How to deal with territorial aggression in cats?

January 11, 2022 by John N. Behavior

Naturally, cats are more territorial than dogs and they tend to be aggressive to any newly introduced cats, people, or other animals that may encroach upon their established territory.

This character may become intense to an extent of attacking the resident’s cats that were accepted previously, but for a while went away from home for some reasons.

What is territorial aggression in cats?

The territorial aggressiveness in cats will be noticed or realized when cats start spraying or making urine, stalking, hissing, or even attacking another cat or animal. Cats will always view their territory differently than dogs because any animal from either outside or from the neighborhood will be considered as an invader or an intruder. This can trigger a more serious territorial behavior in cats. However, every problem born must also be born a solution. In cats, the problem of aggressiveness between each other can be resolved successfully. To accomplish this, you will want help from a knowledgeable cat’s behavior specialist or from the veterinarian after detecting your feline's strange behavior.

The consequences coursed by aggressive behavior in cats can leave humans or other animals injured, and that will leave the owner no choice but to surrender him to shelter. The cats’ owners’ advice from vets and cats’ aggressive behavior specialist is to understand the course first. By so doing you will be able to successfully intervene. Moreover, detecting the signs shown by your feline that indicate aggressiveness or fear may be of great help as it will prevent injuries to other pets around or people. These aggressive behavior signs can be put into two categories. The signs observed from the body posture or those visible from the face or head. 

What are the signs of an aggressive cat?

How do I tell if my cat is aggressive or playful? Is my cat playing or being aggressive with me? When should I be concerned about my cat's behavior? When to tell my feline is aggressive? The following are the cues that feline is most likely to display when developing aggressive behavior:

• pupils that are dilated
• ears that are flattened backward
• raised hair
• tail that is held erect 

You may also realize your adorable feline is suffering fear:

• pupils are dilated
• ears that are flattened held outwards
• whiskers pressed onto the face
• tail may be wrapped closely under the body

That is when you will realize something is messing up your kitty's good time.

What are the courses of aggressive behavior in cats?

Aggression in defense

When a cat initiates a protection attempt from attack may develop defensive aggression because he believes he can’t escape. You can also realize aggressiveness when your kitty is responding to physical punishment, attacks from other cats, moments that are fearful, or even punishment threats. What you will observe from your cat this moment is crouching with legs pulled under the body rolling slightly to the side with his tail tucked and ears back. The posture illustrated here is known as a submissive posture to dogs but to cats, it’s not. This is because it's not intended to terminate the attack from the other kitty. You will not want to approach this cat at this moment as it may lead to attack consequences.

Play-based aggression

In most cases, a lack of raising the cats together, or really having an opportunity to socialize and play together is prone to play aggression. Littermate’s interaction is always considered important as that socialization makes kitty learn appropriate play. The kitten will learn that scratching is hard or bite when retaliation halts from his fellow littermates. None of these skills or lessons will be found or learned if the cat gets to be raised alone.
It is evident and quickly recognizable when the kitties are about to initiate the play aggression as the tails will be thrashed forward and backward all the time. The pupils will be dilated and pinned their ears will be, at the tip of their head. What you will need to do so as to intervene in this play aggression is to identify the pattern gravitating the aggressive behavior. If the pattern exists, you will need to distract the kitty from completely having the play or even granting zero accessibility to places that spark up the strange behavior. These places include under the bed, couches, and many other areas. You may also want to completely prevent this behavior in the future. This is by placing on a breakaway collar a bell that will notify you of the whereabouts of your adorable feline in case the aggression strikes again.
There are other helpful tools that you can utilize so as to distract the attention of a cat that is aggressive like noise deterrents. A blast from air compressed in a can or hissing from a person can be a helpful weapon to distract, redirect, and refocus the attention of aggressive cats. However, you will not want to physically punish your feline or touch him as it will trigger fear character in people. It may also entice aggressive behavior if the kitty views it as play. Be sure to keep your hand at a distance the weapon in use to distract kitties from play. This will prevent you from bites, scratches from your feline.

Pain-based aggression in cats

Most of the time is when feline will avoid movement, touch, or any other activity involved in worsening the condition. This may drive them to aggression if other pets, animals, or people consume his space. Take an example of a well-known disease in animals, osteoarthritis. In this condition you will suffer bites, scratches if you try to manipulate, touch his joints. In the future, felines may repeatedly act aggressively after healing to avoid awful experiences that happened there before. The cats’ owners should refrain from touching the aching body parts of their kitty to avoid the consequences triggered by the above-stated factors. Then, they should work hand in hand with the veterinarian to come up with a therapeutic plan to ease the pain.

Re-directed aggression in cats

When the kitty stimulation is triggered by a certain substance and refrains itself from responding, that’s when redirected aggression strikes. In such conditions, your kitty grows aggressive but directed to other species around.

Noisy altercation will be heard in the house or other places from your cat and another cat. Not only cats or animals, but people may also find themselves victims after a long time of indoors aggressiveness between cats.

To intervene here you will require to do away with stimuli. For instance, deterrent utilization will chase away the astray kitty from the door or window. It will also restrict the interactions that aggressive among the indoors.

