Cat acting out over an event

by Ashley Smith
(Blue Springs, MO)

A week ago tomorrow, our oldest cat peed on our dog bed. My husband punished the older cat by putting him in the cat carrier for a bit.


Well, the cat carrier had been used before by the mother-in-law's cat. The younger cat hissed and growled at the carrier and the older cat.

Ever since we let him out, the younger cat has hissed and growled at him. They’ve lived together for five years.

She will hiss at him and then hide underneath the bed. This is still going on a week later.

She’s fine around the other cats and it might be SLIGHTLY improving, but still very stand-offish.

As soon as she sees the older cat, it’s like instant bad mood kitty. I’m not sure what to do. It makes me so sad. I just want things normal. Ugh.

I’m worried sick about her thinking maybe she is sick. But everything was fine before the "event" of his peeing on the dog bed and my husband attempting to punish him. Any tips?

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by: Kurt (Admin)

My first tip is, never punish a cat like that. They don't associate punishment with a prior act, like humans do. It just creates more stress (and stress leads to peeing outside the litter box).

Second tip - when two cats can't get along, the first step to being friends again is to separate them so they can't see each other.

Then you introduce the two cats slowly (using scent) just like they've never met before. I call this a "reset" and I've described it before.

Watch a few episodes of My Cat from Hell to see Jackson Galaxy make this happen (or read about cat-to-cat introductions).

Third, it's possible your cat that peed on the dog bed has feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). On the street, we often refer to this as a urinary tract infection, but it's more complicated than that. Sometimes those problems come and go and often the only evidence is cat pee where you don't want it.

Good luck with your kitties. You can fix this problem!

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