BehavioRx Case of the Month
for November 2005
Family Cat Fights
Two spayed female cats, one 5 years old, and the other 3, have lived harmoniously for nearly three years, until 3:00 am one Monday morning, when the family was awakened by a serious donnybrook in the den. For the next two weeks, nightly ruckuses were making sleep difficult, since one of the cats screamed loudly during the frays. Unfortunately, the owners resorted to caging the younger cat at night for several weeks before calling for help. They had let the younger cat loose as a "test" and the fight that occurred resulted in injuries to the older cat and one of the family children was scratched badly trying to break up the battle. When they brought the injured cat home from the veterinarian for treatment of a scratched nose, the younger cat started stalking and had to be caged during the day and at night.
During consultation, we asked the clients to keep an eye out for neighborhood stray
cats or dogs, since the initial fights had all the earmarks of redirected aggression
caused by an outsider enraging them, whereupon they vented their malice on each other.
They remarked that they knew a neighbor's outdoor cat came around in the
daytime, but the mother was nearly always home and she shouted at and shooed the stray
away. Interestingly, the cats had never fought during daylight about the stray, which may
something about nocturnal animals and territorial aggression. We suggested they buy some
Pure Citrus air freshener and spray the ground around
their windows, planter boxes and all the window sills. Meantime, to rehabilitate the cats'
feelings about each other, they took both cats away from the house to a local park using
cat carriers in the car. They got harnesses for each cat and took them out of the carriers
with about ten feet between them. (The harnesses make breaking up a fight less hazardous
than trying to handle them bare-handed.)
The cats behaved quite normally, just like old times... off the property. They spent more than an hour walking around the park, then put them loose in the car and went home. On entering the house, both cats made a rush to the den and went to their favorite lounging spots. Peace had returned to the household.
As insurance, we suggested they take the pets off their demand feeding and feed them
twice daily, soaking their dry food in hot tap water for 15 minutes in order to break down
the gums and resin and release the fats. The value of a relaxing, fully stretched tummy
twice a day made sense to the clients, especially after they had
tried it for a few days... they noticed that both cats were much more relaxed.
Several weeks later they phoned to report no fights or hostility had recurred. Also,
sadly and ironically, the neighbor's outdoor cat had been killed... run over by
a
car one night shortly after their trip to the park.
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