Serious Cat Fighting???

Question: I have 2 cats. The 2nd cat was introduced to the household about 3 - 4 months ago, but I'll still call him "new kitty" in this email. Everything has been fine and the new cat has clearly set himself up as the alpha male.

New kitty doesn't like for resident kitty to come upstairs to my bedroom. Resident kitty has always spent a lot of time on my bed, when I'm gone and at night, too. He still comes upstairs, but new kitty will attack him and they'll fight. The fighting worries me because I don't think they're playing. Ears are back, claws are out, they're rolling on the floor, biting each other, snarling. New kitty goes right for the throat or the face. However, they never draw blood. This seems to happen nearly every day but there doesn't seem to be any "hard feelings," later on they'll be chasing each other around, playfully.

This behavior only seems to happen when resident kitty tries to reclaim his old spot on my bed. I'm assuming he's not too threatened by this, or he wouldn't keep coming back upstairs.

Any advice???

Sounds to me like a classic case of dominance projection. It also sounds as though the whole "alpha" vs "beta" cat has not been determined. There is obviously a territorial issue with the bed and the new kitty wants to establish his dominance. If that was the case, the resident kitty would have given up going onto your bed.

I wouldn't worry about it, but if it concerns you, spritz some Feliway on the bed and on the pillows as a calming effect for the cats. This may eliminate the dominance and territory issues as well as the fighting. I know when my kits fight, especially if I notice a particularly area they fight in, I will spritz the Feliway and voila! No more fights. Good luck and keep us posted.

I see this a lot between my 2 year old and one of my kittens. At first Autumn wouldn't go anywhere near the kitten. Then she started what looked like an attack. Hope would be on her back and Autumn would have her by the throat. At first this always ended with hissing and spitting from the kitten. Now they go on their merry way. So its either Autumn figured out how to do it lighter or Hope accepts her position now to be submissive to Autumn. They actually get along great now! However my other kitten and Autumn still don't get along and I've never seen this behavior between them. I don't think they have their social rank pecked out yet. So I think this act is actually a good thing!

Here's some good tips from an article titled, "Feline Social Behavior and Agression Between Family Cats" http://www.ddfl.org/tips.htm, by the Dumb Friends League. Also, remember that YOU are the Supreme One in the group, and that the cats need to understand that YOUR peace & relaxation is not to be disturbed! Joey is my Senior Cat, and when the others challenge him on the bed, I warn them with a "TTCCCHHH" and "NO! leave Joey alone" and if they persist, I put them off the bed, and even out of the room. Joey used to run off, but now "stands his ground", and JC and the kittens are much more cooperative these past 2 weeks. Also, I take JC and Joey for walks twice a day (we're in a rural area) around the property, and they are much happier & more content to stay inside, as well as more tolerant of the kittens, who, at 4 months, are rather obnoxious to the bigger cats.
Please keep us posted! Those "bed fights" can sure disturb a good night's sleep!