Read About Fighting Felines

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Fighting felines can be disturbing to see or hear. They can also be a danger to themselves and other cats, due to the possibilities of injuries of the spread of communicable diseases. Sometimes cats fight over territory, or simply because they have determined themselves to be rivals. Fighting felines can be somewhat theatrical. In some cases, the sounds coming from them are far worse than any of the blows the cats are delivering to one another.

Cats normally engage in a somewhat ritualistic process of approaching and threatening each other before resorting to fighting. A dominant cat usually starts this by approaching another cat with his tail up and bristling, the hairs on his back raised, and his legs stretched to make him appear larger. He will often turn his head slowly from side to side, never taking his eyes off his perceived enemy, and make loud, howling noises. If both cats are of equal "status," meaning neither is significantly more dominant or aggressive than the other, this may result in a prolonged and very noisy standoff.

If one cat is dominant, he will continue to try to intimidate the other cat. Should the other cat react, the dominant cat will likely lunge at the other cat's neck. The other cat will usually then twist around to avoid the bite and attempt to bite back, while at the same time using his front paws to strike at the dominant cat and his rear paws to push him away. This sort of scuffle doesn't usually last very long before the cats separate and the threatening approach behavior begins again. This cycle may be repeated several times, until one cat signals surrender by lying down with his ears flattened in a sign of submission. The theatrics go into high gear here; the victorious cat will make a show of accepting this surrender by sniffing deliberately at the ground.

Not all cat fights are this dramatic, and some seem merely a way for bored cats to pass the time. In some cases, especially small "spats" between cats who are well acquainted and used to each other being in their territories, a fight may be nothing more than a few paw swipes at the other cat's head, or a few moments of batting at one another with their front paws.

While it is more common for male cats to fight over territory, female cats are by no means free from fights. When the safety of her kittens is threatened by either a real or perceived threat, a mother cat will fiercely defend her brood.