Anything I can do to prevent my cat from fighting another?

Question

He is spayed, an absolute darling at home, but has found that one other cat which he simply CANNOT let live. He comes back with tufts of hairs between his claws, scratches which are easy enough to tend to...
But this morning, he came in with a vicious bleed from his temple -hard to tell whether it is a scratch or a bite. He let me nurse him and is now happily resting on his cushion. He is a tough, athletic 8 year-old and I am not overly concerned about this wound as he lets me tend to it with no fuss.

But I do work part-time and I fear that something worse may happen on a day when I am not home to nurse him. I hate the idea of keeping him shut in (lock the catflap) when I go to work but it may have to come to that.

Any other ideas, please?

Answer 1

Cats love to play and tussle too dear. It may well be that the other cat is a newcomer and that your dear friend is just sorting out territory issues. Im sure that things will calm down soon though it would be unfair to lock him in during the day unless you can alter his sleep cycle to send him out at night. Dont let worries over your cat spoil your working day or your other important things.

Answer 2

Most cats will defend their territory which, in neutered cats, is only about 1-2 houses either side of yours. If the other cat is entering his territory, he could get quite upset!

There is also a good chance that the other cat is not neutered and is instigating the trouble. If this is the case, speak to the owners (if you know who they are) and ask that they have him done as soon as possible. There is a high probability that that will make things a whole lot better. There are no guarantees though and, unfortunately, it may be a case of physical separation for his own safety (inside the house or in an outside enclosure).

Answer 3

I am afraid that there is no other way of preventing your cat from fighting other cats other than keeping him indoors when you are not around to supervise him. Your cat is like my cat who is very dominant and territorial. There is no fury like his fury when a strange animal ventures into his space. I used to let him out in the yard by himself and once or twice a week i would have to run outside and break up a cat fight. He is a strong fighter and has sustained only minor nicks and scratches. But he is 8 now and I want him to live a loooong cat life. I cannot curb his natural dominance. But I can keep him safe. He stays indoors and I take him out for walks wearing halter and leash and he has a huge outdoor enclosure which he shares with my younger cat. Really, there is just too much danger for cats outdoors to leave them out unsupervised or uncontained. They do climb fences and enter other people's yards and cross roads and stuff. Seriously, if you love you cat as I am sure you do, keep him indoors - outside only when you are sure you have him under control.

Answer 4

Hi nini

Tough one that cat's need to find the leader of the pack.

However be careful of two things:
1. If your cat is injured and you try to help him he could be in pain and might bite you and that can be very dangerous

2. If your cat is bitten be careful of blood poisoning.

Cat bites are one of the most dangerous bites for blood poisoning.

At least with a cat bite on a human you can see within hours a vein traveling up the body bright red GET TO A&E

With another cat because of the fur blood poisoning cannot be seen in it's early stage.

Answer 5

Cats live a longer, healthier and happier life if they are kept inside. There are too many dangers for them outside:
cars/people that abuse
dogs/wildlife
cat fights
diseases
I use to let my cats have the freedom of going outdoors with a cat flap too but after loosing so many so quickly I have learned that they are better inside. So I now have 2 senior kitties (one 23 and one is 17) that would be dead by now if I had not changed my way of thinking.

Answer 6

Cats fight. That's all there is to it. Don't listen to any of this bulls**t about keeping your cat indoors. These people sound Tony Blair saying "If you want to be safe then the government must regulate and monitor every single thing you do." The "indoor cats live longer" argument is not valid either. I would gladly chop 10 years off my life than be imprisoned for the rest of it. "It's better to live and regret than to never live at all."
Cats are not Teddy bears, they are perfectly honed PREDITORS! They should be allowed to use those skills and insticts.

Answer 7

Yes there is! I was delighted to learn about it. It's called Feliway and it's sort of like a Glade Plug-In that releases a hormone into the air that calms cat's nerves and assists them in getting along. Here's a link to the product from petmeds.com

http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=10775

Make certain you get the plugin and the bottle. The first time we ordered it we accidentally got just a refill bottle and the cats were at each others throats again.

Another way to reduce their stress is to allow the more adventurous of your cats to go outside from time to time. We put one of our cats outside after she had been excessively fighting with the other household cats and peeing in places she knew she shouldn't in front of us and her behaviour immediately improved.

Answer 8

That's odd. Perhaps the other cat has not been spayed and does the attacking. Your cat is either defending or maybe attacks because of being bullied. Can you speak to the other cat's owner about it?

Answer 9

i know this sounds nasty but the only way is to chuck a bucket of water over them, you can pull them apart if you wear strong gloves the cat might be nice usually but it all changes when they are fighting over territory

Answer 10

all you can do is to keep them apart from each other one stays in another room from the other cat