First Cat Fight

[Cathy1]

I have had Zoey about 5 yrs and Patches about 2 1/2 yrs. and they have never fought. This morning Zoey was chasing her tail on the bed and fell off. Patches went nuts and cornered her and started biting, hissing and spitting. I grabbed the spray bottle and got them seperated, they both ran into seperate rooms and stayed there for about 15 minutes. Zoey came out slowly and had a drink of water and when Patches came out she attacked Zoey again so I put Patches into the spare room and after about 2 hrs. they started playing with each other under the door. I let Patches out and now both of them are sleeping peacefully on the bed. What made Patches attack Zoey like that ? All she did was fall off the bed.

[sugarcatmom]

Zoey probably scared the crap outta Patches when she fell off the bed, and her automatic "fight or flight" response kicked in, unfortunately in fight mode. Glad to hear that they're back to getting along, sometimes there is residual emotional damage that can take a while to repair.

[14+kitties]

What was Patches doing? Sleeping? Close to where Zoey fell of the bed? Sounds like Patches was startled by the fall and maybe thought Zoey was coming after her. It's just something outside of the usual. Sometimes it's enough to set them off.
You did the right thing. If they start again then separate them for a longer period. If it keeps happening you may want to consider taking them both in for a check up (separately) and then doing a re introduction to each other.

[Cathy1]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

What was Patches doing? Sleeping? Close to where Zoey fell of the bed? Sounds like Patches was startled by the fall and maybe thought Zoey was coming after her. It's just something outside of the usual. Sometimes it's enough to set them off.

Patches was just sitting outside the bedroom door washing when Zoey fell off the bed. I think she was startled because she started to run in the opposite direction but changed her mind and ran into the bedroom then the fight was on. So far it's nice and quiet. I just hope it stays that way when they wake up.

[14+kitties]

Yep, SCM is right too. Startled her big time. I would just keep an eye out to make sure they are back to being lovy dovy. If not you can go from there with re intros. Sounds like everything is ok though.

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Zoey probably scared the crap outta Patches when she fell off the bed, and her automatic "fight or flight" response kicked in, unfortunately in fight mode. Glad to hear that they're back to getting along, sometimes there is residual emotional damage that can take a while to repair.

That is my guess too. Cats don't have the same logic as humans.

Puddles had got the handles of a plastic bag stuck around her neck, got scared, ran around the house with the bag trailing behind her, scared Snowball because of her panic and Snowball hissed at her for days after that, then they were best buds again.

[Cathy1]

Originally Posted by Love4himies

Puddles had got the handles of a plastic bag stuck around her neck, got scared, ran around the house with the bag trailing behind her, scared Snowball because of her panic and Snowball hissed at her for days after that, then they were best buds again.

Now that made me remember. Something similar happened a couple months after bringing Patches home. Zoey had a piece of tape stuck to her butt and started running around like crazy and Patches never attacked her just alot of hissing for awhile. They are both awake now and they are being very cautious towards each other but no hissing or growling. Thanks for everyone's input. It was a little scary seeing them like that.

[Love4himies]

Sounds like all will be OK again.

[catlover2]

L4H I had the same thing happen with one of my cats some years ago with a plastic bag the same way. At the time I had about 6 other cats and as she tore thro the house the other cats all stopped, arched their backs with fur all stuck out. It was hilarious! No one attacked the "crazy" cat, but they all approached her very cautiously after I removed the plastic bag to check out who this whirling dervish was. After a few sniffs, all was well and back to normal.

Cats can certainly get spooked about crazy stuff sometimes. I agree this was propably a one-time thing with Patches attacking Zoey.

[Cathy1]

Everything is back to normal. Patches was playing with her mouse and Zoey walked up and gave her a slap then casually walked away like nothing happened, Patches just continued to play.

[Jim Hall]

Zoey walked up and gave her a slap then casually walked away like nothing happened, Patches just continued to play.
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