OMG total chaos

[Richo]

My girlfriend was walking through the kitchen in the dark and she stepped on Barnaby's tail with a hard heel, which caused him to dash away and he bumped into a broom which fell on the floor and made a loud noise, and then both cats got scared and Baxter immediately violently attacked Barnaby and they raced around the house hissing and screaming, rolling around and fighting violently.

I broke them up and got Baxter separated in a room, but now Barnaby hates me as if I did something. He came over by my girlfriend who originally stepped on him but when I came into the room he ran and started growling and hissing.

I think it's going to take a while for he and Baxter to patch things up but what can I expect from this, and why did Baxter attack him?

[Jetlaya67]

I think they all freaked out. They just need some time. Give them some yummy treats and extra cuddling time. It will work out fine. I have had things like that happen too.

[CJinCA]

Its called misdirected aggression and looks like both cats are having a case of it. Something scary happens, and the cat associates that scary thing with you or another cat that just happens to be there. Or one cat reacts to something scary, and the other cat doesn't recognize this other cat with the odd behavior. In extreme cases, you may need to do a re-introduction. Hopefully they'll settle down and go back to normal.

[grrawritsjordi]

Wow. That sounds crazy!

On an unrelated note, I saw your pictures and I said, Why does he have a picture of my cats?

Our cats are twins!

[Richo]

Wow, you are right, they do look so much alike.

Baxter didn't get hostile to me at all throughout this but I don't think he got hurt at all. Poor Barnaby got his tail stepped on and then Baxter's claws were full of Barnaby's fur when I got him away from him.

I was gone for a while and came back, and although Barnaby is a little skittish, he did come up to me and sniff me and let me touch him.

I will keep Baxter locked in a separate room for the weekend and see what happens on Sunday night when I let him out.

[Kitty-The-Cat]

One reason (among others) why I do not wear shoes in the house, and ask that of visitors also, is that in the event they accidentally step on my cat (or a part thereof) it won't hurt the cat nearly as much as a shoe or sneaker would.

[CJinCA]

One reason (among others) why I do not wear shoes in the house, and ask that of visitors also, is that in the event they accidentally step on my cat (or a part thereof) it won't hurt the cat nearly as much as a shoe or sneaker would.

yeah, we don't wear shoes in the house. Mostly bc all our floors are white or light colored and we don't want to track in dirt, allergens, etc. But it does help when kitties accidentally get stepped on too. Hubby stepped on Squeek's paw today, but he was wearing slippers, so even though she was upset for a little bit, no harm done.

[Richo]

I always turn on lights wherever I walk because I expect a kitty to be in my path but she was on her way to the closest light switch and he just happened to be there.

He forgave us after all the chaos. He laid on her lap for hours tonight and seems to be acting more normal to me. I think he got freaked out by me because I chased them all over the house and was frantically pulling out furniture to get at them to break them up. First time anything like this has ever happened. It was vicious.

[Straysmommy]

It's not mis-directed aggression but the logical law of nature: when everything goes wrong, it's the man's fault.

[LaurulFeatherCat]

GOOD one, Straysmommy. Good one. I like that.

When it all hits the fan, it is every cat for himself. Poor dog was looking for someone to blame for all the noise and picked a cat for it. Big misunderstanding. Things will get back to normal within the week.