updated April 2018
This post consists of affiliate links*
Please note that Jackson Galaxy no longer works with private clients, and he will not answer questions left in comments on this post.
You can find a wealth of information about all aspects of caring for cats on his website and in his newest book, total cat Mojo: The utmost guide to Life With Your Cat.
Read my review here.
Feline Behaviorist Recommendation
If you are seeking to work with a feline behaviorist, I highly recommend Mikel Delgado and Daniel Quagliozzi Both offer remote consultations.
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Ingrid King
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218 comments on Feline behavior recommendations from Jackson Galaxy
Patricia S. McGavock says:
April 29, 2020 at 2:22 am
My two cats are two years old. They are sisters (same litter) and have always gotten along beautifully. I have observed that Annie often defers to Heidi. Heidi might be the alpha cat, but she has never been aggressive toward Annie.
Heidi recently ate several yards of cotton lace, had abdominal surgery to remove it and was away from home for 6 days. Annie growled and hissed at Heidi when she came home. I thought that Annie was reacting to a “hospital smell”. Now, I realize that she took pleasure in being an “only” cat those 6 days.
Heidi was placed in a large mesh and canvas pet playpen and Annie can walk up to it, if she wants to. Each day, Annie has been moving closer to the playpen on her own. She does not growl, but watches Heidi for a while, occasionally twitching her tail. Annie growls only when I am sitting beside the playpen attending to Heidi. I sweet speak to Annie as I speak to Heidi. Today (Day 5) Annie growled only once and I observed that she walked up to the playpen on her own for the first time and was not aggressive. I hope that she is mellowing out. I am not forcing an interaction and am letting Annie come to terms with Heidi on her own.
In the meantime, I am sweet-talking to Annie and giving her lots of attention, the same as always. I do reprimand her when she growls at Heidi–I do not yell at her. Heidi gets her stitches out in 3 days and will soon be allowed normal activity. What else can I do to make Annie feel a lot more secure–I do not want a cat fight while Heidi is still recovering.
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Ingrid says:
April 29, 2020 at 5:01 am
What you’re taking care of is a classic case of non-recognition aggression You’re already doing the ideal thing by separating the cats and gradually and slowly re-introducing them to each other. I’m a little concerned about you using the playpen – while you don’t mention how Heidi reacts to Annie approaching the pen, I would worry about this set up creating a constant low-level anxiety for Heidi. You may see a flare up of aggression from Annie once Heidi returns from having her stitches removed, so be prepared to separate the cats again. All my best to you, this is a challenging situation, but your patience will make this work out in the long run.
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Patricia S. McGavock says:
April 29, 2020 at 3:09 pm
Heidi has a 4″ abdominal incision and need to not jump at this stage of her recovery. There is no way for her to jump in this playpen. When I am attending to Heidi in her playpen, Annie is nearby, normally 3 feet away. Annie has approached the playpen twice on her own , but stayed 1 foot away from it. There was no growling from either of them. While I have Heidi out to give her medication, Annie has gone inside the playpen and checked it out the last 2 days. She did not disturb anything or urinate on anything. I did a lot of reading on this matter last night and I know that this re-introduction can take a long time. I am ready to be individual and won’t force it. thank you for your response.
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Ingrid says:
April 29, 2020 at 5:02 pm
It sounds like you’re on the ideal track, Patricia.
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Lia says:
July 19, 2019 at 7:10 pm
I really need advice! I’ve gone to 3 different vets and none seem to be able to tell me what’s wrong with my 17 year old cat, other than bad arthritis and a bowel infection (and was stopped up) He’s had an enema, a cortisone shot, laser therapy and is taking both prednisalone and gabapentin (also tried probiotics) . What’s happening is that he’s hiding all day, but especially ideal after he eats, as if it’s the eating thatnullnull