Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 1/14/2009

Question
My two male cats who are brothers and have lived with me for three and one half years, got into a fight last night.  It lasted into the night and the next day with lots of hissing, howling, and other violent types of behavior.
This has never happened before and they act if they want to kill each other.  The cats stay indoors, have been neutered and have not been de clawed.

What happened?  How long will this last?  I've tried separating them and reuniting at a later time to see if this aggressive behavior is over, but it has not happened.

What can I do?  Should I just stay back?  They have not been de clawed.

Answer
Hi
cat fight break out all the time in most household even if the cats have lived with each other for years, this is normal.

Most of the behaviour is to do with territory etc and is usually just a lot of show ie hissing and spitting and the occasional swipe. It is rear for them to have a full blown fight as it is not in there oen interests to get injured.

I am glad you have not had them de clawed as this is a cruel and often banned practice in many parts of the world. There is no need for it at all.

If the two cats do not settle down again you may have to go through a re introduction process described here on my web site http://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html the process helps to build there confidence up again. It may take a few days but it is worth it in the long run

best wishes Kate
http://www.our-happy-cat.com