Its getting really, really bad. I'm afraid I am going to have to move to a new apartment, one on a higher floor so there is no potential for animals to be outside our window.

Tonight at 3am (luckily I was up for work), a large tabby cat was on our balcony. Abbey completely lost her mind. She was all puffed up, hissing, and freaking. I went over to the window and knocked on the glass to scare it off. BUT Abbey turned around and saw Lola on the back of the couch and flew across the room to attack. And I mean, she made it across the room in one leap and pounded the shit out of Lola. Lola was terrified :bawling: she didn't even have time to defend herself. I had to get between them and drag Abbey by the scruff into a carrier.

Now I have to leave for work and I am afraid to leave them alone. Abbey gets so vicious, I am scared she will hurt Lola again but this time I won't be here to stop it. The last time she hurt her (the cornea scratch) she wasn't nearly as aggressive as she was this morning, so it could have gotten a lot worse if I didn't step in.

I am at my wit's end. Tonight, any dream of getting a kitten is definately shattered. There is absolutely NO way I could trust Abbey with a baby. :(

:comfort: Sorry Mel. I know all too well about cat fights. They are not fun and can be so scary. But one should never ever get in between fighting cats (I know that all too well, too). Our behaviorist suggested throwing empty boxes at them. Or using a water gun, banging on pots, clapping and yelling loudly... But I know you just want to end it ASAP when you see it happen, and jumping in seems the fastest. But they can seriously injure you and themselves.

Or if you spot the cat before Abbey does, distract her and then shoo the offending cat away... You can also try Feliway plug ins, or the spray and spray around the window.

I'd hate for you to have to move. Is there anyway to keep the cats away from that window? A baby gate that can be covered, or place something in front? Or is the window a big glass dorr, like we have to our balcony?

I'm sorry Mel. :hug:

I have seen the cat on previous occasions and scared it off but in the middle of the night like that, I have no chance of seeing it before one of them. And yeah, its a big glass patio door, no way of blocking it off. I mean, the moving thing wouldn't be a huge deal as we have discussed moving to a higher floor for safety anyway but it shouldn't HAVE to come to that just for Abbeys aggression.

I know I shouldn't have gotten between them. Lola wasn't even fighting back, Abbey was just beating the crap out of her. I did yell and clap, at 3am, I am sure my neighbours LOVED that!

For the next couple of nights I am going to keep Abbey in her carrier so I don't have to worry about her hurting Lola when I am not around, just until I can figure something else out. :wha:

It seems that it is no longer just redirected, its flat out aggression. Abbey is angry and Lola is scared.

Any help folks?

Same issue here, and I wish I could offer some help. As it is when I am not home I separate the two that go after the others in a different room. But... I sometimes find fur when they both go after each other too. I have started putting motion detectors with high pitched sounds around the outside and this seems to distract everyone inside and out at least for now until they outsiders get wise. Sending hugs and purrs

At this point I would recommend seeing a behaviorist - ask your vet to recommend a good one.

I couldn't find Feliway at the pet store so I got another version, Pet-Ease. I sprayed it around and it seems to be helping a bit. Now it seems that Abbey is fine, but that Lola is still leery of her so she is getting her hackles up when Abbey walks by. Hopefully by using the spray, the situation will slowly get better.

Its still a little better around here, even a few hours later. Still, Lola is leery but Abbey is behaving well. I am going to see if they can be left to roam free overnight. If they wake me by fighting, then they will be going to time out.

Have you tried checking with a vet? It could be a medical issue. Just a suggestion. Joey's attitude changed from calm to aggressive was a medical issue. :(

No, it was definately the other cat. It has happened before, just never for this long. But I think the difference this time as that Lola didn't see the other cat and therefore had no CLUE why Abbey went into attack mode. So that made her scared of her. It also didn't help that this cat looks identical to Lola, the other time a cat spooked Abbey it looked nothing like any cat she'd ever seen before.

Today is a much better day. I let them be together last night and not only did they not fight, they didn't keep me awake all night. So it would seem the spray is multi-purpose! :thumbsup:

Aw damn, Mel... sorry I missed this thread! I had no idea it was this bad! :( :comfort: I hope things get better with the situation. Keep us updated. I know moving just because of her issues seems wrong - i.e. it shouldn't have to come to that because of her... but think of it this way: would you rather rehome her alone, or rehome everyone? :hug: Please keep us updated, and good luck. Poor Lola.

SO I walked in today and neither cat came running, which they almost always do. So I thought, great, they killed each other while I was at work! (that was a sarcastic great by the way ;) )

Anywhooooo....

I walk into the living room and see this....



So I don't get it. These chicks can't seem to make up their minds! :wha:

*Sorry about the quality, its from my phone...and sorry about the messy couch lol!

And now they are squaring off again. :rolleyes:

Sounds like Abbey has quite a bit in common with Andy's Nikki!

When she's met my cats, she's obviously been in a mood about it, but as she doesn't know how MY cats will react she takes it out on the nearest "safe" object instead!
For exmaple, the time we thought she was going to have a go at Sparkle, but instead she missed him all together and beat the crap out of my doorstop!

I'm at Andy's at the moment with Rosie, and although Rosie's staying out of the way, Nikki knows she's here. Her "safe" target here is mainly Blackie - she'll creep up to Rosie, chicken out, run away, and get Blackie instead!
(Or me or Andy - Andy has a very impressive scratch on his hand from when this happened earlier!

Luckily she doesn't scare Blackie like Abbey does Lola - Blackie is used to her feistiness and holds his ground, and just refuses to take it from her.

I'll watch them closely this weekend to see if I can pick up on anything that may help you! When Nikki came to mine and when my cats have been here, she was more relaxed after a couple of days and it's more the initial reaction to new cats - if it's random new cats appearing at the window then it doesn't look like Abbey will get used to them.....

:( :hug:

Its been pretty cool here for a couple days. I spray the stuff around every so often just to keep the peace. They haven't had a scrap, at least not while I was around, in a couple days. :)

:thumbsup:

Aw, Mel. They're funny critters, kitties are. :rolleyes: How have things been lately?

Not too bad actually. They still have little spats sometimes but I just spray the stuff and they calm down within minutes.

Too bad they can't understand what is actually happening. Less stressful everyone.

Lucky is still a brat here. The difference now is Jake is bigger, much bigger than she is. He will defend himself most times. Other times like when he first wakes up...he creeps out really slow and peeks around for Miss Bitch. Nothing like walking on eggs shells first thing in the am. :rolleyes: