Question:
I just had a rather desperate call from a friend who has 3 siamese and two cat-cats,they are indoor cats.All of a sudden the one older Siamese(8yrs) is attacking another male,longhaired,beautiful sweet cat...and he was hurt.The Siamese is the obvious aggressor.
Now BIBI,is nervous and terrified of the Siamese they have gotten along great for years.
My friends vet,suggested declawing the Siamese,which I think is crazy and cruel and anyway,he would still have his teeth..
I don't know why any vet would suggest declawing to stop fighting? Any suggestions? He needs some advice...

Answer:
Holy heck! I wouldn't de calw for that. i admit mine are decalwed but don't forget they have a handicap and i felt it was unfair if one can't see and the other can't hear. Woul i do it again? Maybe if the cats where the same way but for a healthy normal cat no need too. Your friend needs to separate the 2 for a bit. Then slowly do a reintroduction. Even taking a towel wiping down one cat and putting it with the other cat till it gets used to the small again.
Oh I hope things work out for them.

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If the attack was out of character for the cat who was the attacker then it would be logical to look the that cat to see if there is anything wrong with him instead of jumping the gun on chopping the poor kitties claws off.

I lived with my in-laws for 2 years and they had two cats of their own. My girl got on well with the other cats however one of the cats had chronic gum disease and whenever it would flare up he would attack the other cats (whichever was the closest) because he thought that they were the source of the pain (according to our vet) sounds reasonable enough.

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I just got back after dropping my Chico at the vet for teeth-cleaning($320,wow !!),took me half an hour to get him into the carrier and a few scratches,poor little guy:(
Anyway,my friend Roger says the fighting is out of character,Kaduke(the Siamese)has gotten a clean bill of health,but has been hiding under the bed since the fight and the other one(BiBi)is downstairs.
So maybe a more extensive check-up is needed.
Kaduke has always been a little high-strong,so maybe he should be on the Clomipramine that my Rocky is on,it calms them down.
My Rocky attacked me,after seeing a strange cat outside and I ended up in emergency.

Answer:
Declawing the Siamese would make this problem MUCH worse, believe me. As for that vet......No comment!

Declawing will make the cat even MORE aggressive, since he would also have the insecurity of losing his main defense, not to mention that bites are much more dangerous than scratches.

This sounds like displaced aggression, and there is a reason for it. Are there other cats outside, coming around to the doors and windows and spraying?

Have there been any changes in the household? The behavior is often caused by stress, and if the cat cannot get at what is stressing is (e.g.cats outside) they will turn their aggression to another target, which is usually one other particular cat in the house.

Here is an excellent article on displaced aggression and how to deal with it. The aggressor may have to be separated, and introductions made, just as though the Siamese were a new cat in the house.

There are also meds, like Rescue Remedy and Feliway, which might help.
Redirected Aggression

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Sorry folks for the messed up spelling on my first post Shees! Back to school I go lol!

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Yes Lucky,you know I have experience with"redirected aggression".
I just talked to Roger(my friend)again,the cats were both sitting watching birds outside and Kaduke viciously attacked poor BIBI(both neutered males).He did talk to his vet again declawing is out of the question,phew!!
He ask to ease Kadukes anxiety with the medication my Rocky is on,the vet would give it to him,but asked Roger to bring in all 5 cats for a check-up first.She is a new vet and does not know all the cats.He at the moment cannot afford to bring all five for another check-up,so it will have to wait...
Roger adores his cats and would do anything for them,regular check-ups etc,,with the papers to prove it,but since his old vet moved he had to go see this new one,you'd think itwould be enough to show papers that they already had their check-up for this year.I told Roger to find another vet..they are not all equal


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It's ok Amaruq,we understand"senior moments and all that jazz"

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I just talked to Roger(my friend)again,the cats were both sitting watching birds outside and Kaduke viciously attacked poor BIBI
That's it! The birds built up an adrenaline charge which was then turned on to whatever was handy, and that just happened to be the other poor kitty.

This has to be nipped in the bud, so I will still suggest he separate Kaduke for at least a day before letting them be together again, and then supervise. He should also separate them when no one is home, at least for awhile.

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Thank you so much for the article on redirected agression, LR - I have someone I want to e-mail it to! I'll tell you the story....

Three weeks ago the man who bought my first two kittens over three years ago (Princess' brothers) called to tell me that he was going to put Max down. They have an older mixed cat and then my two boys. Around Christmas, their mix cat started attacking Max and Max wouldn't fight back. After I told him that a behavioral issue is not a good enough reason to put him down, he told me that he also thought about dumping Max at a shelter because he didn't want to advertise in the paper - he didn't know what kind of people would respond. I told him I knew what he meant, I advertised in the paper one time and got HIM!!! Lol, mean of me, I know, but he's threatening one of my kids!

I also reminded him that he signed a contract saying that the cat will never be given, sold, etc. to a shelter or research facility. He told me that I was suppose to take Max back. I told him that since he had not bothered with the flea medicine I told him about and therefore both boys got diagnosed with Bartonella at 10 months old, I just couldn't bring him into my house and let him infect my other cats. He then said, and I quote, "Mark my words, if I have to take legal action against you to get rid of this damn cat I will!" Nice man, huh? I still don't understand why he's mad at the cat who's being attacked - the other one is the problem, right?

But, there is a happy ending. I found a woman at work who lives alone and really wanted a cat. So I went and picked Max up at the man's house (he wasn't there - just the wife and daughter). Apparently Max was the daughter's cat and she started crying and saying she didn't understand why I was taking him. Let me tell you how good THAT made me feel. I was half tempted to take my other boy, too, but my guess is I'll get him back soon enough. Max is just the sweetest and most loveable cat (see picture). The woman who has him now just loves him and her only complaint is that he knows how to open cabinets, lol.

Anyways, I'm going to send him the article so that when his mix cat starts beating up on Cassanova, my other boy that they have, they can deal with better.

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Lucky,I have actually decided to take Rocky off the meds,he has two instances(maybe more)where he kind of blacked out,this morning he was even howling and I think he had a seizure..so,that's it,no more meds for him.I will tell the vet when I pick Chico up..
The only difference I have noticed in him,is that he sleeps a little more,otherwise he gets just as excited seeing other cats,so I think I'll take my chances with him,I know the signs of trouble now.

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