Why is my unspayed cat suddenly aggressive, hissing and attacking?

Hello, if this is a picture of how your cat looks currently, then she needs to be seen by a veterinarian. I am concerned about the fact she is not spayed, has skin lesions, & seems to have developed a significant behavioral issue. My thoughts are the possibility of an ovarian cyst or tumor that is affecting her hormones. Routine blood work may or may not reveal anything ( which is good ). so I would really think about getting her spayed. You can try the calming products like Feliway, & oral products like Solliquin, & Anxitane, but it sounds like she may be going through some pretty significant hormonal upheavals. I hope you can have her seen soon. Take care.

This is the time of year when cats start to come into heat again, and if she isn't spayed and there is an intact male nearby, she may be going into heat and trying to push away her previous litter in order to make room for a new one. If you do not wish to have more kittens, I highly recommend having Chloe (and the kittens) spayed if the male cannot be. 5 cats (plus the others you mentioned) is also a lot of cats, and the sheer number may be very stressful for her. Finding homes for the kittens, or making sure everyone has access to their own food, water, bedding, litter, etc can help decrease tension.

It sounds as though Sam has a behavioral problem with aggression. If you have not tried the Feliway products yet, I would recommend doing so. These are pheremone products that are supposed to help calm cats down. I would make sure that she has plenty of environmental enrichment (toys, scratch posts, etc.). If these do not help, I would recommend discussing anti-anxiety medications with your veterinarian. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

This sounds like a very frustrating issue! It is difficult to determine why Chino and her friend are suddenly having so many issues. At this point, the best thing you can do is get both cats spayed to remove hormonal influences that may be contributing to their aggression with one another. You can also use calming pheromone collars or diffusers (Feliway is one brand) for both cats. If the aggression continues after those options, it may be worth consulting a veterinary behaviorist to evaluate their behavior in your home. Keep both cats separated unless you are directly supervising them and avoid putting any part of your body between them if they fight. If they do begin to fight, dump water on them to distract from the situation and separate cats immediately. I hope that all goes well!

Hi and thank you for your post on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! These can be common behaviors in male cats that are not neutered. I would recommend neutering him soon to help decrease these behaviors a bit. In addition, neutering him will help lessen the risks of cancers later in life as well as help decrease the feral cat population.

I am sorry to hear about Lucy! Many cats can have personality changes at around 2 years of age as they truly reach maturity. That compounded with the fact that she is unspayed and has had a changing life situation over the past few months could definitely be affecting her personality. I would recommend an exam by a vet and having her spayed. I would recommend a feline pheromone diffuser in the house called Feliway, and a calming supplement such as Composure or Zylkene https://m.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/vetri-science-composure-feline-bite-sized-chews# as well. If her aggression continues then a veterinary behaviorist consultation would be recommended.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Ideally, you should contact a cat behaviorist in your area to help you in person with her behavior. However, spaying her would likely help with this behavior. Your veterinarian can consider sedating her so that they are able to proceed with taking the blood samples and the spay to see if that helps. Otherwise, it would be best to have someone help you in person to modify her behavior. Best of luck!