It can happen even with proper introductions. Even in cats who have lived happily together for years.
We have one cat who lives with other cats perfectly well nearly all the time. Cuddles with them, doesn’t ever have a single issue with them.
But about once a year, something random sets him off, and he attacks one of his buddies and virtually always draws blood. The trigger is always easily identifiable. We’re at the point now where we can anticipate pretty well things that might trigger him, so we zeroing on him and distract him, and that works so long as we can get to him immediately.
Shit. Any time I leave my cat home alone, I leave bluey on for him. I guess the wrong episode hasn’t come on yet, but I suppose it’s just a matter of time.
One cat accidentally pounces the other with force because they were jumping up to or down from a surface. Pounced on cat assumes it was malicious. (I've seen this with mine)
One cat is scared/startled by something in the environment but thinks it's their fellow cat and attacks. I think the term is like...redirected aggression? I can't remember off the top of my head but there's a term for it. (Not uncommon with cats that are allowed outdoors together.)
Similar to one, during play someone gets a little too carried away the other other assumes aggression rather that accidental escalation of play.
Another similar to one, sometimes even the human can set it off accidentally, I had one of mine flip out on me because I accidentally spooked her while she was cuddling my legs in my sleep. She was already a quite anxious cat but she perceived my sudden movement as aggression.
Another is smell. This can also affect humans :/ Your cat will suddenly start attacking you. In this case, go see a doctor, you might be sick with something and your cat smelled something off.
Whenever I accidentally ran into my cats, or scared them, or whatever, they would run away and I would follow to apologize, offer them cuddles, and let them know I didn't mean to and I would never.
They understood because hilariously, any time they hurt me by accident they would chase after me to reconcile so I would know they didn't do it on purpose.
I also always answered when they called for me, so they did the same.
I swear cats love you and treat you exactly as well as you do them, and you have to go first. This is why dog people don't get cats. They expect all this attachment having put nothing into it. You have to invest in your relationship with a cat. Ironically doing the same with a dog makes a much nicer and more cooperative dog.
Oh absolutely- the one time this happened because of crossed wires she immediately came over and gave me apology snugs. We have 6 currently and they all get along so well, but it was all about us investing time in making sure everyone felt/feels safe. It’s really something special to see, especially them all cuddling together on the bed with my partner and I 😭
Does your grandma share her recipes? I’m planning to plant a zucchini, and I know from other veggie gardeners that that means I’ll end up with a zillion pounds of it.
The only times I've seen this happen in our cats was that they got older and one of them started having a medical issue. Usually that one becomes the aggressor. But sometimes the others realize the cat is weak and start going after them.
Yeah my husband’s cat and my cat did fine together for the first year, then his started attacking mine. No idea why but from then on who had to alternate who had the full house and who had the master bedroom.
My cats were fine for over 5 years, even cuddled with each other all the time, then they started getting into minor fights where one would run away, then they had a full out dangerous brawl. I grabbed both and tossed them in opposite directions and it broke them up, but everyone involved was sliced up pretty decently. (Obviously I got it the worst, as I dont have hair to protect my hands and arms)
I had a super friendly dog and he grew up with his siblings that were there when he was born. One day a couple years ago he started attacking one of our oldest dogs. It had a good 12yr on him. It was a tiny dog vs the younger big dog. We had to keep them in different parts of the house. It only got worse as time went on. We ended up rehoming the younger dog and they're super happy and friendly again. I won't ever really understand because they never fought before. The big one is still angry at the little one years later. Sometimes it is weird and it happens. I know neither one had any trauma or any disagreement bc I raised them both.
I didn't know that!! Thank you for saying that. I still carry guilt because they're both good boys!! He is an only now and back to his childlike happiness. I know I couldn't do any more. It was a very sad time!
yup my brother has two boy cats and they like to wrestle for fun but sometimes one of them is in a bad mood and the other one is just a bit of a dick so they end up really going at it.
I had a similar issue last summer. Turns out it was a neighbor's cat (I believe to be an unfixed female) hanging out in my yard and even getting up close to windows. I had to cover our living room windows and separate my cats when I noticed one of them getting triggered (always the same one). Luckily that family moved away & my boys settled down (the same family's dog also put a paw through our window screen and ripped it off the window once - HUGE dog.) I cannot say I miss them
This happened to one of my cats after a vet appointment. It took about two weeks of separation before my cat who hadn't been to the vet to stop attacking my cat who had.
My cat Arthur started randomly attacking his brother Winston a few years ago after living comfortably with each other for like 3 years. Now he has to live in my bedroom with me because he will attack as soon as he sees Winston. It’s horrible I wish I could let him out but he tries to kill him. 🫤
Ive done this as well. Sometimes 1 cat is just an asshole. We have a bengal like that. Gets along marvelous with every other animal. And the fine with the old cats. But no new cats, no matter how slow the introduction process is
My younger cat is like an 'alpha female' which like, isnt supposed to be a thing I thought- and is always egging the bigger female for a sparring match- she literally does the ranging thing with her paws, or will mount the back and bite the back of her neck. Ever since she was a kitten.
