Cats fighting

fannyanna

Hi All,

I have two cats (brother and sister) that will be 2 this summer. Both have been neutered.

They fight all the time (but obviously do like each other as when they're not fighting they cuddle up and lick each other etc). They've always fought and I appreciate that cats will do this and most of the time they are playing but they fight to the point that they hurt each other.

They often have tufts of fur missing and have scratches etc.

Is there anything I can do? Do cats normally play fight to the point that they hurt each other?

antw23uk

Hello

Multi cat households rarely run smoothly and there does tend to be more of an issue with siblings falling out.

Have you tried a Feliway plug-in difuser? They are a little expensive but seem to work well in calming cats who live together.

Also what might seem like hurtful fighting to you might just be a good old rough and tumble for them but i know its difficult to take the human emotion out of animal behaviour but i doubt they would curl up together and groom each other if they REALLY didnt like each other.

Sooz00

Hi fannyanna - it might be worth you posting on catchat as they have behaviourists popping in who might be able to offer something useful.

http://www.catchat.org/forum.html

We have two few related groups, one brother and sister plus one mum, dad, brother and 2 sisters (didn't get the mum & dad neutered/spayed quick enough but kept the 3 kittens) and the only time we get squabbles is if one is away for any length of time, say at the vets for a couple of week. It tends to upset the balance. I take it this isn't the case with yours though.

fannyanna

Thanks both.

I will have a look on catchat.

I don't mean this in a horrible way but I normally don't pay too much attention when they fight and never break them up (my thoughts are that they'll just fight when I'm not around anyway so they need to learn to deal with each other). Also they're cats and they're going to fight. It's how they play.

What has started to concern me though is the injuries they give each other. A few times I've been on the verge of taking one of them to the vets as their scrapes look quite nasty sometimes.

Naughty kitties

mozzyc

I only ever break it up if I hear one of them wince , but most of the time, I can see its harmless fun and they are both enjoying it. If it does get too rough, I have a little water bottle that I will squirt them with just to part them. There has been the odd scratch (there's always bits of hair on carpet, but they're cats, you only have to stroke them to have hair come off), but besides that, its just them burning off energy and having fun.