It’s important to note that this is a process which may take a long time and requires consistency. Typically, this involves giving the cats food or a treat! Play time, as well as grooming (assuming your cat likes to be brushed), can also lead to positive associations. What does this mean for cats? Providing them with something they love when the other cat is around or when they see the other cat. To change the mindset of cats who fear/mistrust each other, give them a reason to like each other. Give the cats a reason to like each other. When cats are playing, they think they are hunting and play can boost a cat’s confidence while also expending physical and mental energy. Play is also a great way to reduce stress in cats. If we are not proactive in meeting our cats’ energy needs, the more active cat may chase the less active one (fun for the active cat, but not very fun for the less active one who just wants to be left alone). Cats have much more energy to expend than most of us realize. One cat (typically the younger, active cat) chasing the other cat in play is often perceived as aggression when it’s actually a result of the cat not having their daily energy needs met. Make sure everyone is getting enough play time. For example: litter boxes, scratching posts, food/water bowls, human attention and play time, resting spaces, hiding spaces and toys. Introducing Your New Cat to Other Pets Make sure there are enough resources in the home to avoid feelings of mistrust and competition.Ī resource is anything the cat needs or wants. It’s important to understand that cats do not “work things out.” If cats are not getting along the tensions will only increase unless the proper introduction or reintroduction is taken. The role of the cat owner is to provide an environment that increases the likelihood of the cat feeling safe and secure in the new territory and/or with the other cat while moving at the cats’ pace. This pace may be a matter of days, weeks or months-it's up to the cat. This may be the new cat or the resident cat(s). Slowly means at the pace of the cat who is showing the most fear and mistrust.
More to the point, because of their impulse to be territorial it’s often impossible to resolve aggression among cats if one or more cats is intact. Spaying and neutering greatly reduces aggression in cats. With these ideas in mind, here are the steps to resolve-or, better yet-avoid aggression between cats: Spay or neuter your pets. A cat who does not feel safe and secure in their territory will hide or may show aggression in an attempt to keep potential danger (other cats) away from them. Related to being territorial is the need for cats to feel safe and secure in their territory-knowing that they are not in danger and that all resources they need to survive and thrive are readily available. On the other hand, a new cat entering the resident cat’s territory is likely to be perceived as a potential threat. To go outside their territory puts cats at risk of encountering other cats and other animals who they are competing with for food and who may potentially harm them. Dogs are scavengers by nature-they go where the food is-and while they may guard certain objects or spaces, they are not territorial in the way cats are.Ĭats, unlike dogs, are hunters by nature and, also unlike dogs, they don’t wander from their territory. The good news is that cat owners can reduce their cats’ fear and mistrust of each other and increase positive feelings among the cats in the household.īut before moving to the specifics, let’s address three words that you’ve probably heard before: “Cats are territorial.” But what does this actually mean? Well, let’s start with dogs. A one-time event triggers two cats who previously got along.A source of stress in the home creates tension amongst cats who previously got along.Long-standing tensions between two or more resident cats.One or more cats in the home are intact (not spayed or neutered).These are the most likely scenarios to cause fear and mistrust amongst cats: Fortunately, aggression in cats is easier to make sense of and typically derives from two impulses: fear and mistrust. When we think of “aggression,” we may think of a variety of motivations and impulses deriving from our own experience as humans.
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