Do all household cats fight with each other?

I worry that my two kitties fight so much. My eldest cat is a rescue cat I adopted when he was a year old, and he was quite traumatized. For the entire first year he hid under the bed (I even had to feed him under there). He gradually came out of his shell, bit by bit, but was always very skittish. I got my second cat, found rummaging around a friend's apartment building when she was a kitten. (Both were rescued in NYC.) By that time my first cat was about three years old. The kitten, a female, was naturally very curious and a little more confident and thus sort of dominant to my skittish male kitty. Amazingly, she really brought him out of his shell, he became much more outgoing and happy, purring regularly and now seeking out human affection. In the past couple of years though, they have become more and more annoyed with each other. The younger kitty hisses at the male cat constantly, and it makes me worry that they aren't happy together. Of course, he provokes her so it's not just her being irritable. Is that normal? I worry that they are so much of a stress for each other.

thanks!

mp413

I would not worry. If the hissing and teasing happen once in a while, it is but the occasional argument between friends.

Regular chasing and wrestling are very common and a good way for indoor kitties to get exercise. Kitty play can be very alarming to watch. Sometimes one kitty doesn't know when to stop playing and that's when the hissing can occur (that's what happens in my house--Stan thinks they're still playing and Bella's done--then the happy chase can turn into a little fight--usually the hiss from her is what ends it).

If the hissing is happening every day, you might try increasing their territory. I presume you have a minimum of living space to deal with, but you can increase cat territory vertically (add some shelves they can climb or a cat tree) and horizonally by adding boxes, kitty cubes, etc.

In my house the balance of power goes back and forth. They will be very friendly for a while and then someone decides it's their turn to be alpha and the skirmishes start again.

My cats fight alot too. I always here hissing. I'm pretty shure it normak but I don't really know. But they also can be very sweet. I love them!

thanks for the replies! it isn't too out of control...but they did seem to like each other more back in the day. i would find them sleeping together on the same blanket, etc. but nowadays it's super rare to find them near each other without it being a fight. every once in a while, one of them will be sleeping and the other will come and start cleaning the other's head, which is so cute, but it inevitably turns into a dominance thing (and thus a fight). the hissing is definitely daily, too.

JellyBella you are right we have limited space, but we actually live in the biggest apt. we've been in since I got them and they have lots of vertical space (which they take advantage of!). there is at least one chasing match that turns into a hissing match once a day. i just worry they stress each other out!

but it sounds like it's probably not too unhealthy...

cats are like little kids, one minute they are best friends, sleeping by each other and playing together, next minute they are mad at each other, hissing and fighting, next minute they are best friends again.

Like brothers and sisters, cats and dogs will argue and fight a bit from time to time.

If these reactions are a sudden thing, you might want to have a vet check both out completely. Sometimes if one cat is starting to get sick, the other will pick on them more.

Seems boys do tend to be the ones to tease - Charlie teases Ling all the time