Feline
Social Behavior and Aggression between Family Cats
It's
impossible to estimate how well any pair of group of cats will ultimately
tolerate each other. Some cats are unusually territorial, may never adjust to
sharing their house, and many do best in a one-cat family. However, many aggressive
problems between cats can be successfully resolved. To do this, you may need
help, both from your veterinarian and from an animal behavior specialist who is
knowledgeable in cat behavior. Cats with aggression problems may never be best
friends, but can often learn to mutually tolerate each other with a minimum of
conflict. Working with aggression problems between family cats will take time
and commitment from you. Don't give up without consulting the appropriate experts.
Common Types of
Aggressive Behaviors between Cats:
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Territorial Aggression: Cats are very
territorial, much more so than dogs. Territorial aggression occurs when a cat
feels that his territory has been invaded by an intruder. Depending on where
your cat spends his time, he may view your whole neighborhood as his territory.
Female cats can be just as territorial as males. The behavior patterns in this
type of aggression include chasing and ambushing the intruder, as well as
hissing and swatting when contact occurs. Territorial problems often occur when
a new cat is being brought into a household, when a young kitten reaches
maturity, or when a cat encounters neighborhood cats outside. It's not uncommon
for a cat to be territorially aggressive toward one cat in a family, and
friendly and tolerant to another.
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Intermale
Aggression:
Adult male cats normally tend to threaten, and sometimes fight with, other
males. These behaviors can occur as sexual challenges over a female, or to
achieve a relatively high position in the cats' loosely organized social
dominance hierarchy. This type of aggression involves much ritualized body
posturing, stalking, staring, yowling, and howling. Attacks are usually avoided
if one cat "back down" and walks away. If an attack occurs, the attacker
will usually jump forward, directing a bite to the nape of the neck, while the
opponent falls to the ground on his back and attempts to bite and scratch the
attacker's belly with his hind legs. The cats may roll around biting and screaming,
suddenly stop, resume posturing, fight again or walk away. Cats don't usually
severely injure one another this way, but you should always check for puncture
wounds which are prone to infection. Intact males are much more likely to fight
in this way than are neutered males.
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Defensive
Aggression:
Defensive aggression occurs when a cat is attempting to protect himself from an
attack he believes he cannot escape. This can occur in response to punishment or
the threat of punishment from a person, an attack or attempted attack from
another cat, or any time he feels threatened or afraid. Defensive postures
include crouching with the legs pulled in under the body, laying the ears back,
tucking the tail, and possibly rolling slightly to the side. This is not the
same as the submissive postures dogs show because it's not intended to "turn
off" an attack from another cat. Continuing to approach a cat that's in
this posture is likely to precipitate an attack.
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Redirected
Aggression:
This type of aggression is directed toward another animal that didn't initially
provoke the behavior. For example, a household cat sitting in the window may
see an outdoor cat walk across the front yard. Because he can't attack the
outdoor cat, he may instead turn and attack the other family cat that's sitting
next to him in the window. Redirected aggression can be either offensive or defensive
in nature.
What You Can Do
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If
your cat's behavior changes suddenly, your first step should always be to
contact your veterinarian for a thorough health examination. Cats often hide
symptoms of illness until they're seriously ill. Any change in behavior may be
an early indication of a medical problem.
v
Spay
or neuter any intact pets in your home. The behavior of one intact animal can
affect all your pets.
v
Start
the slow introduction process over from the beginning. You may need
professional help from an animal behavior specialist to successfully implement
these techniques.
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In
extreme cases, consult with your veterinarian about medicating your cats while
you're working with them on a behavioral modification program. Your
veterinarian is the only person who is licensed and qualified to prescribe any
medication for your cats. Don't attempt to give your cat any over-the-counter
or prescription medication without consulting with your veterinarian. Animals
don't respond to drugs the same way people do, and a medication that may be
safe for a human could be fatal to an animal. Keep in mind that medication, by itself,
isn't a permanent solution, and should only be used in conjunction with
behavior modification.
What Not To Do
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If
your cats are fighting, don't allow the fights to continue. Because cats are so
territorial, and because they don't establish firm dominance hierarchies, they
won't be able to "work things out" as dog sometimes do. The more
often cats fight, the worse the problem is likely to become. To stop a fight in
progress, make a loud noise, such as blowing a whistle, squirting the cats with
water, or throwing something soft at them. Don't try to pull them apart.
v
Prevent
future fights. This may mean keeping the cats totally separate from each other
while you're working on the problem or at least preventing contact between them
in situations likely to trigger a fight.
v
Don't
try to punish the cats involved. Punishment is likely to elicit further aggression
and fearful responses, which will only make the problem worse. If you attempt
punishment, you may become a target for redirected and defensive aggression.
Because
their social organization is somewhat flexible, some cats are relatively
tolerant of sharing their house and territory with multiple cats. It's not
uncommon for a cat to tolerate some cats, but not get along with others in the house.
However, the more cats sharing the same territory, the more likely it is that
some of your cats will begin fighting with each other.
When
you introduce cats to each other, one of them may send "play" signals
which can be misinterpreted by the other cat. If those signals are interpreted
as aggression by one of the cats, then you should handle the situation as "aggressive."
The
factors that determine how good cats will get along together, are not fully
understood. Cats that are well-socialized (they had pleasant experiences with
other cats during kitten hood) will likely be more sociable than those that
haven't been around many other cats. On the other hand, "street cats"
that are in the habit of fighting with other cats to defend their territory and
food resources, may not do well in a multi-cat household. Genetic factors also
influence a cat's temperament, so friendly parents are probably more likely to
produce friendly offspring.
