Fighting Between Household Cats

If you have several indoor cats, your home is custom made for aggression involving at least a couple of your kitties. A cat with an assertive personality, often a male (maybe a female, neutered or otherwise) may stalk and attack another of your cats. You may see any of the following:

• The bully cat not letting the frightened cat use a litter box
• The bully growling and staring at the victim cat until she gets up and moves from a favorite spot on the bed, a cat house, or the window
• The bully cat smacking the victim when she is sleeping
• The victim cat walking around the house like she's scared

The cat I am calling the bully is likely to be a normal cat but with an assertive personality. He might even be the feline equivalent of Jack the Ripper. But cats are not little people in furry suits; the social rules for several cats crowded into one house are very different than they are for aggressive members of other species. But there is hope.

Cats are not like the rest of us. While their groups have hierarchies, most have little need to hang with their homies. Indoor cats have instinctive requirements like hunting, stalking, and pouncing on prey. Your victim cat is acting weak and helpless. Mr. Macho can’t resist.

To stay out of trouble your cats need more vertical space.

• If you have more than a few cats I suggest at least two floor-to-ceiling carpet covered cat trees with hidey holes. Locate them near windows for the bird's eye view.
• When your tough guy needs to attack, you can share stalk and pounce toys like feathers on a stick. With more of his primal needs met he'll be less inclined to use your shrinking violet as a rodent.
• Add a bell to the tough guy’s collar and a Catstop bib (www.catgoods.com), a must-have feline fashion accessory, and predation of any sort will be difficult.
• To reduce the risk of urine wars, another common problem in multi cat households, you should have one litter pan for each cat plus one.

You can relax the masses with a Feliway diffuser, a calming pheromone (www.carealotpets.com) or retailers like Long Leash on Life (505-299-8800) in Albuquerque.

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