Cat fights

I really don't know what to do or who to turn to about my cat Makepeace.
   

   
I have 2 cats Dempsey & Makepeace (brother & sister) who I adopted age 11 month in Apr 09 from Cats Protection League (neutered & spayed). They were together in a cat run for 7 months prior and were part of an abandoned litter. Since then their behaviour has changed dramatically from being snuggled up together and cleaning each other to out of control fur flying fights with culminating with her not feeling like she can come in the house at all. They have a cat flap but she will only use it to go out. I now have a curtain she can hide behind in front of it but this is obviously no comfort. They were fine at first, her being more timid than her brother. Then he took over downstairs and she took over upstairs which worked well. Since my partner (who works away mon-fri) grabbed her off the bed to put in her box (first time done and was a disaster) for the vets she now won't got upstairs or in the house without some coaxing with food and just growls at her brother or just runs away. I really don’t want to have to take one back to the shelter but it's unfair for her to live like a ferral cat. Is there anyone who can help me in my predicament especially as Winter is drawing in and i'm so worried about her. Yesterday she defecated in the lounge when i kept her in for an hour or so, so she could get warm and feel safe and there was blood in it. The vet said just keep taking the Zyclene tabelts with the feliway defuser which isn't working!! Both cats have been checked recently and are wormed to date. I'm open to any kind of homeopathis/orthodox medicines available to get my kits back again.
   

   
Please help.
   
Claire

First: if the blood is clear & red, then it's probably an irritation near the bowel opening & will clear up. If it's black, the cat could be seriously ill. Which is it? She may have eaten something weird, like a lizard or bug, or something she found lying around.
   
What isn't working: the zyclene or the Feliway?
   
Have you tried a different tranquilizer? There are others, based on plants (chamomile & valerian, to name two). One of them may work.
   
As to the social situation, sounds like several things have happened (theories & thoughts)
   
Dempsey may have decided he liked having "turf", so that started it. It is odd that a brother/sister pairing has so much trouble relating when they grow up. Usually they settle the rules & move on.
   
How recently did they start clashing? Right after you got them? Last month? Sometime in between? Was it sudden, or gradual?
   
Did it start after one of them came in from outside, with a battle breaking out immediately for no apparent reason? Did Dempsey start it, or Makepeace?
   
Does either one actually lose fur (more than a tuft or two, I mean), & does anyone end up bleeding?
   
Upstairs used to be safe, but then your partner tried to put her in a box & she's afraid it'll happen again. That person was pretty much a stranger, as that person isn't there most of the time, so that compounded it. So, the upstairs is now to be feared: She's become irrationally afraid of the house, what with an angry brother on the first floor & a threatening box on the second.
   
First off, I recommend you turn the both of them into entirely indoor cats. Indoor cats live 3 to 5 years longer, don't get sick as much, don't get ticks and a half-dozen parasites, & won't get into weird food.
   
Making them both indoors will also make the readjustment to the house inevitible, so Makepeace won't have a choice - & neither will Dempsey, who has to learn to be a gentleman. Are you willing to do this?
   
We need to get her into the house, forcibly if necessary - she has to deal with her issues. She can't be allowed to run away outside to hide.
   
Lock the cat flap. Set up litter boxes, a cat tree (you can build one, surf the web for plans), old blankets folded up in likely corners & on chairs, & in boxes tucked behind couches & such. Require that both cats eat nearby each other - close enough to see each other, but not right next to each other.
   
Leave them to interact as normal. You have to make them work out their problems. Don't prevent all the physical altercations, just break up fights if one of them looks like they're being seriously strangled or there's blood. It often takes months for cats to work out their relations.
   
Your partner has to get back into Makepeace's good graces. Partner has scared the hell out of her, & she wants nothing to do with same. So, you SO has to play very, very nice-nice with her. Whenever SO is home, SO should feed the cats. Also talk & move slowly & calmly around Makepeace, & gradually get to the point where SO can pet the cat. And SO should bribe Makepeace shamelessly, with whatever Makepeace loves the most. SO has to win her over.
   
Another thought: Once you have both cats confined to the house, spray both of them with a chamomile spray (thoroughly) so they smell the same. I don't know if it'll help, but if both cats smell the same, we may be able to reduce the triggers that set off the clashes.
   
I'm sorry, I have to leave now. Think this over, & I'll get back to you after you respond.

Thanks for your quick response, I really appreciate it. My partner is against having indoor cats as hates litter trays but will try convincing him.
   
The fights started in the first 2 months definately.
   
As she took upstairs (ie bedroom) and swiped at him if he came close to the bed. Originally she would let him occasionally come onto the bed but became more and more intolerant and started to growl.
   
When they fight there are lots of clumps of fur, mainly of Makepeaces colouring (tortie) but no blood as far as i can tell.
   
I'm unsure if it was anything to do withoutside as I work during the day so can't keep a vigil over them.
   
The last time i locked them in together he urinated on the sofa (a previous problem we managed to stop with Feliway previously). Neither of them used the litter tray left out in the usual place. (We kept them house bound for 8 weeks on adoption).
   
Thanks for all your help
   
Claire