Changes in my adopted cats

Question
Hello! I am proud owner of two feral cats that were adopted into our loving home. I have trained them with love and patience. They are now playful, social and greet me at the door. Recently, the more dominant brother cat began antagonizing his little brother. This is new behaviour in our house. The little one screeches and hisses to get away from his big brother. One night, they woke us 4 times because of the fighting! I have done the following:
1. put them in separate areas in the house
2. used a relaxing pheromone spray to calm them down.
3. Played soft music
4. Reinforced positive behaviour with treats
5. Kept normal routines etc.

There was some improvement, but they were at it again today and I had to separate them again!

Any other causes of this bhaviour change?

Answer
Hi Allison,

Firstly, well done on giving a home to these two cats.  You're obviously very knowledgeable about looking after cats and it sounds as though you are doing most of the right things to solve this situation.

In terms of the causes of this behaviour, there are endless reasons why this might be happening and unless it's something obvious, you might never work out why they have fallen out.  A common cause of companion cats falling out is a trip to the vet - if one of them has been to the vet alone recently and come back with a smell that is either familiar to the other cat and reminds them of the surgery, or is unfamiliar to the other cat, this could cause aggression between them.  Another cause of sudden aggression between companion cats who have previously got along is what is known as "redirected aggression."  This means that one cat has been scared by something that didn't actually involve the other cat - such as a loud noise or a strange cat hanging around - and is taking their feelings out on the other cat because they are the nearest thing to them.  Even if you can work out why they're not getting along, all you can do is take further steps to help them make friends again.

Putting them in separate rooms and using a pheromone would be my first suggestions, and you don't mention how long you have been doing this for.  If they are keeping you awake fighting, presumably you have given up on separating them. You need to keep them separate for as long as it takes for them to start getting along again.  Each day, put them together in one room (on opposite sides), shut the doors and see what happens.  At the first sign of aggression, separate them again and try again the next day.  If they do fight and require physical separation, use a cushion or pillow to prise them apart rather than your hands - cat bites and scratches can be nasty and you don't want to get hurt.  It may take weeks for this process to work, but it almost certainly will work in the end, so don't give up hope.

The synthetic pheremone Feliway is available in a diffuser form and is more effective than the spray version for problems like yours.  The spray is useful when there is a single location for inappropriate behaviour - such as spraying urine in one corner of the house - but the diffuser plugs into an electric socket and diffuses the phereomone throughout the house and produces a more effective calming effect.  There would be a benefit in continuing use of the diffuser even when the cats are happy again.  Again, it can take a couple of weeks for the diffuser to work, so keep at it and don't give up hope.

Also try buying some Bach's Rescue Remedy from your nearest pharmacist and adding a couple of drops a day to your cats' water (no more than that and use it only in the short term - it contains a small amount of alcohol!)  Again this has a calming effect that should help.

Finally, when your two cats have sorted out their differences, consider the layout of your house to reduce the likelihood of them falling out again.  Cats tend to fight for territory and can fall out when they are battling for the same litter trays and sleeping places, so make sure you have at least one tray per cat plus an extra one, and lots of sleeping places on different levels.  That way, even if they do start to work each other up again, they both have places to go that don't involve crossing paths.

Best of luck with this, and take care.
Annie