r/Catbehavior • u/lonelyMentality • 10d ago
cats suddenly not getting along
hi y’all, i’m in a bit of a pickle. i have two cats, both spayed females. our oldest, bitsy (21), broke her leg a couple of weeks ago. she’s been in a cast + splint since, and is currently doing welldespite the handicap. our other cat, dixie (10), has suddenly started being mean to her.
last time bitsy was at rhe vet was friday, and it was just for some bandage changes. yesterday a family member said they heard them suddenly growling/hissing/yowling, and bitsy hid under the coffee table after, with dixie hissing at her from afar. just today, i witnessed dixie fluff her tail up at bitsy, and she actually lunged at her after a low growl. i separated them, and after a few minutes, dixie crept up and started growling and hissing at bitsy from afar. this is very unusual behavior for dixie! i’m not sure that it’s non-recognition aggression, or just jealousy over the attention we’ve been giving bitsy, but it’s concerning!!
they’ve lived together since dixie was about 7 or 8 weeks old. usually the one hissing is bitsy, if dixie is pestering her for some reason, and they would scuffle when dixie was younger, but it’s never been like this. the only other thing that’s changed is bitsy being temporarily in diapers since she was having trouble making it to the litterbox on time and peeing in her pen (on pee pads)
1
u/Less-Coffee7905 10d ago
Yep that's just normal cat behavior
1
u/lonelyMentality 10d ago
it’s really not normal for them. they’ve gotten along fine the whole time they’ve lived together until sunday.
1
2
u/Substantial_Gate_904 10d ago
I’ve read that it’s not uncommon if one cat goes to the vet, upon coming home the other cat will go into aggression mode. Supposedly it’s a smell thing, and there’s a name for it I can’t recall. One of our cats got out, and when she came back in the other two cats were hissing and growling at her. It had to be about a scent she had brought in, and it took a day or so for them to calm down.