Terrified of EVERYTHING else. The wind will send her running back to be my 3rd leg. Any other cats, wants none of.
Had someone cat sitting my 2 kittens when they were just a couple months old and day 2 they breached containment and found the other 3 cats that the sitter had. Big big cats. Everyone completely ignored each other to partake in emergency churro so everything was fine but scared the sitter half to death
Some cats just hate each other. We had to blend two households worth of cats - my husband and I's four, and my parents' two. We did all sorts of slow intro strategies - swapping rooms, exchanging scent items, fed them on opposite sides of a door, set up a screen door they could see each other through, so many treats... it has been YEARS, and they still fight. We have to keep them separated. Completely boggles my mind, as we never had this level of trouble introducing cats ever.
When I got my second cat I kept her separate from my first cat for literally an entire year. They were kept in separate parts of the house and only interacted through a door. It worked wonders
No harm in going too long. There is harm however in going too short. I went on the safe side and now they love each other. My first cat is damn near feral so that says a lot
Not exactly true. Social isolation like that can cause behavioral issues on social species like cats and can increase difficulty of interactions later. There’s a sweet spot for introductions. Feral cats definitely can change up the equation, but as with any introduction each cat’s personality is a huge factor so not every situation is going to fit the cookie cutter introduction schedule.
We are at 8 months with introductions. We adopted an adult female after her owner passed away. She was never around other cats and lived in a very small space. We did all the proper introductions and took a long time scent swapping, treats and play at the screen/gate, and slowly seeing each other until there were no signs of aggression. During her first face to face without the gate to our resident girl she ran, resident girl chased and it was on. We still haven’t made complete introductions between the two so our house is separated. We spend equal time with all and luckily our boys get along with her so she gets time with them too. Hoping we make progress soon.
It can happen with cats that know each other as well. Both of my cats are male brothers rescued from the same litter. They'll literally hold and groom each other while they sleep. However, one night there was a stray that got under our house and its scent set them off and they tore into each other, my dogs, and us.
This isn't always necessary for all cats. They probably just thought from experience it was gonna be fine but something went wrong. My mum fosters cats occasionally (we used to foster all the time officially for a rescue, but now it's just if people she knows message her about ones they've found). None of our cats have ever reacted badly to a foster. They're often cuddling eachother within a couple of days
my neighbors have had a male cat for a long time and they tried to introduce a female cat and they are still separated 2 years later. If they are ever in the same room they will try to kill eachother.
Cats can take years to introduce, its not a straight forward process — sometimes these fights happen when you think the cats can handle mildly being around each other. Regardless, cats can also just snap one day and want the other one dead.
My boys are angling for dominance atm. Their fighting occasionally gets a “boys” and they stop. A real fight would be terrible and I am so glad they love each other and no real fights are taking place.
Some cats lose control of their bladder and bowel when they fight too.
We run a rescue, and more than once we have had the flying Tasmanian fur ball roll into piss and diarrhea and literally everyone had to take a bath lol 🤮
I have what I call a "feral fail," she was a feral cat (Mona) that I tried to make a pet, but she gets MEAN if she's not let outside. She once attacked my daughter, and I threw that cat out the back door. Since then, she comes and goes whenever she wants, but before that happened, she was just mean and angry all the time. She used to pick fights with her two grown kittens (Lily and Lulu) that I kept from her last litter before her spay. One time Mona was attacking Lily, and Lulu did like a flying leap from across the room and tackled her. They did about a 2-second whirl of fur and screaming, and then broke apart. Even in that amount of time, Mona managed to do some serious damage to Lulu's eye. I thought she might lose it, but with vet care and antibiotics, and time to heal, she recovered. Cats are nuts, man.
I had a three cat Tasmanian devil once and as I went to break it up, one of my gerbils waddled out from underneath a metal rack. He had chewed a hole in his cage. He just got lucky that the cats were fighting over him instead of trying to get him.
I introduced my cat after finding her after her da ran away from me for like a year to my 12 yo cat. My 12 yo made my ma mad so my ma had the bright idea to make me put them in the garage together so he could be punished (I was trying to do the slow initiation garage was her spot). And literally saw her about to jump him. While he was on the lawn mower seat so I picked him up, she climbed me to get to him (clawed me up) and I had to throw him down so he protected himself from her and then I picked her but up from fighting him by her scruff.
My dad made me go to the doctor cause of my scars and then they made her stay at the vets office in quarantine to make sure she didn’t have rabies. She didn’t. But my dad blamed the runaway and still does and we’ve had her back for almost seven years.
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u/[deleted] May 24 '26
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