by Alissa King

Created on: May 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 19, 2007

Whoever coined the term 'catty' to describe spiteful behavior was right on target. I love my cats dearly, but I am not blind to the fact that as a species, they seem happy to rip each other to shreds on a whim. All too often I will see larger cats in the neighborhood corner and bully a small sized newcomer simply because they can. These observations make the idea of introducing a kitten to my household felines unappealing, to say the least.

Something to understand when you approach the problem of cat fights is that most issues between domesticated pets are of a territorial nature. From your kitty's viewpoint, your household and property are his territory. So, as it happens, are you. If you lavish attention on a new creature, you have threatened your cat to the very roots of its being. If you accept an intruder, your cat's territory is compromised. He or she will feel compelled to protect their livelihood and oust the newbie as quickly as possible.

The good news is, cats can learn to share. They can come to neutral terms about territory if there is still enough: Enough attention, enough food, enough comfy perches to curl up and nap upon. It may take time for your cats to come to a peaceful agreement, but like human beings, they will eventually come to accept what they can do nothing about.

One of the keys to helping them get along is understanding that you can not force interaction. I have seen well intentioned cat owners try to introduce two animals to each other by having two people each hold a cat and walk toward each other, holding the felines face to face.

As these people swiftly discovered, this is a very bad idea. For one thing, face to face open-eyed contact is a sign of overt hostility in the cat world. Forcing an eyeball to eyeball confrontation is like forcing two humans to point guns at one another. The anxiety in this kind of meeting can make a cat go crazy. Cats are not as strong as humans but they are exceptionally wiry and aggressive, particularly when stressed out. One of the cat holders got terribly clawed up. If the human does not get hurt in this scenario, the cat will likely be injured.

The new animal being held out, which was the newcomer to the household, did not claw, but they did pee all over my neighbor's arms. When she released the cat in disgust, it took off and they never saw it again.

Don't force it. Cats have to work out the nature of their relationship between themselves. What you can do to aid the situation is to first introduce the

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