Urgent help....massive fight

[F2bguy]

Hi,

I have two savannahs. An F2b and an F4C.

I got both of them 5 years ago. They have been best of friends and even eat from the same dish.

Today we moved into a new apartment. The big cat pooped in his carrier and screamed bloody murder for the past 2 hours (he hates moving and being in a crate.....as we drove 13 hours to get to this state 2 years ago).

The little cat (F4C) has been just going with the flow, chilling out and exploring the new apartment. He hasn't meowed a peep.

The big cat (F2B) is now hissing and growling at the little cat....it's like he doesn't even recognize him.

This literally just started 5 minutes ago. The little cat was chilling out on my bed watching t.v. with me and the big one came on the bed (he's still freaked out about being in a new place) and he started hissing at the little one.

I followed both of them into the living room and as soon as the little cat went to go bump noses (that's how they say hello) with the big cat, he growled and started to scratch him.


Can anyone tell me what is going on here? Aside from the fact the big cat is having a mental melt down.


How can he not recognize his good friend of 5 years? The big cat recognizes me....he rubs himself on my legs.


Really worried here....I have NEVER seen the big cat act out aggressively towards the little one. Yeah, they play fight and sometimes tails get fluffy....but they constantly groom each other on a daily basis.


Thanks


p.s. I went to the pet store and bought that "hormone" stuff. It's like a Glade plugin...you plug it into the wall and it makes hormones come out that supposedly prevent kitty from freaking out. I just plugged in it 7 hours ago. It's taking a while to work.

 

[F2bguy]

Currently the big cat is under my bed and the little cat is in the living room....my bedroom door is closed to prevent any issues.

I can't believe the big cat cannot recognize his buddy.

I should also add: This is a pretty old apartment....I wouldn't put it past previous owners to have a cat.

I'm wondering if the big cat is somehow able to smell cats from many years ago and that's why he thinks the F4C is another cat.


Also....any suggestions on how to prevent the big cat from peeing all over to mark his territory?

The past 2 apartments we've had (over the past 3 years), he hasn't peed once.

I'm concerned he is smelling another cat and will try to mark his territory with pee.

 

[admin]

The best thing to do is separate them for now and introduce slowly. The new place has all kinds of different smells and this is what we call redirected aggression. Can you get some odoban and wash the floors with it? You can get it at home depot...


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[F2bguy]

Hi Paige, thanks for replying.

Yes I can get some odoban tomorrow...but the only thing is that the kitchen and bathroom are tiled.

The rest of the apartment is carpet.

I got the "plug in" thingy running....one in my bedroom and one in the living room. The little cat has come back to my bed and is chilling out curled up next to me.

Big cat is under bed.

This is our 4th apartment move....I honestly thought these things would get easier as time goes by. Cats get used to living in a new place every ~2 years...

It's just the opposite.


And this is completely normal? In a few days they'll be back to being best friends as they have been for the past 5 years?

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Every 2 years is probably not often enough for them to be "used" to changes. It may well be something in the carpet or smell of the new place that is freaking him out. I would keep them separated without supervision for now...
I've put enzyme cleaner such as Anti Icky Poo or the Unique Distributors Odor Eliminator into a steam cleaner, the Bissell type...instead of the detergent cleaner. Might be an option here, if you rent the steam cleaner at the supermarket?

 

[F2bguy]

I don't think I can get around to renting a steam cleaner for a long while.....I'm out of work and low on funds.

I noticed that this apartment has a slight funny smell to it. I can't put my finger on it....

At 7am this morning I opened two cans of wet cat food. I put it on a paper plate. They both ate at the same time without any issues. I saw the little one licking the head of the big one (the big one is the aggressor).

So I figured all is well.

One hour later, I'm sitting on my couch on my laptop and the big one (who has been hiding under the bed) came out into the living room. He saw the little cat on the couch and began to hiss at him.

 

[Patti]

You should quarantine the cats in a small room to start with until they settle down with the move, or at least the F2. He is overwhelmed by the alien environment and all the strange smells and sounds (things that you probably don't even notice). You can also try putting a drop of vanilla extract on his nose, that will help mask any offensive odors and may calm him a bit.

 

[John Popp]

Totally agree with the quarantine. It's going to take a while before the new scents are known to be innocuous. A two week quarantine might seem long, but a small price to pay for a lifetime of them getting along.