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FELINE
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND
AGGRESSION BETWEEN FAMILY CATS
It's impossible
to estimate how well any particular pair or group of cats will ultimately
tolerate each other. Some unusually territorial cats may never adjust
to sharing their house and may do best in a one-cat family. However,
many aggressive problems between cats can be successfully resolved.
To do this, you may need help from your veterinarian and 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
Territorial
Aggression
Cats are very territorial, much more so than dogs. Territorial aggression
occurs when a cat feels 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 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.
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 "backs 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.
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.
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
- 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. A change
in behavior may be an early indication of a medical problem.
- Spay
or neuter any intact pets in your home. The behavior of one intact
animal can affect all of your pets. Start the slow introduction process
over from the beginning (see our handout: "Introducing Your New
Cat to Your Other Pets"). You may need professional help from
an animal behavior specialist to successfully implement these techniques.
- In extreme
cases, consult with your veterinarian about medicating your cats while
you're working with them on a behavior 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 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,
medication by itself isn't a permanent solution, and should only be
used with behavior modification.
What
Not To Do
- 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
dogs 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.
- Prevent
future fights. This may mean keeping the cats totally separated from
each other while you're working on the problem, or at least preventing
contact between them in situations likely to trigger a fight.
- 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 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
determining how cats will get along together are not fully understood.
Cats that had pleasant experiences with other cats as kittens are likely
to be more sociable than those that haven't been around many other cats.
On the other hand, cats in the habit of fighting with other cats in
order 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.
Reprinted
with permission from the Denver Dumb Friends League.
