For any of you guys who actually don't hang out at F'opolis, or didn't see the thread... our cats have been replaced with identical-looking space alien cats who don't get along.
Yeah.
Seriously... around mid evening Saturday night, after having spent a few hours sleeping away happily right next to each other on the bed, they got into a fight. A real fight. I was sitting on the pot and heard Zephyr "ROWROWROWROWROOWWWW"ing in the front room, and another cat growling, and much hissing. I was all, "OH SHIT" thinking a stray had somehow come through our front window screen and they were fighting. I haphazardly finish up and run in there and find it's Pele growling and hissing, and Zephyr ROWRing and puffed up, and they were both taking swipes at each other. Both of them had bits of fur from the other caught in their claws, which thankfully had been trimmed only 3 or 4 days beforehand.
Mark came out understandably WTF?! and I asked him to see if he could grab Pele. She dashed downstairs, which was plenty good enough, and I grabbed Zephyr, carefully at first 'cause he was hissing at me too and I didn't want to get clawed or bitten a bunch. I headed for the master bathroom with him, and shut the door, trying to calm him down to no avail (his ears were less laid back but his eyes were big as saucers and his tail would not stop puffing up). Meanwhile, it turns out J had grabbed Pele while she was on the stairs and took her in the laundry room to calm her down. He somewhat succeeded, and figured they ought to be separated so he shut her in there. Zephyr wouldn't chill, so I shut him in the bathroom.
After this we headed out for a latish dinner with J's friends, and figured that'd give them a good hour to an hour and a half to calm down. We came back and let 'em out, and at first all seemed fine. They approached each other, after Pele came upstairs, sniffed noses, then kinda walked away. Then they were kinda walking up and down the hallway, wandering to different rooms as they often do, and it was fine. Then I go down the hall back to my computer, and next thing I know they're all at it again with Pele growling and Zephyr yowling. Mark had come out so they, I think, didn't get into another actual fight, but they were going apeshit. Then Pele ran for the bedroom and hid under the bed, with me failing to keep her out from under it and twisting my ankle in the process, so I shut the door so Zephyr wouldn't follow her (he tried; I had to push him out the door).
The rest of the night was spent keeping Zephyr away from the door, 'cause he kept going to it and sniffing and sometimes yowling again if he could see her through the crack between door and frame (it's hung funny, so it won't push shut 'cause it gets stuck at the top against the frame, leaving the bottom open just a bit). I brought Pele some food & water, then a litterbox. After a couple hours I figured I'd close Zephyr up so she could wander, but that didn't work really well. For starters, he wouldn't stop meowing to be let out, so Pele could hear it and wouldn't come out. Plus, the door frame on the computer room where I shut him is ripped up (I have no idea... came that way) so there's nothing holding the latch in the frame, so I had to take some long phone cord and tie it around that door handle and the closet door handle to keep him from pulling the door open. In the end, since Pele wouldn't come out anyway, when we went to bed we moved the food & water & litterbox back into the bedroom and let him out, shutting the door and blocking it with a laundry basket full of clothes.
After all that, including me going out to sleep on the couch around 9am or something, 'cause Zephyr was super lonely and pawing at our door, we figured they'd be alright. Pele was even pawing at our door to be let out, so we let them out. Then they were fine for a good hour or two, then it all started up again with the growling and the yowling and the hissing. Grr. Pele made for the bed again, so we again shut the door for a while. J also stuck Zephyr in the laundry room for a few hours, despite his loud protests, and Pele got to come out and be lovey and enjoy the open windows. Finally we figured Zephyr may have calmed down, and he likes open windows too, so he was allowed out. Almost right away Pele was growling again so she hid. This time I left the bedroom door open and just chased Zephyr away if he got near it (usually I knew this by hearing a hiss or a growl).
*sigh* They were OK last night. Pele spent the night sleeping under the bed, and Zephyr left her alone there at least (he doesn't follow her under there, it would seem). And they seemed OK this morning, once Pele had finally come out before we left. So against my better judgment we left them both free in the house. I'm hoping that even if they still have issues she'll hide under the bed, and he won't follow her there. I hope.
We still have to keep an eye on Zephyr's right eye. In the initial fight he got scratched on the surface of it. It doesn't seem to bother him, but if it starts discoloring that probably means it's infected. Also, on the advice of a few at F'opolis, including one vet, I'm going to look into getting some Feliway infusers that plug into the wall... they're cat facial pheromones, it would seem, and are supposed to be good at calming cats down or something. So I'm going to see if Petco carries it.