The first step is to separate the cats for a few days.
This will prevent any further aggression and thereby stop what is called self-reinforcement of this unwanted behaviour. It gives the cats a chance to calm down, to become peaceful, and to forget the animosity they have for each other.
When they are re-introduced the aggression may not show again. Sometimes this is enough to solve the problem. Often it’s not.
If aggression is still a problem, then the re-introduction should be done progressively over a few days or even a few weeks. For this you should use a process called successive approximation. The introduction of the cats is broken down into small, manageable parcels. This can be tediously slow so you need to be patient.
Firstly, you should allow the cats to see each other but not to smell or touch each other. This is best done through a window or glass partition.
Observe the progress and if the cats settle down and don’t show any fear, anxiety or aggression then you are making progress.
Then second step is to allow the cats to smell each other but not to see each other.
This is easily done using the Feline Facial Towelling Technique. Heat a slightly damp towel, such as a hand towel, in the microwave until it is a comfortable warmth.
Rub this warm towel over the body and especially around the face and cheeks of the least aggressive cat first. Then immediately take the towel to the more aggressive cat and do the same. This should be done in a soothing, gentle and caressing manner.
It is often useful to create a happy mood in the aggressive cat before you do this by feeding it a special ‘therapy only’ food treat. Select a glorious food treat that the cat will walk over water to receive but that it gets at no other time.
The last step is to take the towel back to the least aggressive cat and finish by giving it a rub once more. In this manner you are sharing the scents of the two cats and especially their personal ‘pheromones’. Pheromones are personal chemicals of communication. They have a very powerful effect on the behaviour of many animals. (They are very important in the insect world.)
The Feline Facial Towelling Technique is a gentle method of getting the cats used to each others’ smell without them needing to cope with the added complications of seeing each other.
Now for the third step. Try introducing the cats to each other through a mesh security door, a fly screen window or by placing each beastie in a cat cage.
This allows the cats to see, smell and hear each other but, if there are fireworks, no danger is involved.
Cat cages are a useful way of doing this. The cages can gradually be brought closer and closer to each other while the cats’ happy moods are maintained.
If the cats are happy to sniff each other through the mesh without friction, then you are progressing well. Allow them to sniff each other for a few minutes each day and if they appear happy you are ready for the big step – putting them together.
While you can throw them into the same room and run away, there are more sensitive ways of proceeding. The easiest is to place the more subordinate cat in a cat cage and allow the other cat to roam free in the same room. If all goes well, the roles can be reversed with the tough guy in the cage and the other free. Again you may need to test the water like this for a few days.
At some stage you are going to have to allow the cats to be free in the same room together. Do this in a ‘neutral’ room – one that has no special significance for either cat. Be ready with a large towel or net and a water pistol. If either cat goes to attack the other, spray it briefly with the water pistol.
Foreign Territories
For complicated cases of aggression between cats, it is often useful to get the cats out of the home territory and put them in a foreign location where neither has territorial rights. This is usually done in a cattery or a veterinary surgery. The cats can be placed in separate cages, visible to each other, for a while. The next step is for the cattery manager to place the cats into the same cage. As they are in neutral territory, this is often successful. For safety, one can be placed into a transport cage for a while until their reactions are assessed.
Synthetic Feline Pheromones
Feliway is a synthetic equivalent of the pheromones that cats have in their facial glands. They are ‘happy pheromones’ and often have an effect similar to that attributed to catnip. To help make the cats more accepting of the cages in the cattery or of each other in the home.
Feliway is available in a plug-in diffuser that is easy to use. For supplies of this product, please contact my office.
Further information on pheromones is linked through the menu of this site or use the search function.
Medications for Monstrous Moggies
Processes such as the above are often effective, but in some cases, the feuding felines will not accept each other, no matter what us mere humans throw at them. However there is one trick we haven’t used – medication.
There are new anti-anxiety medications on the market which are often effective for these types of problems. The goal is to use such medications for a month or more to make the cat more tranquil and relaxed and to allow them to accept each other’s presence. When the medication is stopped, the peace and serenity is often maintained. Please contact me for further advice on such medication or for other relevant techniques.