Every person in his life has seen or heard a cat fight at least once (it is simply impossible not to hear these warlike cat screams). Despite all their cuteness, cats can be very aggressive when in danger. They zealously protect the territory from the invasion of uninvited guests and are ready to pounce on any representative of the fauna who violates the borders. We have prepared for you 5 facts that you should know about cat fighting.
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Cats are not pack animals
A cat is a predator that walks on its own. If you have several pets living in your home, make sure that everyone has personal items: a bowl, a scratcher, a scratching post and a pad. They don't tend to share with their siblings, so sharing the same toy or cup of water will most likely end in a fight.
If you add a new kitten to a cat you already have at home, then remember that fights are inevitable. The old resident will definitely show the new one who is boss here. This time must be endured. You should not artificially “introduce” cats to each other by pushing their faces together. Let everything go naturally.
Read the article about the most evil cat breeds.
According to experts, well-socialized cats (those who have had experience interacting with other cats as children) will be more sociable than those who have not had such experience.
By the way, “street cats”, which have a habit of fighting with other cats in order to protect their territory and food, can quite easily get along at home with several four-legged animals.
How to understand how serious a fight between cats is?
Many cats enjoy play fighting and will chase each other and paw at each other. The main difference between in-game combat and real combat is noise. Game combat is generally quiet, with many pauses. Any bites are gentle and do not cause injury or pain, and the claws usually retract. In some cases, play fights can escalate, and if your cats start to hiss or growl, it could be an indication that one of them is getting too rough. When the cats are just playing, then both return to their normal state, without obvious tension between them.
If your cats start fighting every time they see each other, there's an obvious problem.
Problem cats may develop physical symptoms, such as bladder problems, or behavioral symptoms. It's not always easy to tell if your cat is upset as they are very good at hiding their feelings, so always keep a close eye on any changes in behavior and contact your vet if this occurs.
There are several signs that your cats are struggling or not getting along:
- Full contact fight. They may fight like this every time they see each other, which can lead to injury, or sometimes they may feel good together, but only under supervision.
- Partial contact battles. This is where cats quickly swing their paws in the direction of another cat, with or without physical contact. Body language that appears aggressive. One cat may chase another with a tense body posture. Their ears will be turned back, their back may be arched and their tail fluffed.
- Aggressive sounds. This is usually a hiss, growl, or scream. Quiet aggression. There are less obvious signs called passive or quiet aggression.
Less obvious signs that your cats aren't getting along:
- Your cats look at each other with wide, unblinking eyes and a fixed expression.
- One cat "steals" a resting spot from another cat (for example, one cat climbs over another and tries to rest in the same spot in such a way that the cat that was originally there is forced to leave the spot).
- One cat blocks passages, stairs and hallways to prevent the other cat from moving freely throughout the house, as well as blocking access to the cat hatch.
Don't break up a fight with your hands
The first reaction when a cat fight starts is to immediately disperse the bullies by pushing one away from the other. But doing this is dangerous. Instead, act quickly and find a way to distract the fighters from each other. A toy, treat, or anything else they like. Sometimes only a sharp sound or a tub of water poured on the opponents at the epicenter of the battle helps.
If you try to separate the fighting with your hands, you risk getting serious, poorly healing wounds. Unlike your cat, you don't have fur to protect your body. And even your usually sweet and kind cat can hurt you without even realizing who she is attacking.
Why do cats or cats fight?
The causes of conflict between pets of the same or different sexes are not the same.
In an apartment where several pets live, the following types of quarrels may arise:
- Between males.
- Between females.
- Between individuals of different sexes.
Causes of aggressive behavior in cats
When there are no females in the hunt nearby, cats start fights for territory. Someone must comply or leave. When an interested lady appears nearby, instinct makes you fight for the right to the first night. A cat can take out its anger on a weaker pet if someone stronger constantly offends it. For example, a dog or a child. The animal cannot respond to the offender, so it takes out its accumulated anger on its neighbor. The phenomenon is called redirected aggression.
Fights can arise over possession of food, a water bowl, or a litter box. Therefore, each pet should be given separate dishes. Ideally, bowls and toilets should be in different rooms, or as far apart as possible.