Fear-based aggression in cats

You are just from your kitchen holding a cup of coffee headed to the sitting room. Suddenly your eyes land on your cat facing the window or the door. Crouching to the ground, ears flattened against the head, having a tucked tail under the body, hissing and his fur standing. Definitely what should hit your mind is your cat has seen something strange or new to the environment.

Fear aggression may be recognized when your adorable feline encounters new stimuli. When a new person, animal, and even new environment that seem unpleasant to your cat such as a veterinarian place, may trigger to fear aggression behavior.

The most commonly known type of feline aggression across the globe is fear aggression. Many of the cats due to inheritance of the shy gene will react aggressively when become frightened.

Something else that may trigger fear aggression is poor socialization. Giving a continuers punishment to your feline will also give birth to fear aggression to your cat.

How to prevent fear aggression in cats?

First, you will need to discover the triggers before you can initiate the process of eliminating aggressive behavior from your cat every time he fears something. A cat that is scared will quickly react with aggressive behavior to back off the scary thing. Once he is safe from the “danger” after the reaction, he will repeatedly use it as a weapon to keep off the trigger.

Be quick to recognize the following feline body signals every time he is aggressive due to fear of something.

Learning away and crouching, flattening of ears sideways, showing teeth, hissing, swatting, and biting. This time the eye pupil is dilated wide.

Determining the trigger first will ease the soothing time, helping your cat to eliminate the fear of aggression. If the aggression is mild, then you will try to eliminate the trigger to ease your kitty aggression. If the trigger cannot be identified or done with, then you will need to work and divert the attention of your kitty.

The next thing you will want to do is to schedule a visit to your vet. This is because some of the aggressive behaviors may not always have a physical trigger, sometimes may indicate a medical condition even if your cat does not seem sick. This may be realized if your kitty displays a sudden behavioral change.

Identify the triggers

If your kitty does not suffer from any medical condition, then it’s very important to weigh the tolerance level of your cat and then reactivate distance. Getting to know how to cross the trigger can be to piss off your kitty. If the trigger gets seven feet and your kitty is fine, but when five feet cross your kitty aggressively reacts, then you will need to avoid the situation by maintaining the distance between the potential trigger and the fearful cat. Gradually keep minimizing the distance and maximizing the time spent with the trigger until your cat understands that there is no reason to be fearful. Ensure to seek more ideas from your vet if the trigger is something that cannot get rid of.

The next thing you will want to do is to ensure there are enough quiet areas and maximize the availability of hiding spots in your home. Ensure in the house there is plenty of toys and scratching pots as well as litter boxes to minimize competition with other cats.

You can also elevate hide places such as shelf space, small boxes to hide. This makes the cat feel even more secure.

Invest in training your kitty

Your feline confidence can be built by using interactive play. For instance, your kitty will have more fun when using a beam of light to maintain a distance or a fishing pole. This may not trigger an attack most likely.

Training your feline to participate in tricks beef up his confidence and makes the bond you share more firm and strong. Make use of reinforcement that is positive to reduce the aggression during the aggression of cat-to-cat.

Don’t be in haste to expect the aggression out of fear to end immediately. If the trigger cannot be identified, it will take you some time.

Ensure consistency in practice to do away with the fear of aggression from your kitty.

Preventing territorial aggression in cats

If your kitty develops territorial behavior, introduction and re-introduction is not something to do so as to eliminate territorial aggression.

All you need to do is to lock the returning or new kitty into their respective room having a litter box and some nourishment. After some time does the exchange. Lock the aggressive feline and release the new cat to the rest of the room for about thirty minutes. When thirty minutes are over re-exchange again and continue with the process for two or three weeks. The aggressive feline will improve from aggressiveness gradually until it’s completely gone.

In step two, you will want to take your kitty in the same room but ensure they are on leashes with harnesses. Take one cat to the other side of the room so that they can face each other. During this time your kitty will smell each other but ensure they don’t interact. Feeding them together this time will improve positive experiences toward one cat to the other. Move them, father, from each other just in case the aggressiveness strikes during the exercise.

Repeat this process over and over again shortening the distance every time among the feline.

When the feeding of the cats becomes easy under the distance restriction, the next thing to do is to free them in the same room.
Keep yourself at a distance, watch them closely.

If it doesn’t work and the aggression becomes intense again, lock restrain them, feed them together until the kitty aggression is gone.

Be patient as you proceed to feed them together the process might take you time, weeks, or months. This will depend on the cat that is involved.

Many veterinarians offer some prescribed medication to either kitties or one that may curb adverse interaction during the visit.

Ensure or the hands of any of your body parts comes between the two aggressive felines as you will suffer a serious injury.

Cardboard-made panels or baby gates are recommended separation-effective tools to use during aggression time.

Conclusion

The calmness of a territorial cat will depend on the owner, conditions, and feline.

Exposing your kitty to early socialization as well as reinforcement that is positive will definitely give birth to a desirable behaved cat.

If you realize your adult cast develops or has territorial issues, you should seriously deal with the matter as can turn to aggression which will lead to attacks.

If the situation exceeds your strength, then opt to seek intervention from a behaviorist or a trainer who is professional.

This will help you get things back on track so that life can be simple for both you and your adorable kitty.