Tally and Delphi, the Domestic Shorthaired Cats

Kit and Rob Hume
State College, PA

We have three indoors cats, and all of a sudden, one spayed female tried to kill the other spayed female. We have no idea why; my best guess is that the aggressor was stung by a wasp and blamed the other for her pain. For several days they could not even see each other without the aggressor trying to go for the other, which she would do with a screaming wail and a look of blank frenzy in her eyes. Megan got us onto a program of desensitization and worked in collaboration with our veterinarian who prescribed tranquilizers. It took a good three months, but at this point we are almost back to normal and the cats are off tranquilizers. The three cats have more minor spats than they used to, and they remain a bit less friendly to each other, but even if they do clash, this is not at the level of screaming and frenzy, just growling and occasional physical contact. If no one is going to be in the house, we still separate the girls, but otherwise, they are free to interact and that is a great relief. We are very grateful to Megan for seeing us through this and for having a good plan for us to follow.