Cats are territorial hunters by nature and seek to control their own territories and resources, so when a new cat enters a household it can easily lead to territorial discord that escalates into aggression.
Sibling cats raised together often make the best companions; these cats often demonstrate evidence of being social as adults. Unfortunately, some cats cannot cohabit peacefully together, leading to chronic stress and tension that is detrimental to all parties involved.Territorial Conflict
Cats, although typically hunter-gatherer animals, enjoy feeling safe within defined territories that include beds/food/toys/owner. When multiple-cat households exist, territorial conflicts often arise when competing cats try to defend overlapping territories – even silent ones! When their territory or resources are threatened by other cats or threatened themselves. When this occurs, conflicts arise; any threat can cause aggression toward one or both cats involved; this conflict could manifest either openly or silently by displays such as stalking/staring/lowering head/necks/raising hindquarters/or blocking access by another cat to key resources/areas.
Territorial conflict can often be reduced or eliminated through careful planning and environmental modification. New cats can often be successfully integrated into existing groups if socialized early and placed into environments suitable for them from kittenhood onwards. Conflict is more likely to arise in heterogenous groups where there are limited escape routes and hiding places, leaving no escape options available to escapees or hideaways from one another.
Personality Clash
Wild cats typically hunt and live alone, each having its own territory that contains its home base (where they sleep and eat). When multiple resident cats coexist in one household this can result in territorial competition over essential resources; this often manifests itself in hissing, swatting or biting behaviour but can also manifest as one cat blocking another from favourite resting places or stairs – an effective solution is using distraction toys or plug-in diffusers to divert attention away.
At home with multiple cats, one of the most frequent problems encountered is sudden outbursts of “horrible fights” between cats who previously coexisted peacefully. Addressing this can require long-term behavioral modification (environmental and resource management), particularly where aggression towards each other rather than outsiders is the source. In these instances, creating feline territories within your household, decreasing competition and building self-confidence will be necessary to successfully resolve conflict situations.
Resource Guarding
Cats are territorial hunters by nature, each possessing its own territory containing essential resources such as food bowls, water bowls, litter trays and hiding places. When these territories overlap in households where outright fighting does not take place often’silent conflict’ through staring, blocking access and aggressive body language may occur and lead to long-term stress leading to disease/behaviors such as urine marking or self-licking may arise.
Aggressive behavior in cats is frequently triggered by perceived threats from other cats, for example when seen through windows or doors. Owners may find this difficult to detect; symptoms could include hissing, swatting of paws or tail swishing.
When dealing with cat behavioral problems, it’s essential to increase their safe spaces and cognitive environmental enrichment. Also beneficial can be increasing interaction among cats – for instance by hosting interactive play sessions in quiet rooms where each cat receives some “play time”.
Aggression
Cats who feel threatened by other cats in their territory or areas important to them (food, toys and sleeping space) can display aggressive behaviors by defending their area or blocking access, leading them to hissing, spitting and biting as an aggressive response.
Cat-cat aggression during play can be serious and even result in injuries, typically during interactive feline play that involves ritualized body posturing, stalking and chasing each other and may involve pounces, bites or wrestling with hind limbs. Such interactions usually include short meows and chirruping sounds as accompaniment.
Aggressive behaviors among multiple-cat households are unfortunately all too often an unfortunate reality, yet they can be managed. Physical confrontations between cats can be prevented through behavior initiatives to enhance safety in the environment by decreasing encounters and competition for resources while decreasing encounters and competition for resources as well as decreasing fear and anxiety levels. If aggressive behaviors persist severely enough to warrant further intervention then rehoming or permanent separation with visits from affiliative individuals may be required to manage them effectively.https://www.youtube.com/embed/-zURCwAHQmI