Fighting neighborhood cats...

Last night at about 3 AM, there was a fight outside between 2 cats. I could not see them, but they woke me up. I had the windows open, but since my cats are just getting over fighting amongst themselvs, I closed the windows. I could still hear them. My cats did very well, no fighting amonst themselves. I was very thankful as I was afriad this would set them off. I was supprised by their responses. Maggie spent the rest of the night curled up on top of me, and she never does this. Levi & Isaac made sure to stay close to me in the bed. Jordan on the other hand spent the rest of the night going from window to window growling. Jordan has always been a dominant cat, but I know that given his cataracts he can't see that well anymore. I was supprised he was still so bold. As I said this did not cause any problems last night, but I'm afraid it might. Any advice for what I can do to try and prevent the crazyness outside from starting problems with my cats?

Hi,

any idea whom these cats belong to or if they are feral? Best thing would be to get them neutered it they aren't already.

Otherwise there's not much you can do- Maggie, Levi and Issac are already doing the smart thing by keeping out of Jordan's way as long as he is still worked up by the cats outside.

regards,

Christine

Unfortunately I couldn't even see the cats last night. So I have no idea if they belong to anyone. We have never had feral cats in our neighborhood before, but I know that a lot of the appartments next door have had a lot of turn over in tennants lately. I also wonder if Jordan is trying to protect his territory, or if he just doesn't like the sounds they were making.

Hi,

have a chat with some of your neighbours, this may prove helpfull in finding out whom these cats belong to (if they're not feral).

If you can convince the owner(s) to neuter the cats this would be the best solution- otherwise see if there is a cat rescue organisation near you that will neuter and release.

I suspect Jordan is doing a bit of both... getting agitated by the sounds but also making it clear that he'd defend his turm if they come close, seeing that he seems to be your dominant cat. As he's an indoor cat (I presume) you'll be spared the fight (and vets bill) scars that come along with finding out .

regards,

christine

Oh yes, Indoor ONLY for my cats. He already has a hematoma from the fighting between him & Isaac. The incident last night makes me wonder if that is what set them off in the first place. I was not home the night they had the first big fight. I had to keep all 3 boys separated when I wasn't around or awke to supervise for about a month. Part of why I was worried is that this past weekend Jordan, Isaac & Maggie all currled up in one of the cat beds together for the first time since the issues between the boys started. Yes they are all neutered & I have talked to their vet about the fighting. Jordan has been to the vet more times than I care to think about, but that is due to other health problems. When I took him to the eye specialist I got to see just how badly cataracted his eyes are, and I'm amazed at how well he does. He will still jump into my arms to get hugs, and obviously it doesn't bother him enough to back down from a teritorial threat.

Hmmm.....it's about 6-8 weeks after the start of the last kitten season and the unspayed females are going into heat again. The cats that were fighting don't need to be feral, they only need to be unneutered. I agree that you should talk to your neighbors to find out if they are letting their unneutered toms out at night and let them know that they are disturbing the neighborhood. Bring some lost cost spay/neuter clinic information with you if you can find it.