Is Your Cat Aggressive - or Is He Just a Character

Cats often form their own friendships just as people.  If you are the proud owner of multiple cats, you have seen this for yourself.  Cat play can turn into cat aggression and cat fights on occasion.  There may be one cat that the others seem pick on - but usually the situation isn't that simple.

It is very common to have two cats that simply don't get along with each other.  Usually one cat is the aggressor and the other cat seems to watch out for his enemy.  This seems to happen most often with felines that are well matched in size and thus even occasion cat fights don't cause real problems. 

A frightened, shy or insecure cat may often threaten with hisses and growls whenever another cat approaches.  This does not mean the cat is aggressive, just that it is very cautious or fearful.

One of my own cats is a joker.  When he is bored he will stalk one of my other cats.  He'll follow the "target" from room to room, stare at the other cat, walk slowly up to it and chase the other cat when it hisses and runs.  He doesn't fight or attack or bite - but he causes a lot of commotion because of his playfulness.

Pet cats should be neutered or spayed.  It is healthier for them and prevents many problems for the owners, too.  Even so, some cats will fight on occasion.  The best tactic is to ignore when possible.  Clearly, if the cats harming each other or the fights are frequent, you will need to figure out why this is happening.

In most cases, the problem will resolve itself.  Usually, the stronger or more aggressive cat prevails and the target cat learns to tred solftly at times.  In other cases, the pets will actually end up playing together very well once they settle the issue of who's the boss.

The only  caution is to check for any pucture wounds if you cats have been in an all out cat fight.  Cats heal from the outside-in which means that skin will quickly heal and can trap dirt inside the wound.  Cats are prone to getting abcesses because of this healing trait.   If your cats have been displaying aggressive behavior you should check them daily for several days as an abcess will show first as a swelling.  Untreated, such abcesses are extremely painful for your cat and can take quite some time to heal.