What's up with this weirdo cat?

June 25, 2007 8:01 AM

One of our cats acts all weird and aggressive whenever we get home from a trip. What can we do?

We have three three-year-old spayed cats from the same litter; Frederico, Bowser, and Whiskas. Whenever we leave for a weekend (or longer) trip, we come home to find that Whiskas seems frightened and behaves aggressively towards the other two cats, getting into serious and noisy fights with them late at night. Frederico and Bowser seem to behave more-or-less normally, though they are leery of Whiskas and try to avoid her. Usually these cats get along fine and are affectionate and playful with one another. A neighbor's child, under parental supervision, takes care of the cats while we are gone and gives them food and fresh water and pets them.

We are going away on weekend trips several times coming up this summer, and don't want to be kept up all night anymore by fighting cats. They were all pronounced healthy at the veterinarian's last checkup less than a year ago.

posted by Cookiebastard to pets & animals (7 comments total)

Try some Feliway - I pooh-poohed it for the longest time, but it really works, at least on my two cats.
posted by Liosliath at 8:21 AM on June 25, 2007

Feliway and some stinky clothes-- that is, some t-shirts that smell like you in places the cats can access them. The t-shirts work with our kitties.
posted by oflinkey at 8:28 AM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thirding the Feliway. It's frigging magic. It's like yoga for cats in a bottle or infuser.
posted by tastybrains at 11:44 AM on June 25, 2007

Feliway, eh? Is it stinky? Will it just help with the overly aggressive behavior or will it make the cats lazy and unplayful? I have never heard of the stuff until this thread.
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:52 AM on June 25, 2007

You won't be able to smell the Feliway, but your cats will. With you out of the home, the cats will feel more secure in that the Feliway makes the house smell more like theirs, even though a vital componant of it - you, isn't there. Same with the stinky clothes.

Consider that whilst you are away, the other two cats may be bullying Whiskas, where does Whiskas feature in the house heirarchy? It could of course be the other way around and Whiskas is being bullied. There could be a rivalry happening over any food that is left out, outside of supervised feeding times.

Provide plenty of secure high up sleeping places whilst you are away, so all cats can escape an antagonist when they need to.
posted by Arqa at 12:25 PM on June 25, 2007

It could of course be the other way around and Whiskas is being bullied

Should read -

* and Whiskas is being the bully

(it's been a long day)
posted by Arqa at 2:07 PM on June 25, 2007

T-shirts are a good idea. My cat has separation anxiety, and one thing I've noticed helps when I'm not home some evenings: making sure she has a safe space that is just hers and stays in the same spot always. It's just an empty file box, but I experimented until she claimed something as hers (the box, by lots of sleeping in it), and found a place she liked (up high but within view). So she has that constant, whether I'm home or not. I was surprised when I'd just moved to a new apartment how much of a difference it made.
posted by Tehanu at 6:05 PM on June 26, 2007