Should I stop my cats from fighting?
I have a 3 year old male cat (Floyd) and a female cat (Sophie) who is older than him, but not sure how much. She isn’t a senior or anything. Both cats are fixed.
Floyd tends to suddenly leap onto Sophie, and starts biting her neck, almost playfully (can’t tell if its fighting mode or not, he still has alot of the kitten still in him) Sophie dislikes this, and will growl and hiss and try to get him off (she’s rather plump and has a hard time reaching the slim 3 year old). The "fights" (fights or playing or Floyd just annoying Sophie?) don’t last very long, maybe 30 seconds. Most of the time it ends with Sophie exiting the room, and Floyd doesn’t follow her.
They are both de-clawed in front (I adopted them that way) indoor cats, but I take Floyd out on a leash (and boy I feel dumb with a cat on a leash!). I began to take him outside because he would stare outside, and meow constantly. When I take him outside he doesn’t start a spat with Sophie as often.
As for anyone who is wondering I do have toys for them (play mice, catnip, one of those cat tunnels to run through, feather stick etc.) and I play with them almost every day. I live in a large house with five bedrooms, lots of windows, and lots of kids, and a bird, and a hamster.
Is Floyd playing and is Sophie just a boring adult cat who doesn’t want to play? Or is Floyd being territorial, and trying to clear the room of other cats?
P.s. I only walk Floyd around the house on a leash. We don’t walk the neighborhood. I’ve always had indoor/outdoor cats (with full claws) so this is new for me. I’m not going to discontinue the outdoor trips at this point. I don’t believe in living in fear of freak accidents.
Also, last year Floyd was so bored when I went on vacation (there were other people home though) that he kept running outside and eventually broke out a window. Then he freaked because he wasn’t familiar with his surroundings and was missing for a week. I got him back via a humane raccoon trap that I set up in my backyard.
Filed under: Cat Tunnel
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I have two cats, boy and girl and they have those sudden bursts of drama as well. There’s a lot of squawking and hissing and boxing for about ten seconds and my girl gets disgusted and runs under the coffee table. They have been doing this for the last 4 years and I really don’t do anything to stop them. The reason I don’t stop them is because at other times they will fall asleep in each others arms, or tag team the neighbors cat. They are a true brother and sister team, and I have seen the way my boy fights with the other male cats around the neighborhood. It is ten times more aggressive, so I deduced that he was just playing around with my girl. Perhaps your Floyd is just exerting left over energy?
It sounds to me like they are just playing. I would watch them tho, as declawed cats can become highly aggressive over time. Also, I would stop the outside trips. If something like a stray dog were you attack you guys, even on a leash, your cat would have no defense and would certainly die. The only safe place for a declawed cat is inside, forever.
i think it’s that floyd wants to play and the older wants to relax.
the reason why he meows out the window is because there is probably another female cat outside (that is probably a stray and not spayed) is marking her cent around your house. trust me i know from experience
They are not fighting at all. They are mating! It is mating season for the cats. Every time Floyd jumps on top of Sophie and bites her neck, they are mating, this is perfectly fine, and don’t disrupt! You could hurt them! If you don’t want kittens, you should have them spayed and neutered.
Hope I could be of some assistance!
-Emily
I am having the same type of problem. My two cats (Chopper(M) – 6 and Rory(F) – 11 months) will play fight about once a day – sometimes twice. They sleep together, Chopper grooms Rory, and they get along most of the time. However, once in awhile when they sleep next to each other, Chopper will ‘nibble’ on Rory’s neck and she’ll let out an awful squeal. I don’t know if he’s really hurting her or just she’s just mad he woke her up…. I’m beginning to think it’s a territorial thing and Chopper is upset that she’s sleeping in his space…
For your cats (probably like mine) it’s more than likely a combination of both…territorial attitude and the kitten being playful.
Your cats sound similar to mine (except mine have a wide age gap), my cat Christina is 13 years old and pretty "plump" and she is and has always been a shy cat, then my other cat Cassie is about 2 years old and she is the complete opposite of shy (except around strangers); she is as hyper as she could be, and she always displays dog-like traits like playing ALL THE TIME. Cassie is always the cause of the fights between the 2 and she usually jumps on Christina’s back or chases her; Christina rarely wants to play and she already feels very threatened by Cassie as the "dominant cat". I tend to feel bad for Christina so I try to prevent Cassie from attacking her but sometimes she is just too fast.
If you see that it is bothering Sophie then maybe you should try to prevent or stop the fights, otherwise it may appear to Floyd that you approve of attacking Sophie; if you prevent or stop it, it may signal to him that you do not want it to occur and he may chill out a bit (then again, animals are unpredictable). The main problem, I believe, with my cats is that Cassie was the "new cat" invading Christina’s territory and now Cassie is taking over BY FORCE. Obviously the older cat will be upset because the fresh and young cat is attempting to overthrow them, which is kind of sad when you think of it, but it happens with animals in nature all the time. Its your choice, letting Floyd take over may make Sophie more submissive and make Floyd more dominating (meaning more havoc may ensue). Floyd may just want to play, and it may have nothing to do with dominance and if that is that case then you may want to just help him take out his energy with other things instead of on Sophie.