Conflicts between cats: reasons
Females have fewer reasons to fight among themselves. Most often, the problem arises when a new pet appears in the apartment. The former owner believes that her sovereignty is under threat and defends the territory. If household members quarrel, cunning cats try to show their character in order to take the place of the loser in the pride hierarchy. Redirected aggression also occurs.
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If a situation arises when there are several cats and one male in the apartment, the ladies enter into a battle for the possession of a gentleman. The situation is aggravated by the peculiarities of the sexual behavior of cats in a group: if one cat starts leaking, the second one and the others immediately join it. This is a way of displaying maternal aggression: older kittens tend to offend those who are smaller and weaker. Therefore, the female is in a hurry to lamb before her competitors.
Why does a cat fight with a cat?
When a cat is not in the hunt, it fights back the harasser. But a battle for dominance cannot be ruled out. Such conflicts do not last long.
In the struggle for supremacy, the cat concedes because it is weaker, and the cause of the discord is exhausted. The onset of sexual heat eliminates another cause of conflict.
How to behave as an owner during cat fights
The owner cannot stand aside. Otherwise, the pets will no longer regard him as the dominant individual in the pride. Cats live according to concepts and do not obey humans because of this. that he is stronger, but because he is wiser.
The first step is to separate the pets. Of course, you cannot pull apart a matted ball with your hands. You may get some well-deserved scratches or bites. Hitting is also not an option: the cat will be offended and take revenge through redirected aggression.
The technique of spraying with cold water works well, but cats regard this technique as mockery, which means the authority of the pride leader suffers. It is much better to distract the pets' attention by clapping your hands, snorting or other means of distraction.
The next technique is jigging. Pets are examined and injuries are sanitized. inflicted with claws and teeth. The conflict may fade away in a few days. But this does not mean that the fight will not resume. Animals are provided with separate feeders, trays, and scratching posts. The best option is multi-level houses. During the game, the dominant individual takes place at the very top. The rest are placed according to their position in the hierarchy.
If these control measures cannot be implemented or they do not help, the offenders are sent to prison. One pet is placed in a cage. The other remains at large. The next day, a neighbor goes to jail. The animals get used to each other in about a week.
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After this, you cannot provoke them into conflicts: give one pet more attention than the other. Jealousy will arise and competitors will again try to eliminate each other. To calm cats, medications are used - Kot Bayun, Vetspokoin, Stop-Stress.
Don't confuse aggression and play
Some cats like to play aggressively with their littermates or their owner, but this does not mean they literally "fight". Just like people, some cats can be more active and aggressive, while others can be calmer and non-conflicting. Knowing the personality traits of your pet, you can distinguish a fight from a game.
Nature dictates that cats are usually more aggressive than females. Castration and sterilization of animals can significantly reduce the manifestation of aggression.
Conflicts between females
Every cat naturally has a certain level of aggression. Even the most gentle-looking murkas are imperious, wayward empresses who do not tolerate quarrels. They love solitude, reject noisy gatherings and do not tolerate intrusive affection. That's why cats fight among themselves quite often. After all, it is difficult for several independent queens to get along in one territory at once. A cat does not see a rival in a person, but a fellow cat is an obvious competitor.
Animals fight for bowls, for a place on a soft sofa or chair, for the next portion of affection from the owner. There is no big difference in the cause of the conflict. The main goal of any purring creature is to prove its superiority, to force the enemy to recognize it as the rightful owner of the territory . Also, two females fight when the hunting season begins. They actively compete for the cat's absolute attention. But when the murkas fight quite brutally and constantly, rewarding each other with terrible lacerated wounds, then we are talking about females, in which the territorial instinct is expressed quite clearly.
How to quickly separate fighting animals
It’s painful to look at your beloved pets when, instead of purring pleasantly, they begin to arch their backs and scream wildly, sorting things out and demonstrating their readiness for battle. It is much worse if opponents move from “words to deeds” and begin to fight fiercely. Here you should remember several effective methods that will allow you to quickly separate fighting cats .
- Cover the fighters with a blanket. The animals will experience temporary disorientation, which will make it possible to safely separate their rivals and calm them down.
- Turn on the vacuum cleaner. You can even direct it towards raging opponents if they are fighting so actively that they no longer notice anything around them.
- Use water spray. Cats will run away in different directions for fear of getting wet, because only a few like to swim.
