Cats Fighting in the Home
By admin in Cat Control | 7 comments
Cat advice and tips: Fighting Cats
It can be very distressing for owners when their cats are involved in regular fights especially when this is witnessed in the home. Cats are not naturally obedient creatures, unlike dogs, so alternative measures often have to be tried to curb cat fighting in the home.
If you have a problem, try some of these measures:
1. Try to keep cats apart if they are newly introduced into the home - let them get to know each other gradually and at their own pace.
2. Allow each cat freedom of movement - let them choose which part of the house they wish to be in and let them go outside as they please.
3. Ensure that the cats are petted and loved - don’t show affection for one over and above another
4. Try moving furniture around - cats are territorial and have their own feelings about “their territory” - by moving furniture, you can help to break up their sense of terrirory and allow the older and newer cats to redesignate their territorial spaces
5. Cats smell each other and don’t always like what they find - use a towel to rub over both (or more) cats so that the odours are mixed
6. Training cats is not easy but when they are fighting a few drops of cold water will easily break up the scuffle
7. Proprietary cat furniture can be a useful decorative addition to the home and some pieces have nooks and crannies in them that each cat can call “their own”
When all is lost, sometimes you just have to let them slug it out. Cats will often find their own place in the home hierarchy.
If your cats fighting has you at the end of your limits check out Cats Must Have These for helpful advice.
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admin | Jul 29, 2007 | Reply
Hello Mokey
Firstly I would try and find out who owns the other cat and inform them that their cat is causing problems in your garden. If that proves to be a problem a hose has always worked for me.
Go out into your garden and scare the other cat off with a quick spirt of water. Cats hate being squirted with the hose. Do this each time you go out into the garden and the cat will know you mean business.
Also, I once had the same problem and could not solve it with the hose so I built in a cat door so that when my little moggy had to escape it knew it could escape into the house through the cat door.
I hope I have been a help?
Willy | Aug 20, 2007 | Reply
I have two male neutered cats aged six and four who, up until now have managed to get along - mostly. The six year old is the more aggressive of the two and the four year old is usually very passive. Now the four year old is fighting and stalking the elder cat all the time and it’s wreaking havoc on our lives. We’re tried pheromone spray without success. Any suggestions or should we go straight for the valium? Possibly for us, not them.
Kate | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
We have one cat who is 7 months and we just brought a stray home who is about the same age. The new cat is constantly attacking our old cat and we dont know what to do. Our old cat won’t defend himself and we’re affraid he’s going to get hurt. He is also not eating and drinking as much because he always has to watch his back. Any advice would be much appreciated.
admin | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
Hello Kate
You do have a problem! Sometimes same sex cats will fight for territory and when a new cat is introduced into a home the old cat will feel threatened.
We have the same problem at the moment and we are scalding the new cat each time he fights with our female cat. A spray bottle with water in it works great. Each time the new cat looks like giving the old cat a hard time we give him a spray.
As far as the eating problem. Place the old cats food in a safe place. We have placed her food and water in our bedroom and take her in there and feed her and pet her. Give the old cat heaps of affection.
Also reward the new cat for good behavior. If you can get someone to pickup one of the cats while you hold the other one and sit down together and pet both at the same time. Hope I have been helpful
Kerry | May 5, 2008 | Reply
Hi
I have a problem, we have 2 female cats both de-sexed. One born 2005 the other born 2006.
Our 2005 cat is very quiet and timid and our 2006 cat is also quiet and I guess some what timid. Now our 2006 cat has started fighting with the older one, they have always had play fights but at 5am this morning he turned very nasty. Our younger cat actually full on attacked the older one and put punctures in her tail. We did not know this at the time we thought it was outside, but later in the morning I found a little trail of blood fixed up her tail.Sitting having a coffee thinking all was good (BIG mistake) the older one came out of my bedroom and as soon as the younger one saw her, she attacked again as a result the younger one in her travel cage. After a few hours she was let out and again all seemed good until she saw the older one and it was on for young and old AGAIN. I do not understand why this is happening as they have been together for well over 12mnths now. Any ideas??? We have a vet appointemnt in 1hr just to make sure nothing is wrong with the younger one. I cannot keep the younger one locked up in her cage but I cannot have her attacking the other one either. It’s just so sudden.
Kerry
Mel | May 18, 2009 | Reply
Lucky for me i’ve never had this problem