Hidden Stars: Let the re-re-re-reintroducing begin!

Quixote (Tabby) and Zorro (Tuxedo).

So, when I moved in with my husband, I came with two cats and my husband came with one. My two cats, Zorro and Quixote, are brothers and have lived with each other their entire cat lives. They have been through a lot with me together and have moved around with me a lot. They have even lived with other cats from when we lived with a friend and when we lived at my parents' house. My husband's kitty, Anu, hadn't been with my husband very long, hadn't lived with any other cats and she is half the size of my boys.

Anu on Hubby

All was well with our little blended family for the good part of a year.

Then the aggression started between Zorro and Anu. At first, we weren't sure which kitty was being the aggressor so we really couldn't fix the situation. Because we didn't fix the situation, it got worse. And then, it got really WORSE. It got so bad that Anu stopped using the litter box because she was afraid of Zorro. That is when we figured out that Zorro was the aggressor and Anu was reacting to the aggression by growling and hissing, therefore reinforcing Zorro's aggression.

We still aren't sure what caused Zorro's aggression in the first place. He's normally a scared-of-all-things-including-the-vacuum-cleaner-other cats-and-new-people cat. And he's NEVER been aggressive toward me or any other cat! Sure his brother and him have had sibling tiffs, but they have never gotten mean. I think the catalyst was misdirected aggression from seeing an animal through the window outside, getting territorial, Anu coming by to investigate and the aggression being directed to her instead of the animal outside. So she hissed and growled and the cycle started...and continued...

Anyway, we tried to reintroduce them a couple of times before we moved to a larger house. Then we moved to a larger house, reintroduced them again and thought things would be better since the house was bigger and there was more space for everyone. It wasn't. It kept getting worse. There were more fights in the middle of the night. More inappropriate bathroom behavior. Less happiness all around.

So, off to the vet went Zorro and Anu! I explained everything to the vet and she gave me some good pointers and some medication for both the cats. Anu's helps with fear based aggression and the medication Zorro got helped with plain old aggression. Well, Zorro's medication turned him into an anorexic, anxiety ridden cat in the matter of days so we stopped his and gave him Rescue Remedy instead. The Rescue Remedy seems to be helping him calm down, be less aggressive and just calmer all around. Anu's medication has helped her gain her spunky, playful and confident self back!

So..phase two started today. Reintroducing the cats again, but this time in their carriers.

Zorro's on the left
Anu's on the right

I guess this helps both the cats get used to the sight of each other again but in a safe way. They aren't too happy about this though. Zorro hates being in the carrier, (but is being surprisingly quiet about it) and Anu hasn't stopped her low grade growl since we started this a couple of hours ago. She won't even LOOK in Zorro's direction!