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Why Cats Fight and What You Can Do About It

A yowl pierces the air and then hisses. Your pet cats are fighting again. Cats may coexist peacefully much of the time but still fight occasionally. Cat fights can be minor spats or pose a danger to your felines. To reduce the cat fighting, you first need to understand the reasons for this cat behavior.

Turf wars are one of the main reasons why cats don't get along. You may expect this behavior when you first introduce a new pet to the household, but even cats who have lived together for years can still have territorial conflicts. One of the kitties may decide that they want to stake a claim on the space and fight with another cat. Both male and female cats may get into these conflicts. Unfortunately, altering the cats may not stop the behavior, although the fierceness may be reduced.

Another reason for cat fighting is displaced aggression. Your cat may see a strange animal in the yard and want to give chase. But, since he or she can't break the window, the aggression may be turned on another cat in the household.

Cats fight to establish their social ranking. One cat will be the leader, and the determination on which cat this will be is established by fighting. Generally, a male will be the top cat. If the cats have been altered, this social positioning is usually decided through some hissing and mild biting. Two intact males may try to seriously injure one another to the point the one of the cats must be placed in a new home.

If your cats are in a fight, you usually don't need to intervene unless one of them is getting injured. In this case, make a loud noise such as clapping your hands or spray them with water to break them up. Do not try to grab one of the cats, or you may end up being the injured party.

Punishing cats for fighting is not effective. Cats regard this behavior as natural and will not make the connection between the punishment and the undesired behavior.

Try to determine what the cats are fighting over. Food bowls, litter boxes, toys and other shared objects can create conflicts. If this is the case, have separate food bowls and toys for each cat. You may need to purchase duplicate cat furniture if one cat always grabs the best perch or cubby.

When introducing a new cat, keep the animals separate. You might confine one cat to a room while letting the other cat roam freely, and then trade cats. The goal is to familiarize your cats with each other's scent. Then, you can put the new cat in a carrier in the same room with your other feline. The cats may bat at each other through the cage and sniff each other. Once they seem to be comfortable with each other, the new cat can be removed from the cage, and a face-to-face introduction can take place. Make sure that each cat has an escape route in case the meeting doesn't go well.

If you have more than one cat in your household, they will more than likely fight. Most of the time, this fighting can be ignored. But, if a cat is getting injured, you will need to intervene to break up the conflict, and then try to address the cause of the fighting cats.