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When animals are fighting, you should never break them up with your bare hands. Redirected aggression of cats is quite dangerous. It can turn the breeder's hands into a scary sight. The best way to stop a fight is to grab your pet by the scruff of the neck. In this case, only the aggressor needs to be restrained. It will take at least 3 minutes for the cat to finally relax and the level of adrenaline in his blood to decrease slightly.
Cats vs dogs
The most common picture is a dog chasing a cat, and the cat runs away. In real life, cats themselves often begin to attack dogs. But, regardless of the situation, we are not talking about the same thing, and conflicts arise due to misunderstandings. If we consider all dogs, they can be divided into 2 types. The first category includes dogs that are distinguished by their sociability, who strive to make new acquaintances and are not averse to communicating with other animals, including cats that are not very sociable.
In this case, the pugnacity of the latter is caused not by aggression, but by a completely understandable desire to protect one’s own person from intrusive attention. Felines do not particularly like physical contact and try to explain this to dogs. At first they do it softly, as if brushing it off. But if the dog doesn’t understand, then they can release their claws.
The second category is dogs that have a pathological hatred of cats. Whatever this feeling causes, the meeting of such an animal with a cat often turns into a tragedy. Large dogs can not only injure a cat, but also cause fatal injuries to it.
If such hostility occurs in the house, then the issue should be resolved immediately. Either resettle the pets or seek help from a dog handler. A specialist will not teach a dog to love cats, but will make him ignore her.
Played out in earnest
In a fit of play, any member of the cat family can get really carried away, be it a ferocious lion or a tiny pet. Giving yourself completely to an activity is so cat-like! If your games with your little pet lead to scratches and bites on your hands, you need to stop this urgently. When the kitten begins to forget and act carelessly, tell him loudly: “No!” or “You can’t!”, and immediately stop playing with him. Kittens love to play so much that ending the game is the worst punishment for them. Usually two or three repetitions of such a story are enough for the kitten to remember the prohibiting word. From now on, if you feel that the cat is starting to forget, say just as loudly: “No!”, and if he reacts and stops biting, calmly continue the game further.
What to do if an adult cat (cat) does not accept the kitten, hisses and attacks him?
Cats accept babies much more willingly than males, because the former have a maternal instinct. It is important to take into account age: a cat will accept a kitten less than six months old, because after 6 months these animals begin puberty. If the pet hisses at the baby and refuses to accept him, the animals should be temporarily separated. When a cat and a kitten live together, there are two possible scenarios:
- indifference of an adult animal towards the baby;
- negative reaction (the male hisses at the kitten, bites, does not accept it).
In the worst case, the cat can strangle the kitten, because in nature such behavior is not uncommon. A baby should not be left alone with an adult animal immediately after it arrives in the house. Only after a period of adaptation and the establishment of a positive relationship between the male and the kitten can the animals be left unattended.
It is impossible to say how long it will take to accustom pets to each other; it all depends on the individual characteristics of the animals. If the pets are similar in character and do not show jealousy, they can become friends quickly. There are times when two animals fail to get along after several months or even years.
A healthy cat is a playful cat
Animal psychologists quite often encounter complaints from cat owners. Active pet games often turn into fights, or so it seems to the owner. Be that as it may, animals that play too loudly and actively are often perceived as a problem. Some owners even think about placing their younger pet in good hands and avoiding constant stressful situations.
Cats, especially littermates, often resort to specific behavioral techniques that are difficult for inexperienced owners to interpret. When observed from the outside, it may indeed appear that the cats are fighting, although this is not the case at all. It's common for pets, especially those that grew up together, to imitate fights to hone their skills.
Surely everyone has heard the scream of cats fighting on the street. When pets begin to make such sounds, owners become wary. Agree, watching the games of little kittens, when they amusingly track each other, attack from behind, fall and somersault, no negative associations arise. However, if a similar situation occurs between two adult cats, it seems that one of the pets is hunting the other.
Physically and mentally healthy cats remain playful throughout their lives. The exception is animals with a melancholic and phlegmatic character, who are not naturally inclined to activity.
When a pet lives alone in the house, it directs its energy towards its owners or toys. If several cats or a cat and a dog live in the house, the pets begin to play with each other after the adaptation stage.
