Hi,My question relates to...

Question
Hi,
My question relates to aggressive behavior.  I have three cats, the mother and two of her offspring, a male and a female.  All three have been fixed.  The mother was fixed immediately a few weeks after giving birth, and the offspring were fixed at a few months of age.  The mother cat is now 4 years old and the offspring are 3 years old.

About a year or two ago, the mother cat started treating the male offspring differently...sometimes she would clean him and other times, she would hiss and scratch at him.  She continues to this day to be very loving to the female offspring.  These three cats generally have been very loving toward each other, usually sleeping together in a big pile on my bed.

Last night, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by horrible gutteral howling (sort of like the sounds of being in heat), followed by hissing and a major fight between the mother and the male offspring.  I separated the offspring from the mother by putting them in the other room. The mother seemed fine and let me pet her.  The offspring also let me pet them when she wasn't around.  After a while, the offspring were scratching and trying to get back into my bedroom, so I let them in.  Mother cat ran into the living room and hid behind the chair.  The offspring also went into the living room, but stayed their distance.  Whenever the male cat would move closer to the mother cat, the howling and hissing would start again.

This whole ordeal scared the heck out of me, as I have never seem them be aggressive, other than play aggression, which has never gotten out of hand.

Can you give me any insight into what may be going on?

Thanks for your help,
Pam


Answer
Hi Pam,  

I know this happens sometimes.  But I sure do not know why.  For some reason the mom has it in her head to take offense to the male.  It may blow over in a few days, or it could get worse.  Try playimg with them all together.  Like with a fishing-pole type toy, anything that will get them playing all together with you and with each other.  

If the problem continues to get worse, maybe you could call your vet and ask their advice.  I just don't have any answers as to why this happens or how to stop it.  It did happen to me once, and I ended up having to place my male in another home because he was so mean to my spayed female.  If I can ever help in the future, please write again.  Good luck....  Barb