How to Decrease Fighting in Multicat Households
Do you have more than one cat in your home, and is there some fighting that goes on between them? While having more than one cat is usually a joy, and they often get along well and even play and nap together, sometimes they don't get along. Cat fighting can be dangerous, and it might escalate if nothing is done to help them get along better.
Why Do Cats in Multicat Homes Usually Fight?
Most of the time when cats fight, they're doing so because one or more of them feels that they are not getting their fair share of resources and one or more feels they must guard their share from the others. Resources, in cat terms, include:
- Clean cat litter boxes
- Good scratching posts
- Cozy cat beds
- Time with humans in the home, including playtime
- Food and water
- Territory
Much of the time, fighting among cats in a home can be reduced or eliminated by making sure there are plenty of each of the things listed above in different areas of the home.
If you need to break up a cat fight, never do so with your body. Instead, make a loud noise to distract the cats, toss a large toy between them, or spray them with water.
Feliway Multicat Helps Calm In-Fighting
Feliway Multicat is a specially formulated product that mimics the pheromones produced by a mother cat to calm her kittens. When diffused, it can calm down rivalries and unease in multicat households. Here are some considerations when using this product:
- One diffuser covers about 700 square feet of open space, and it doesn't travel between rooms, so you might need more than one depending on your home's set-up.
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Putting Feliway Multicat diffusers in areas where you notice your cats fighting is a good idea, and placing them in high-stress areas like where you feed and water the cats also helps.
- Don't place diffusers behind obstructions like furniture, where the mist will be blocked, and also avoid putting them near open windows, where the product will just drift out.
- Use the diffusers properly for at least 30 days before giving up.
Around 85% of owners notice a significant improvement in fighting among their cats when they diffuse Feliway Multicat for 30 days.
Increase Other Feline Stress-Releasing Outlets
As mentioned above, both scratching posts and interactive playtime with the humans in the house are considered coveted resources by cats. They are also both highly effective stress relievers for felines. If you're having trouble with inter-cat aggression in your home, add more high-quality scratching posts, scattered around the house, and be sure that each cat is getting one-on-one interactive play with you and a wand toy every day. Blowing off steam in these ways will leave your cats with less energy for fighting.
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