Do cats suddenly decide to just kill one another?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve got a big problem here. I’ve got two cats for an year and a half without a problem. Jabez, a Ragdoll, is the dominant cat. Shadowfax, a Himalayan, is the submissive cat. Jabez will sometimes beat up on Shadowfax, but she’s never ran away from him when he approached, or feared him, or anything.

Jabez has always been very “needy” in terms of human attention. He can’t get enough love and cuddling. However, the last few weeks, I’ve been very busy, and Shadowfax has came down with cystitis… which means I’ve been spending a lot of time forcing pills down her throat, cleaning up after her urine, and so on. Also, being a Himalayan in winter coat, she gets matted very frequently so I spend a lot of time taking care of her too. She’s also the one that sleeps with me in bed. The result: I’ve been trying my best to give Jabez attention, but Shadowfax’s been getting the huge share recently.

This morning, Jabez suddenly decided to kill her. I don’t know exactly what happened but she’s VERY scared of him and won’t come out from her hiding place and she won’t even eat her wet food–a treat she demands every single day. I do know, however, that Shadowfax injured herself squeezing herself under the treadmill–she has black soot all over her. I tried to carry her down, and when I went to the section of the room that had Jabez in it, she went nuts. Jabez also assumed this evil predatory stalking pose.

I’m afraid that he’s decided to kill her the next chance he gets. Have cats been known to do this?

2

Yes. Happenned at my mom’s between our older domestic cat and a semi-feral creature my mom decided to “bring indoors” because the feral cat hat had kittens.
The older domestic wound up hiding out upstairs in nooks and crannies for quite a while without making sound. I believe the stress combined with liver problems killed her in under 2 months.
Interesting that illness appears to be involved in both my story and yours.
I wish I had more to give you on this one. I’ll suggest contacting your vet for advice.

3

KIDS have been known to do this.

Yes, it’s jealousy, and it’s based on the same sort of thinking as from your average toddler.

“Mom/Dad likes you best! Nooooo!”

Cats are also territorial, and usually multiple cats will divide up the territory between them. Male cats mark with urine (and spray, if they’re unneutered), and he may be thinking that the accidental urine spots are attempts on the other cat’s part to move in on his territory.

Sometimes the dominant cat will just decide they want all the turf and will try to drive off any other cat, just because it can. It’s more tempting in this instance because if he does that, then you’ll like him best because he is the oneliest one. “You will have no other cats before me.”

Most cats believe they are only children anyway – or should be – and have no problems taking steps accordingly.

We have multiple cats in this household, and some of them actually cry when they see another cat, especially a cat already in a lap or lying on a bed. We try to parcel out all the attention equally, but we also have no problem yelling at bad behavior when observed. (We then come along later and pet the offender, who is usually very happy to see us and then everything is copacetic until the next time.)

I know it’s hard to do when one of your cats naturally needs more attention than the other, but try to be more equal. Sometimes that means just spending a little more time with the one that feels left out . . . so he feels more special and doesn’t need to compensate by beating up on the other cat.

Lately all our cats have been upset because one of our dogs is on medication and we’ve sneaking the pills in chunks of meat; it’s the only thing all the cats agree on, IT’S JUST NOT FAIR! So the dog gets pilled and the cats line up for their share as well; it’s kind of funny to see it. Do for one, do for all.

your humble TubaDiva
Mommmmmmm!

4

Thanks for the advice! I’m sorry for what happened to your cat, Jonathan. That is so sad… and I hope Shadowfax doesn’t end up the same way. She’s so fragile and sensitive. :frowning:

TubaDiva you make a very good point about the urine. I didn’t think of the implications it’d have in regards to “marking territory” but you seem to be spot-on.

The problem has been solved–for now, anyway, I walked in and Shadowfax was happily eating her food ignoring Jabez sitting only a foot away. I think what happened was that Jabez was chasing SF like he sometimes does and Shadowfax banged her head against either the treadmill or bed frame, causing the black marks on her head and face, and she let out a bad cry. I’m deaf so I didn’t hear it. But, her being hurt would explain why she was so shy of Jabez, and it would also explain why Jabez was behaving so strangely towards her. :eek:

I’ll be sure and give Jabez lots of TLC, though. :slight_smile: