcome to the forum, hopefully someone here can shed light on what might be going on.
I admit that i have no experience with cats with kittens except from watching live streams, but two possibilities come to mind for me. One is that Luna got too close to the kittens and suddenly Kali's protective instinct kicked in and she saw Luna as a threat. At 5 weeks I would imagine the kittens are really starting to explore their surroundings so it could be that one went to Luna and Kali perceived it as Luna trying to steal her kittens. Alternatively Kali could have seen something outside that she saw as a threat to her kittens and as she couldn't get at that threat she turned on Luna in a case of redirected aggression.
Either way Luna is now seeing Kali as someone to who will attack her and her body language may have changed so Kali sees it as an invitation to attack.
My thought would be to go back to reintroducing Kali and Luna as if you were introducing two new cats who had never met. You are already separating them, so you can keep them apart while you go through the whole scent exchange routine, then move on to them eating either side of a door so they can smell and hear each other, finally try with a barrier that neither cat can get through but can see each other through, normally a baby gate is good for this, but you might have to adapt it so that the kittens can't get through it as well, you want Kali to know they are safe with her, if one got to Luna's side before it was time Kali could really get upset believing her kitten was in danger and not being able to get to save it herself. Finally when both cats associate the other with good things happening, play, food etc then you can try and fully integrate them again. Don't expect this to happen in a few days it might takes weeks, or even months, which might not be a bad thing as I assume you will be finding homes for the kittens and you won't have to worry about Kali feeling she has to protected them from Luna during the reintroduction.
Lastly, I hope that once the kittens are weaned Kali will also be spayed and both cats can settle down together to have a happy long life as friends neither having to worry that the other might be a threat to her kittens. Others will hopefully be on later with other ideas of what might have caused the issue and how best to resolve it.
I admit that i have no experience with cats with kittens except from watching live streams, but two possibilities come to mind for me. One is that Luna got too close to the kittens and suddenly Kali's protective instinct kicked in and she saw Luna as a threat. At 5 weeks I would imagine the kittens are really starting to explore their surroundings so it could be that one went to Luna and Kali perceived it as Luna trying to steal her kittens. Alternatively Kali could have seen something outside that she saw as a threat to her kittens and as she couldn't get at that threat she turned on Luna in a case of redirected aggression.
Either way Luna is now seeing Kali as someone to who will attack her and her body language may have changed so Kali sees it as an invitation to attack.
My thought would be to go back to reintroducing Kali and Luna as if you were introducing two new cats who had never met. You are already separating them, so you can keep them apart while you go through the whole scent exchange routine, then move on to them eating either side of a door so they can smell and hear each other, finally try with a barrier that neither cat can get through but can see each other through, normally a baby gate is good for this, but you might have to adapt it so that the kittens can't get through it as well, you want Kali to know they are safe with her, if one got to Luna's side before it was time Kali could really get upset believing her kitten was in danger and not being able to get to save it herself. Finally when both cats associate the other with good things happening, play, food etc then you can try and fully integrate them again. Don't expect this to happen in a few days it might takes weeks, or even months, which might not be a bad thing as I assume you will be finding homes for the kittens and you won't have to worry about Kali feeling she has to protected them from Luna during the reintroduction.
Lastly, I hope that once the kittens are weaned Kali will also be spayed and both cats can settle down together to have a happy long life as friends neither having to worry that the other might be a threat to her kittens. Others will hopefully be on later with other ideas of what might have caused the issue and how best to resolve it.
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Mollycat
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Re: Cat Sisters Fighting
I would agree with Ruth, go back to basics introductions, maybe if you can hang on that long after kittens are gone and mum spayed.
I have no experience of cat mothers and limited of multi-cat households, but there are many many examples of sibling cats who suddenly and violently fall out. Often it's because one was startled during an intense moment, like for example staring out of the window at another cat in their garden when the other sibling startled them and lashed out. Often the relationship takes a lot of patience to repair and it's not always possible, but well worth investing the effort to help them through.
Only reason I suggest waiting until kittens are gone and mum spayed isn't because that is necessarily the issue, but just to take that complication out of the equation.
I have no experience of cat mothers and limited of multi-cat households, but there are many many examples of sibling cats who suddenly and violently fall out. Often it's because one was startled during an intense moment, like for example staring out of the window at another cat in their garden when the other sibling startled them and lashed out. Often the relationship takes a lot of patience to repair and it's not always possible, but well worth investing the effort to help them through.
Only reason I suggest waiting until kittens are gone and mum spayed isn't because that is necessarily the issue, but just to take that complication out of the equation.
Re: Cat Sisters Fighting
thann you so much for your response. this is very helpful! I really appreciate it x