# Usually docile, sweet cat suddenly hyper-aggressive



## lauraj1983 (Oct 23, 2009)

Our four year old cat Niña, has suddenly turned on our two year old cat Lulu after we bathed each of them two nights ago. They've never been super close but are usually friendly to each other and have co-existed pretty much peacefully since Lulu was introduced into our home. Niña has been making a noise that sounds sort of like a human child being seriously injured whenever Lulu approaches her. We decided to isolate the two cats, putting Niña in the bedroom until we figure out what's going on. The bath we gave them was the point at which Niña's behavior drastically changed, so I'm thinking that maybe she pulled a muscle or something during that bath and is in pain, which is why she might not want our other cat near her.

The other piece to the puzzle of Niña's sudden personality change and what triggered us bathing the cats in the first place was that in the course of about two weeks, Niña's hair on the back half of her body became extremely matted and no matter how much i combed it, the matts wouldn't come out. She's on the heavy side (as opposed to our slim athletic other cat) so I assumed that she's juts gotten lazy about grooming herself, but maybe the not grooming connects to something else?

Any advice, observations you may be able to provide, would be really helpful. Thanks.


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## hanneandnewton (Nov 1, 2009)

I am having a similar problem. I have 2 cats - litter mates who are 18 months old. Up until 2 days ago, they were best buddies. 2 days ago, the male got into a fight with another neighborhood cat and has a puncture wound on his leg which we are teating with antibiotics. The vet shaved his leg and he is limping. Ever since he's come back from the vet, the female cat is hissing at him and crying when ever he is near her. He has not been aggressive towards her at all. Any thoughts on why this is happening or how I can get them to be friends again?


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## Xanti (Nov 4, 2008)

To the second poster, your cat was at the vets and smells different, hence the aggression..your other cat isn't sure who that 'stranger' is!

It will pass in a few days.

To the first poster, are your cats fixed? Also, a vet visit is on order, if a cats stops grooming there could be something seriously wrong.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

ANYTHING that makes a cat smell different (_trip to the vet, a bath, an escape outdoors_) can trigger this "non-recognition" behavior that consistes of squalling, yowling and fighting.

As to Nina's lack of grooming problem, based on what you have shared (_overweight, matted fur, bathing, non-recognition due to odor change_) I wouldn't be so quick to jump to thinking of a medical problem. 

Certainly, drastic changes absolutely warrant a vet visit but in this instance ... if she is overweight (_and you say she is_) then she cannot reach around to groom herself properly. My fat cat (_has currently lost 4# from 18# to 14#_) had difficulty grooming her fur from mid-back and to her tail. This would cause her fur to get spiky, clumpy and matted. In addition to ME grooming her several times a week, we changed how we pet/handled her and now we ONLY pet in the direction of hair growth; no swirling/scrubbling along the back and absolutely none of that with the long-haired cats. This has helped keep any matting problems to a minimum. To help Squirrely-Jo with the oily fur, I will occasionally powder in some corn starch, brush it into her fur to help soak up the oils and then brush it out of her fur.
heidi =^..^=


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## doublemom (Feb 17, 2008)

Ditto - Anything at all that changes a cat's smell can really affect other cats in the household. We have two boys who are inseparable, but after an overnite vet stay for one of them, the other was completely freaked when he got back home and acted scared of him. This coming from two who eat/sleep/play together 24 hours a day normally. It took a few days, we took some of our unwashed clothes and pillow cases and rubbed all over the one who had been to the vet, and that really helped.

Andi


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

Heidi n Q said:


> Certainly, drastic changes absolutely warrant a vet visit but in this instance ... if she is overweight (_and you say she is_) then she cannot reach around to groom herself properly. My fat cat (_has currently lost 4# from 18# to 14#_) had difficulty grooming her fur from mid-back and to her tail. This would cause her fur to get spiky, clumpy and matted.


Absolutely. Years ago, my first cat, Lenny, got to 18#. I adopted her when I was 14 and she went to college and grad school w/ me. I learned about cats from her--she got to 18# b/c she was free-fed dry food  but I learned better! When she was 8 I worked w/ a good vet (after years of vets saying "she's too fat" but not offering any suggestions) and got her on meal-feeding high quality canned food. She went from 18 to 9 pounds in a year and looked great.

When she was fat she had JUST this problem. Couldn't clean herself properly, had that spiky, clumpy furn on her back to tail area, etc. All to say . . . try to avoid bathing the cats, esp. if it causes this kind of problem, DO get a hold of the weight problem ASAP and help the kitty lose weight, and in the meantime, help her "groom" by using a facecloth dampened in warm water and thoroughly wrung out to simulate a kitty tongue. I "grooomed" Lenny with brush and facecloth daily for months until she had lost enough weight to take the job back over.

And I never had a fat cat again!


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