Let’s get ready to rumble! That’s not something you want to hear in your home, especially when it comes to your feline friends! If your home has turned into the kitty version of WWE, you’ve come to the right place to learn all about fighting between cats!
Tension and Conflicts between cats can for sure cause a lot of additional unwanted stress for both your cats and yourself! If you have stumbled upon this article chances are you are wanting to know if your cats are fighting or playing, why they are fighting, and what you can do to help them feel better and in turn strengthen the bond between your cats and your bond with all of your cats as well.
Are My Cats Fighting or Playing?
If you are worried about tension and conflict between your cats this is the best place to start. Together we can help you determine if what you are witnessing is actually fighting or if it is just your cats’ way of playing with one another. To determine whether or not your cats are embarking on a royal rumble or just playing with each other there are two questions you can ask yourself.
What Does My Cats’ Body Language Tell Me?
When observing your cats, the first thing you will want to make note of is if your cats are showing any of the following signs, they are likely fighting.
- Ears pinned back
- Growling and hissing
- Biting
- Are their claws out?
- Is their hair standing up?
If you notice any changes in body language mentioned above, your cats are likely fighting and not just playing.
What is the Nature of the “Fight”?
If there is equal give and take during the altercation you are witnessing then chances are you are not witnessing a fight but are more than likely witnessing your cats having some play time. Are they stopping and going or are things going at a fast pace? If they are fighting things will escalate very quickly and will not slow down.
If you are still unsure if your cats are playing or fighting, observe their behavior afterwards. Cats that are fighting will avoid each other afterwards, or at least one will avoid the other whereas if they were playing they should get along post playtime.
What causes cats to fight?
There are many things that can cause a cat fight. Luckily for you, we have put together some of the biggest causes of new tension between cats so you can adjust their lifestyle to keep the fighting at a minimum.
The most likely reason as to why your cats are fighting is because of feline stress and anxiety.
New environments, new changes in the home such as introducing a new cat, territorial insecurities, medical issues, if one of the other cats smells different (if they’ve been to the vet, outside of their comfort zone and smell foreign are all things that can cause stress in a cat and result in tensions over time between cats who had no issues prior to the lifestyle changes.
Lastly, if your cats have yet to be spayed or neutered, newfound cat fighting could be from your cats undergoing puberty or if they have been fixed, there could be an underlying medical condition causing pain and stress on one of the cats.
How Can You Stop Fighting Cats?
Last but certainly not least, the reason you have likely stumbled upon us in the first place, what can you do to help restore harmony between your cats?
You could try adding cat trees, cat-condos, and window perches around your home so that your cats can have more territory to mark as their own! Tall spaces have been known to help increase confidence in cats and help cut down on fighting that is caused by fears. If the fighting is intense you may have to start over and reintroduce your cats slowly over the course of a few weeks!
You can also try FELIWAY FRIENDS! FELIWAY FRIENDS is a drug-free, vet recommended and scientifically proven solution to help reduce tension and conflict between cats.
Restore Harmony in your Home
Now that you can identify, prevent and aid in stopping cat fights, get to restoring harmony in your home! If you are interested in learning more about FELIWAY FRIENDS, please contact us here!