First, let me apologize for posting here, but I trust this site more than any other and have always felt very comfortable here, knowing I'll get straight answers without the BS.
Some of you may recall that after Sasha passed, I adopted two female siblings that were about 3 months at the time. They were the most lovable kittens I had ever owned and did everything together with nary a raised hair.
About 3 weeks ago, going about my daily AM wake-up routine, we had a flurry of ants in the kitchen (lots of construction in the area + Spring) and I stomped them out. Then, I opened the verticals on the sliding glass doors and both cats flipped out, completely out of the blue. Never in my life have I seen two cats so viciously attack each other and I never before heard the angry sounds that were coming out of them. Their pupils dilated like saucers and I managed to shoo one of them into another room to separate them. They were hissing and growling at me as well and with those bug eyes, I didn't dare touch them.
One of them released bowel and bladder in the kitchen and because of the fury in their movements, it was all over the place. I did a quick clean up and decided to let them relax, while I had my coffee and figured out what to do.
I finally crated one of them and let the other roam free. Went out and bought the Feliway diffuser immediately and waited 3 days before seeing how they would react together again. All went well for about 6 hours and then, at 2:30 AM, I was awakened to the same vicious fighting. Since then, I've been switching them in the crate all day long. An hour or two in and then out. They seem fine as long as one is crated and even if I hold one of them and bring them near each other, they start licking each other's face with no sign of stress.
Today was a real winner... I brought clothing out of storage that was in those vacuum bags, which had not been unpacked for over 2 years since Bulgaria, where I had Sasha and Robbie (Demon-seed). All #### broke lose again, this time just with the hissing and growling since one was crated. The clothes smelled as fresh as the day I put them in, but likely all the scents from Sasha and Robbie (2 intact males) also escaped. I do need to add the girls (Phaedra and Zaharina) have not been spayed yet, but hopefully will have Phaedra (the smaller/hyper one) spayed within the week. I'm a little uncertain about putting Zaharina (the very passive one) under, because she seems to have either asthma or bronchitis. Every time she runs around playing, she has an attack.
Now for the real clincher: I have often thought I smelled male cat urine in the house, but that's impossible. I thought it may be coming from outside, but since I'm on the second floor and have never seen or heard a cat near the door, couldn't for the life of me figure it out. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks... the downstairs neighbors are smoking pot, which can ironically smell like male cat urine. Now, I am wondering if that is what set them off in the first place.
I have several theories:
1) They need to be spayed. (Never had a problem with other intact females before, but this is what my vet believes is the problem).
2) From some research I learned that ant pheromones have been known to have an effect on cats similar to catnip or it can make them "act out." I have over 50 Combat Max ant traps throughout, so the problem has subsided almost completely.
3) Because of the ant problem, I am not leaving their food out for free-feeding and they may not be getting enough to eat. I know for a fact that a hungry cat can be a nasty cat.
4) It's the smoke coming from downstairs.
5) All of the above or something I haven't thought of yet.
I know many of the regulars here have had behavioural problems, so I am hoping someone can offer some suggestions.
Thank you!
Leah
