Cat aggression and Fights are very stressful for cats and for owners. When the fight occurs, It becomes very important to stop cats from fighting immediately.
That sudden sound of hissing, growling, and going into a violent fight is difficult for first time cat owners to understand why the cats started fighting all of a sudden!
In my other article, I have mentioned all the possible reasons about why do cats fight. Here we shall discuss the simple tips to stop and avoid the fights between cats.
Territorial Problem
The most common reason for cat fights is because of territorial problem.
Cats are very territorial and some of them are very serious about having a particular space at home or maybe the entire house as their territory.
Here are the tips to stop cats fighting due to territorial reasons.
- Introduce cats to each other. If you have a new cat coming home, make sure you carry the introduction process to make the two cats friends.
- In case of resident cats fighting among themselves all of a sudden, the same introduction process needs to be carried out.
- Place as many cat furniture, condos, cat tree houses around the house. The more options of personal space the cats have, the issue with territory would be less.
- Give separate Food bowls for each cat. Place multiple water bowl or water fountains all around the house for your cats to access water.
- Keep litter trays for each cat plus one extra. example- if you have 3 cats in the house, keep 3+1 litter trays.
Keep the Bully Cat separate
I had discussed in my article ‘why do cats fight?‘ that bullying nature is a problem in cat fighting.
When you have a bully cat in your home where you have multiple cats, it is very difficult to manage the aggression among cats.
Here is what you can do:
- Keep the bully cat separate from the victim cat. Mostly the bully cats target selective cats.
- The victim cat might get an anxiety attack with continuous bullying. In such scenario, seek medical help. There is always psychiatric medicines for cats mental health.
- Keep track that the bully cat is not cornering the victim cat or showing some kind of an attacking body language.
- The stare down and walking with the back hair straight towards the victim cats are the signs of attacking posture. Interfere when you see such situation occurring.
- If you are going out, make sure the cats are in separate room the time you are not present at home.
- You can try the introduction process and socialize them after keeping them away from each other for a long time.
- If things don’t work out, its always best to keep the cats separated.
Spay/ Neuter your Cat
The most important thing to do when you have indoor pet cat is to have them Spayed or Neutered.
Since hormonal factors kicks in within a year in a cat and they would start looking for mate. Be it male or female, there will be changes in the temperament of the cats.
- Spay or Neuter your cats for betterment of their life as well.
- This will help curb the aggression.
- The tendency to go out would be very less after spaying or neutering a cat.
- There would not be any seasonal heat, thus no howling, whining at odd times
- The cats would be more calm and adjusting to the home.
- There would be less spraying around the house.
Make a friendly Peaceful Environment
Cats are very sensitive. They are easily stressed out. It is very important to have a friendly peaceful environment.
- Encourage good behaviors with treat. When you see a friendly gesture among cats, reward the behavior.
- Play with your cats. Cats are natural hunters. Its in their nature. There are various interactive toys online to play with your cats.
- Playing with your cats also helps them release a lot of their energies which can channelize the negative aggressive nature towards a positive side.
- Call your cats in loving tone. Always show you are giving equal love and care to all the cats. They are instinctive and intelligent animals. They would easily understand who is your most favorite and who is the least. This might trigger the jealous in them. So give love and your attention equally to all of them.
- Always provide plenty of cat supplies. Keep enough food bowls and water bowls for the cats in a multiple cat household.
- Feed them all together. It is vey good to keep the comraderies among the cats on a positive level.
The Do’s and Don’ts to Stop cat fights.
- Do not punish your cat in case of aggressive behavior toward another cat. This will trigger more rage and fear in the cats.
- In case a fight has already begun, do not try to separate the cats by yourself. Instead make a loud noise, throw a towel on them. You can put a board or a big plank in between the fighting cats to separate them.
- Always make sure to stop any violent fight among cats. It is important for peaceful sanctity of the other cats in the house.
- If any furniture or a bed is favorite of one of your cat, it is always best not to give that particular bed or cat furniture to any other cat. It might lead to aggression and fight.
- Do encourage healthy play among the cats. Sometimes it looks as if the cats are chasing and fighting but they are not. you must be able to tell which fighting is for real or a playful fight.
Seek medical help from a good Behavioral specialist when you see none of the tips are working, and you are finding it difficult to stop the cats from fighting. Because it might involve, some help from a specialist, who would be giving certain therapy or prescribed medicines to help with behavioral issues of your cat.
At the end, always stay positive. There is always a solution to every problem.
Photo: google images
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/aggression-between-cats-in-your-household#2
