Cat problem-- help!!!

[CheshireVal]

I don't know how many people will be awake tonight to answer this, but I need help!

We have two cats: Sebastian (4 yrs) and Chloe (2 yrs). They aren't *in love*, but they play together every day and *occasionally* snuggle together, and they've always gotten along pretty well.

Tonight, we noticed that Sebastian had litter embedded in his paws. Since he is a 16 pound Siamese, it was quite a struggle to get him to hold still so that we could get the stuff out. He started yowling (typical Siamese), and before we knew it, Chloe came running up out of the blue and, hissing, tried to attack him.

We locked her in the spare room for about 30 minutes, but when we let her out all she did was sit in the corner growling and hissing. It's been 3 hours now, and they are still going at it. Occasionally Chloe will try to attack Sebastian (even though she's only half his size), and when she's not doing that she's growling.

I don't know what to do! I feel like I can't go to bed and leave them alone together because I'm afraid they really might hurt each other. Sebastian is the most mild-mannered cat ever, but Chloe can be a little spitfire, and Sebastian is so strong that he could really hurt her if provoked. I'm thinking of keeping Chloe locked in the spare bedroom tonight, but how long is this going to go on?

And..... WHY is this happening??? Could Sebastian have emitted some kind of strange scent when he was scared and we were cleaning his paw?? How could Chloe just suddenly, within the space of 30 seconds, just stop recognizing her "brother" that she's lived with for 2 years?!?

HELP!

 

[Redbudlover]

Chloe was defending you from the yowling Sebastion. Keep them separate, tonight, but show Chloe tomorrow you petting and being affectionate with Sebastion, then reverse it and show Sebastion....Chloe needs tonight to calm down and get some special petting when she will accept it. She is obviously very upset by the strong emotion evidenced by the yowling Sebastion gave for an extended time.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I was also going to suggest separating them tonight, and keep an eye on them tomorrow. I'm sure it's a temporary attitude.

 

[CheshireVal]

Defending us? That actually makes sense. Sebastian sounds horrible when he starts with the yowling, Chloe was probably confused. It's just so frustrating. We went through this when we introduced Chloe to the household. Don't wanna do it again!

Thank you for the advice. We'll keep them separate tonight and go from there.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

If you can put them in separate rooms but with some way of poking a paw at each other, that can help, too. We have one room that has a 2" gap at the bottom of the door (old house!), and when we need to "re-set" our cats, we put the troublesome one in that room and then the others come and sniff under the door, see their sibling, poke a paw at each other, talk to each other, etc. It helps with the transition from "I don't have you around all the time" to "You are always around". It's a trick we learned from the Humane Society that has served us well since introducing Marlowe to the family.