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pet cats fighting

September 22nd, 2004, 05:05 PM
My cats inexplicably started fighting a few days ago after living in harmony for 2.5 years. I now have to keep them separated so they won't hurt each other. I have had cats all my life and have never seen this happen. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Will they ever "make up"?

heeler's rock!
September 22nd, 2004, 05:08 PM
Hey GDwise! Welcome! I have a few questions so maybe we can come up with an answer....

1. How old are the cats?
2. What sex are they?
3. Are they spayed/neutered?

Maybe someone on here will be able to help you when we get more info. :D

Lucky Rescue
September 22nd, 2004, 05:12 PM
I have a few more questions:

Has anything in your household changed recently?
Are there any cats outside your home hanging around or spraying near doors or windows?

Cats often can display "redirected aggression". If something is stressing them and they cannot get away or do anything about it, they often take out their stress on a housemate.

I have had this happen.

September 22nd, 2004, 05:15 PM
Are you sure they are fighting,not really wrestling,two of my cats always playfight...
Are your cats spayed/neutered? Male or female?A friend of mine has five cats,3 siamese and the male Siamese all of a sudden started attacking another,it got to the point he was going to rehome the aggressive cat or worse have him put to sleep.We never really knew the cause,because on day it just stopped.
If I were you,I would have the vet check out the aggressive cat,he might be in pain or sick,if not he could have a suggestion for you,how to deal with it,maybe even medicate him.
Are they indoor cats? Maybe they saw a strange cat outside? That can also bring on a fight in indoor cats,it's happened to mine....they cannot get out to fight the intruder and will fight the next best thing.
Best of luck to you,Lucky Rescue here in this Forum can probably give you more advice.


September 22nd, 2004, 05:28 PM
I have a 9 year old male(neutered) and a 2.5 year old female(spayed). They are indoor cats. There is a possibility that they saw/smelled a lion. The night the fighting (and it is definitely FIGHTING) started, a lion was spotted in the area several times. It is believed to be someone's illegal pet that escaped.

heeler's rock!
September 22nd, 2004, 05:38 PM
NO WAY!! A LION!! :eek: Where do you live???? That is soooooo crazy!! Sorry about my shock, you just never hear that!! I don't have as much experience with cats as I do with dogs, but a lion would scare me *****less and make me wanna fight something just to show it how tough I am so it leaves me alone!! :eek:

September 22nd, 2004, 05:46 PM
I live in Ohio. We found large cat tracks in the dirt on our front porch so I know it's possible the cats have seen the lion. Pretty scary!!!! The fighting started 4 days ago and shows no signs of letting up. Every time we try to reintroduce them to each other the female hisses and runs and the male chases and attacks.
Perhaps they just need time.
Thanks for all the help!

September 22nd, 2004, 06:05 PM
my oldest (sebastian) and my youngest (oscar) had started the same behavior several months ago. we thought at first that they were changing the "alpha" status from sebastian to oscar. but then we realized oscar just wanted to play and sebastian (being all stoic and all) does not want to play. of course, as sebastian is running away hissing and growling, oscar prances after him like it is a game. I used to get uspet with the behavior but although it is noisy and sometimes scary sounding, in the end, no one is getting hurt.

on the other hand i have oscar and my runt (fuki) who play fight all the time. they climb and wrestle both of them going for seems to be the hear crying, meowing, and sometimes it even sounds like a child screaming. although it looks horribly violent, they seem to enjoy it and when they get tired, i have seen them fall asleep right on top of each other.

maybe the male is feeling threatened-maybe his food, for example.
maybe your female is showing some behavior (like playfulness) that the male does not like, especially as he is getting older.

once you have had him checked out with the vet and watched their behavior for a couple of days, you may find out that it is harmless, although it can be aggravating and noisy.

*shrug* that's my 2 cents (or was that 2 dollars?

Lucky Rescue
September 22nd, 2004, 06:16 PM
A lion? :eek:

Cats don't "do" stress very well, and the smell of a wild cat could definitely cause the fighting.

My own two 5 yr old brother/sister cats started fighting when we moved, but they got over it.

You will need to keep them separated for now, as any further fighting may ingrain the behavior. Then you must introduce them as though they were strangers.

Here's a really good article on introducing cats;

September 23rd, 2004, 10:46 AM
Whoa....LION :eek: ! Ya I guess that would definitely freak out your cats.
As for fighting, my two girls have always enjoyed a good wrestle, and now with Buddy here, Windy and him go at it like clockwork at least three times a day. He is only about a year old and she is almost 3, so with them I can see that he wants to play and she just gets really tired of being pounced on so gives him what for! It may be a male/female thing. They do seem to get kind of serious once in a while, and when that happens I promptly spray them with a water bottle, which seems to calm them down a bit....I have also found that distracting them with their favorite game (string on a stick) works, and also tires them out a bit. Heck Buddy and Smoke chase that string so feverishly that I often have to take a little break while they catch their breath!!! And if you have not yet seen a cat is that ever cute! Tongues out and all!!! :)

September 23rd, 2004, 02:51 PM
As you all know by now,I have three males,my youngest,Vinnie 2yrs will jump on Rocky 8yrs,Rocky will put up with play-fighting for a hissing or growling,but then he gets fed up and Vinnie takes off :D
Vinnie will never attempt to bother Chico,6yrs old,Chico hisses and growls and is left alone.
But then again they'll all sleep happily in one spot :D
I always believed(since having had only one female cat)male cats put up with more than females.
My cats do not go bonkers from seeing Coons,skunks or dogs outside,only a small cat(not a Lion!!!)will get them into a serious fight and I will go out and chase the strange cat away,since Rocky attacked ME a couple of times.

September 24th, 2004, 04:02 AM
Yup the scent of a lion would freak your cats :eek: Not wishing to go off subject here but we have a wildlife park nearby and they sell thier lions muck to gardeners who put it on thier gardens to stop local cats useing the flower beds as litter trays ;)