Very very violent cat

Question
Hi,

I really hope you can help me in my problem. I have a 2 yrs old male persian which had been neutered at around 6 months of age. About a month ago my husband gifted me a new girl persian. She was about a month old. The introduction went quite well. After few days they became best buddies with too much loving and playing. I was happy caz the male was a little shy and too much "into me" only, not intereacting with other people in the house. Since she came he became more "domesticated". Anyhow 2 days ago, they woke me up in this terrible fight. He was very very angry all hising and spiting and bliding her all over. When i tried to separate he bit me also very bad. Ever since i had to keep them separated and even a little pip at her makes him growl and act like a crazy cat.
PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME. I love them both and dont want to give them up.

Answer
Latifa,

My guess is somehow she got into something or you had something on your hands when you petted her that made her smell different. And that different smell made her a 'new cat' to him. Cats associate by smell not by sight with other cats.  With humans it voice recognition and not sight that they recognize. You may have to do the introductions all over if he has not settled down. Did you take her to the vet for anything? A lot of times that will do it.

You may want to also ask this question of one of our breeding experts who also deal in pedigree cats. This could be some Persian-specific behavior that I am not aware of since I don't deal with pedigree cats. I'm just making sure that you get all the information available on our site to help with your problem.

There is a slight possibility that it could be a medical problem with your male also. Anytime there is a noticable unexplained change of behavior it is good to check with your veterinarian for a possible cause. The vet also has 'kitty Prozac' that is a popular short or long term method of calming a 'violent' cat down. You may want to speak to the vet  about it as a possible helpful solution for your cats behavior.

I hope this was helpful and that your cats get along again soon.

Tabbi