Max’s owner was really upset, he was in another cat fight. This was the third trip to the vet in three months. His vet bill was mounting from having to treat an abscess, have another surgery and more antibiotics to administer. “This cat was neutered when he was a kitten and he still fights, what can I do to stop cat fighting?” she asked. “If only that bully cat next door would leave him alone.”
There are many causes and circumstances that cause cat fights. Therefore, there are many solutions to stop them. Cats fight with neighboring outdoor cats as well as others in the same household. Once you are aware of the reasons causing the fight, you can stop it. Max was just protecting the threatened territory from him. You can’t blame the cat for protecting the home from him, can you?
The first step to avoiding cat fights is to modify it. Max’s owner already did this. It is very necessary that cats with a fighting problem be altered as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if the kitten is male or female. They can both fight. One thing to know is that the cost of switching a kitten is typically less than the cost of any surgical repairs or vet visits and medications. Treating an abscess can also be expensive (an abscess is an infected bite wound that often develops in fighting cats. Male cats are more likely to fight due to the aggressive nature caused by testosterone. Sterilization of males are 80 to 90 percent effective at stopping fighting.
stray cats in the neighborhood will cause fights, but it can be difficult to get rid of all the strays in your area. Aside from neutering, the only way to prevent cat fights is to keep yours indoors. It is almost impossible to control all the stray cats and all the cats in your neighborhood. You can turn outdoor cats into indoor lovers.
Indoor cats are fighting presenting a different problem. The first thing to do is to upset both your male and female kittens. If you haven’t altered them, call the vet today and make an appointment.
Watch your cats and find out why they fight, what starts the fight? What were they doing? Were they eating or in another cat’s favorite spot? Then you can aim at the solution to solve every fighting situation. Be patient, as cats can take several weeks or even months to get used to each other.
Have you added a new cat?
Choose your new cat carefully. Expect minor disagreements when you bring a new cat into the house.
Introduce the new cat slowly by locking the newcomer in a separate room at first. You can even keep the fledgling in a closed pen and let the cats see and smell each other whenever they want. Gradually let them spend some time together.
Some cats just don’t get along with others. Cats that were weaned early and grew up without being around other cats will not be social. They will either fight or get scared and hide.
Do you have too many cats? Overcrowding will cause fights. Just one more can be too many, especially if you have more than five. The problem is not the new cat, but the number of cats that can crowd all the cats. They want a space they can call their own. To ease the feeling of overcrowding, make sure each cat has its own bed and food bowl. Provide plenty of cat trees and cat houses so each cat has a place to hide or escape. Consider building an outdoor enclosure or run to further increase the cats’ space.
Sometimes the cats may have spit up a bit. They can hit each other. Don’t let this alarm you. They need to settle their own little disputes. Only participate if you are serious. In this case, use a spray bottle or make a loud noise to break them up and then separate them.
Territorial aggression is cause for struggle. One cat can be a bully chasing the other cat. The cat that is being bullied may constantly seek to hide. Territorial aggression is difficult to stop. Build the self-confidence of bullied cats by giving them plenty of individual attention. Confine the bully for a few hours a day and let the bullied cat take over the house. If the harasser continues to harass, you may need to give each cat its own separate space in the home.
If you still have no luck stopping the fighting, ask your vet for help. He may want you to give them hormones or tranquilizers. This should help change their attitudes and aggressiveness.
Don’t worry that drugs are bad or that your cat will have to take medication forever. Consider medication as an aid to your training. Sometimes you have to use both training and medication to make permanent changes. As the cats learn to live in harmony, you can reduce the medication dose gradually (usually over several months) until the cat fighting has stopped without treatment.
Get help for cats today!