my male cats are fighting with each other, is this why one of them spend less time at home?

Question

my new indoor only cat starts to hiss and fight with my already existing two male cats.

bunny is 3 years old
snowy is 2 years old
orange is 9 months old

orange is behaving very gangster like right now. all this while i bet bunny is the boss. now, even he seems scared with orange. it happens only recently.

same goes with snowy. i notice snowy spend less time at home now. smetimes he is out for 4 days, then come back. at first i thought he was after some female cats until last 3 days.....

this is what happen....snowy came back to eat, and when he about to sleep, orange chase him out to the window(i left it open for snowy and bunny ; they are indoor/outdoor cats)

since that, snowy hasn't returned. i saw him at my neighbour's house, my neighbour told me snowy sometimes come and play at his yard.

is this why snowy spend less time at hom now? he's uncomfortable at my home anymore? is it possible for him to abandon my house? i read he will come back once he has calm down..

do you have any experience like me? my mum says snowy doesn't feel my home is his territory anymore since orange come.how is this possible? i've adopted him since he was a baby.

is it possible snowy has given up his own territory?

Answer 1

Cats are territorial. Orange has established your house as his territory. Bringing another cat into the mix often causes problems like this.

Have all of the animals spayed/neutered if you haven't already.

Keep them all inside for a while where you can monitor them and control their behavior. Do not allow them to fight. They will establish a pecking order with YOU in the top spot. Right now, Orange is in the top spot as far as they are concerned.

It is terrible for a cat to have to fight at his own house to the point that he doesn't want to come home. It is your responsibility to keep them safe.

Cats are VERY loyal. It takes a lot for them to abandon their home.

Add: In response to someone who said to let the cats fight.
They may have little hissing tiffs, but all out fights you should stop by telling them no in a firm voice and possibly tapping them on the shoulder to get their attention.
Again, it is about YOU being the leader in the house, not them. In the wild, all out fights happen for two reasons, dominance and mating rights.
The leader of the cat group will always break up fights in their group to let the underlings know they are in charge.

Answer 2

I'm writing because I saw one of the answer was good but with one big mistake being - "Do not allow them to fight".

Like everyone one else said, Orange has establish your house as his territory and since the two other cats have a way of leaving that territory then they avoid it. It doesn't matter if your cats was there before. It's nature law. The stronger wins.

Now if you wish to solve that problem, the solution is to get them all inside and nobody going out for a month (not even once). I'm warning you, this will induce a lot of fighting around the house but sooner or later they will share that new small territory (as a matter of fact they will establish their own part of it and not really share it)

Now for the important part - People always do the same mistake in that case where they think cats are like children that you need to educate in not fighting - Big mistake - DO NOT INTERVEEN IN THE FIGHTS EVER. Let them be. If you interveen, you will only cause the fighting to get worst and more violent. Cats fight for supremacy over another and the fighting will go on until the superior cats has establish his dominance. If you interveen in the fights the dominant cat will only see this as a failure to establish his dominance and the next chance he gets he will make sure that the message gets through by going in the fight stronger and more violently.

I know it's cruel but you have to let them be. If there is blood or one of the cats gets hurt (which is very rare by the way) then you're only ressource is to get that cat to the vet.

Answer 3

Yeah, if a cat doesn't feel comfortable at your home he will go somewhere else if he can find something else than suits his needs.
I had a cat many years ago who I raised from a kitten. He was a complete indoor cat but when we moved into a house he found the other cats. He decided he had to be the king of the cats and once that was established he never wanted to come home.
It sounds like snowy is the opposite and just wants some peace and quiet.
Anyway, my cat never came back and eventually I gave up on him. I was sad but he was happy in his new fighting and kitten making life. lol

Answer 4

I think Snowy will come back when he's hungry.
Maybe you could spend some extra time with him when he's in the house ? Give him cat-milk and play with him.

I have the same problem too, so I try to give him some alone-time with me and in the house with nice food etc.

Answer 5

I had a similar problem with my cat Bubbles when I brought home 2 new kittens.
Bubbles and Maxwell were always fighting untill I had Maxwell neutured,now all 3 of my cats get on very well.

Answer 6

Yes cats can actually leave and never come home over such disputes. They are very independent creatures and self centered. Also they are not very loyal like a dog is. They will leave and find someone else to love in a heartbeat if they don't like home anymore.

Answer 7

I think you've answered your own question - the new cat has scared the olders cats away.
If it's not possible for the older cats to comfortably enter the house anymore, please make sure they have a safe, warm place near the house to come back to.

Answer 8

if you get all your cats neutered i think it will be fine they just fight to show dominance my cat majick dose it because he was the first male cat that i had and now i have 2 little male cats and he wouldnt really come inside for a while just to eat and run back outside but now he sleeps in the same room as them but to were they cant get to him they try but they are too little my pregnat female did the same befor she was pregnat but she likes them now i just have to worry when she has her babies cause i dont want her to be mean agian to my little boys but im sure she will be good so dont worry your cat will soon come home and be ok with other one.

Answer 9

Possibly. Make sure ypu neuter all of the cats, it will help them get along better and save them from straying and getting lethal diseases.

Answer 10

Boy would i love to have such a big problem to solve like that.put them all in a cage and take them to the animal shelter and let people adopt them out one to a different house hold problem solved. then you would have time to dust and clean the house. good luck.