What Do I Do if My Cats Are Aggressive to Each Other?

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Loni Seebach, CVT

About a year and a half ago, when my significant other and I merged households, we became a five-cat home (yes, I said five).  Did I mention that all of the cats are indoor only? We knew that this would be a significant challenge, but we thought that we were prepared to deal with the situations as they arose. Since we are both certified veterinary technician’s with over 20 years of experience between us, we thought we could handle just about anything. As predicted, the cats were exhibiting normal signs of territorial aggression (growling, hissing and lots of staring). Over time, this behavior had increased in severity, to the point that the boys are actually very vocal and physical with each other.  It was really starting to get very worrisome and a little scary at times, but never having experienced this situation first hand, we didn’t know what to do! How do you create balance and harmony between five male cats in 2500 square feet?

 It wasn’t until I started working on a project with a board-certified animal behaviorist when I learned that there were solutions, and even better, they were simple and doable! We kept in mind that these recommendations won’t work for every situation, but it was definitely a starting point.

First of all, we had to determine that there were no underlying medical issues that may be a contributing factor to the agitation. Frequently, disease will cause pets to become agitated, especially if they’re painful. After the boys had been deemed healthy, we excitedly got to work on building a feline-enriched environment that would help each cat have his own space.

There are several steps in creating a feline-enriched environment that allows for natural coping strategies which include:

  • Multiple, elevated, single cat-sized, resting perches throughout the environment help cats to feel that they have their “own space”.
  • Multiple litter boxes (# litter boxes = #cats + 1) in different locations throughout the house keeps cats from feeling like they have to protect that part of their territory.
  • Multiple feeding and watering stations to limit competition for food and water.
  • Multiple scratching posts/pads at different heights and angles to give cats several options for nail grooming that aren’t your furniture.
  • Make sure energetic cats have plenty of appropriate outlets for play such as a laser light and other cat safe toys.
  • Acclimate the aggressor cat(s) to wearing a cat-safe belled collar so he/she can’t sneak up on the other cats.
  • Place Feliway® pheromone diffusers in the house. Feliway mimics facial pheromones that cats produce when calm and happy and is thought to have a calming effect within the home

We took all of these recommendations and applied them in different combinations until we found one that seems to most desirable. These few environmental changes have made our house much happier. Don’t get me wrong, there are still bits of vocalizing here and there, but it’s a huge improvement.  I’m not going to tell you that this is the magic bullet for every similar situation, but if you have made sure your cats have been examined by a veterinarian, tested for possible disease and have provided a feline enriched environment, you too can find happiness and harmony in your home again. If you find that these remedies do not work in your home, schedule a consultation with a board-certified behaviorist to partner with you to develop a strategic plan.



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