Cat Agonies

[cimorene]

This week Anubis breached containment again and tried to attack Tristana AGAIN, so we're back to square one.

We talked about consulting an animal behaviorist, but Wax doesn't want to yet. After reading the essays on the animal behaviorist's website (she's a vet specialist in cats with a further certification in cat behavior and evolution) we both did kinda get a sinking feeling, because while Anubis's aggression took us and his breeders by surprise, and it's new for him and also highly unusual for a Cornish Rex at all... it's also completely normal for cats in general.

We've all (Wax, me, and the lesbian cat breeders) met barn cats and other mixed and feral cats with similar issues. And there are lots of potential factors and triggers to be affecting Anubis here, and the prescription for all of them is a slower introduction trying to reduce potential friction.

There's also the fact that he's an intact tomcat. Normally you would never attempt to introduce one of those, and the only reason we are is that he has a hormone blocking implant right now. He wasn't fully grown, and the breeders didn't want to try to breed him yet, but the onset of puberty was making him miserable and he couldn't get along with their other cats, so they decided to try this out. These hormone blocking implants are commonly used in dogs, and their use in cats is comparatively less common. So while it did stop his acne and his pestering behavior back at home, it's possible he smells different or is more anxious or aggressive compared to how a neutered male cat would act, and that's the sort of cat our knowledge and assumptions about cat interactions are based on.

We still might contact her later of course. Meanwhile I guess this is how we live now.

Comments

[waxjism]

They're not doing the regular cat fighting thing where they stand off and growl and yell and eventually if no one backs off there's batting and screeching. Instead what happens is that the second Anubis sees Tristana he lunges at her, she tries to run and he chases her until she's stuck somewhere she can't leave and he tries to eat her head. So it just seems very violent and ragey in a way I haven't seen with cats before. He's way more gentle with the bunnies, for example. It's like he's triggered into a frenzy by her face.

[viggorlijah]

wow, that sounds like a whole different thing, esp. given he can be gentle with the bunnies!

I did have success once when I swaddled a very very angry cat in a thick towel and held him calm and let the other angry cat sniff the angry but immobilised cat until they both decided that they would agree to ignore each other, but your situation sounds way more complicated than regular cat fighting - it's really specific to Tristana because she's doing the right things, running away, and he's specifically attacking her head which is a much more aggressive step than usual. I

Tristana has a very beautiful face! I hope you guys find a solution or Anubis calms down.