Smudge has been in a fight :(

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baby-freckles

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We have let her out a few times, and she is normally good as gold. Tonight, I let her out making sure there was no other cats around that I could see which was fine. I turn my back for literally 2 seconds and our neighbours cat was out, and that was it - They started fighting. Next doors cat has been around since she moved in, and I dont really want Smudge and him to be fighting everytime they go out.

Does anyone know, could this be because the cat next door has been around here for a while and letting smudge out is like 'walking on his territory' if you like or could this be a behaviour problem of smudge being as we dont know her background and what she is like with other cats?

Any other thoughts?
 
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monaxlisa

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I dont let my cats out but Im pretty sure thats just what cats do. They arent pack animals like dogs so their first instinct is to fight and then ask questions later. The neighbors cat was walking through my yard the other day and Kinky saw him through the window and started howling and growling like a crazy person (of course, this made the other five take up the howling too, it was like a symphony).
 
mschauer

mschauer

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Originally Posted by Baby-Freckles

We have let her out a few times, and she is normally good as gold. Tonight, I let her out making sure there was no other cats around that I could see which was fine. I turn my back for literally 2 seconds and our neighbours cat was out, and that was it - They started fighting. Next doors cat has been around since she moved in, and I dont really want Smudge and him to be fighting everytime they go out.

Does anyone know, could this be because the cat next door has been around here for a while and letting smudge out is like 'walking on his territory' if you like or could this be a behaviour problem of smudge being as we dont know her background and what she is like with other cats?

Any other thoughts?
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Could be either. Cats can be very territorial and will pick a fight whenever they see a cat in "their" territory. Also, remember cats have no concept of property boundaries. A cat may consider the entire block to be "their" territorial.
 
helen863

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If your absolutley certain that you want your cat to be able to go outdoors, and the two cats arnt too unevenly matched, perhaps let her out more??

I mean Im not an expert, i know. But it seems to me that if your cat only goes out irregularly, the territory is deffinatly not going to be hers. Whilst if she went out often, and her scent was all over it, not necessarily fighting, just marking, she would be announcing her territory a bit more and would have some property of her own.
 
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baby-freckles

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She has only just started going out because when we rescued her, we werent sure if she had her injections so was told to get her injections sorted and keep her in for a while to get used to the house and us then start gradually letting her out so its not as irregular as my first post may have sounded. The neighbour has been around and suggested maybe taking them both out together on leads which we are gonna start doing when the weather perks up a bit. I think I am being a bit to over protective of her because this is my first time with a pet, and couldnt bare it if something happened, but like a lot of people have pointed out, cats are cats and they are always going to fight!
 
mschauer

mschauer

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Originally Posted by Baby-Freckles

...cats are cats and they are always going to fight!
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FYI - Cats don't always fight. Some are very laid back and couldn't care less about the presence of another cat, stranger or not. Others are very territorial and will frequently start fights with other cats. Others are somewhere in between. Just depends on the cat.
 
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yosemite

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Originally Posted by mschauer

FYI - Cats don't always fight. Some are very laid back and couldn't care less about the presence of another cat, stranger or not. Others are very territorial and will frequently start fights with other cats. Others are somewhere in between. Just depends on the cat.
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Bijou is like that. When hubby lets him out, he doesn't get all bent out of shape if another cat comes in our yard. In fact, when I rescued the stray last year, I would put food on the deck for the stray and Bijou would just sit a few feet away and watch. Having said that, he did chase away another cat one time. I guess he was smart enough to know the poor scrawny, matted stray was hungry and needed help.
 
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