Social structure
Cats are flexibly social
Cats are flexibly social animals that can live alone, or in groups. Free-range cats spend much of their time hunting alone as a sit-and-pounce predator. If there are sufficient resources such as food they may form groups. These groups are often made up of females and their related litter mates.
Cats in a household can be classified into three types of social arrangements. They may be bonded; successfully tolerant of each other; or they may not be successfully tolerating each other and instead are living under chronic stress as they are unable to avoid the other cat.
Bonded cats are seen in close proximity and touching with relaxed body posture. They exhibit mutual rubbing and grooming, which maintains a group social odour.
Each cat (or bonded pair) needs a safe personal core territory with all the necessary resources, and then communal areas can be time-shared. Much like a human share house where everyone has separate bedrooms and daily lives and then come together in the lounge room. These rooms must allow space for cats to move away and avoid each other, and not be required to cross paths. You could probably live with a housemate you didn’t like if you didn’t see him much, but if you had to keep passing him in the hallway, or share the bathroom every morning, then tensions would flare. Unlike humans, the domestic cat has no choice to leave and find a new home.
How do cats avoid aggression?
- physically keep out of each other’s way by spending time in individual core territories while time-sharing other territory and resources
- leave the house
- mark their territory by rubbing, scratching objects or urine spraying to communicate to each other and help them feel secure
- rub their scents on other cats in a bonded group to create a familiar group odour
- maintaining social bonds by rubbing and grooming each other
- use subtle communication behaviours such as turning their head or looking away to avoid direct eye contact and indicate they are not a threat
Inter-cat aggression
Causes of inter-cat aggression
Physical aggressive behaviours carry the risk of injury, and so cats use various strategies and forms of communication to share the home and prevent the escalation of conflict into physical aggression.
When we see intercat aggression, we may find that the cats have been always working to manage conflict and tension.Sometimes the cats may have been bonded, but in both cases extra stressors have tipped them into aggression.
Space and resources
Many of the issues with fighting cats revolve around space and the number and distribution of resources. Cats may not be able to avoid each other because of the small size of the rooms, narrow hallways and resources placed in dead-ends. They may be living in a state of continual social conflict with no means to resolve it. They may begin urine marking in the home as they try to establish a safer core territory, they may urinate elsewhere in inappropriate places because the other cat is blocking the litter tray, or they may develop passive or active aggressive behaviours to drive the other cat away.
Other causes
There are many stressors that can tip cats into aggressive behaviours and they can stack onto each other:-
Medical reasons such as ill-health or pain
Recent changes that cause stress in one or both cats. Such as visitors, changes in furniture, a new cat in the house or outside, parties, loud noises, isolation, a cattery visit
Mismatched play
Redirected frustration or arousal such as seeing an outside cat
One or both of the cats has reached the age of social maturity (2-3 years old). In nature there would be a change to social relationships with the socially mature cat now leaving the family group.
Loss of the group odour as one cat returns from a vet visit “smelling differently” and the other cat doesn't recognize it
Behaviours seen in inter-cat aggression
- staring
- blocking a cats movements or access to a resource such as the litter tray
- moving slowly towards the other cat
- excessive bunting of the other cat (bunting is commonly a friendly behaviour, but excess bunting may not be)
- urine marking
- taller posture with weight forward
- stand sideways to appear bigger
- raised hair (piloerection) and dilated pupils
- growl, yowl, lash tail, raise a paw to strike, chase
- hiss, swat, strike, scratch, bite, grab, kick
Human-directed aggression
Cats can show aggressive behaviours (growl, hiss, strike, scratch, grab, bite, kick) towards humans for various reasons
- a defensive response to someone they perceive is threatening them
- misplaced play or predatory behaviours
- redirected frustration or arousal
- medical or anxiety conditions can lower the threshold to aggressive behaviours
Your interactions can prevent the need for the cat to show aggression.
- respect your cat's space and think of how your actions may be threatening to him/her
- allow your cat to initiate petting interactions where he/she likes it (generally the head)
- stop-pause-and see if your cat wants the petting to continue
- don't play with parts of your body like your hands or feet, but instead use toys such as wand-like toys
- give your cat appropriate predatory play outlets
- be wary of touching your cat when it may be frustrated or aroused, such as watching another cat outside, or when chasing or playing
Signs of fear and anxiety in a cat
Signs of fear in a cat
- Hiding
- Fleeing (on top of things if they can)
- Freezing
- Cower, make themselves smaller, tuck their tails in, pull away
- Dilated pupils
- Aggressive responses if they cannot flee (growl, hiss, strike, scratch, grab, bite, kick)
Signs of anxiety and stress in a cat
- Hiding
- Marking – spraying or urinating outside the litterbox, scratching, excessive facial scent marking
- Grooming excessively
- Decreased activity with increased sleeping (or sometimes increased activity)
- Chronic sicknesses such as cystitis, vomiting and diarrhoea, decreased appetite
- Meowing excessively
- Window watching excessively
- Aggressive behaviours to other cats or humans
Inappropriate urination
This unpleasant behaviour may be a result of various causes
- medical conditions related to the urinary tract or other body systems
- an aversion to the litter box, or a preference for another location or surface
- anxiety - from interact conflict (a major cause of spraying), other environmental stressors, or an underlying anxiety disorder