<p>Last night we slept with the bedroom windows open. In the middle of the night, we were awakened by a horrible cat fight outside. After the fight, one of them proceeded to cry and moan and wail for 20 minutes. It was awful. </p>
<p>In the morning, I speculated to my husband that “Tom” was probably crying because “Kitty” rejected his romantic ideas. H laughed and blew me off, commenting that cats don’t fight fight about “that.” I, otoh, thought that’s all they fight about. </p>
<p>So, why do cats fight? In the the middle of the night? And then cry about it? </p>
<p>Unless you live near a colony of feral cats, your issue isn’t with the animals, but with stupid neighbors who don’t keep their cats indoors or get them sterilized.</p>
<p>I spay and neuter all my cats, and all cats that roam the neighborhood, and they still fight. It’s territorial. Even the two ferals that have been living in my yard for four years still have to battle over who is the “alpha cat”. It’s just a quick fight, someone wins, and that’s it. The howling for 20 minutes, that’s usually a female in heat. There are many low cost spay and neuter programs available nowadays, as people have become much more educated about controlling the pet population.</p>
<p>We have a cat who has sort of adopted me. He fights often with any cat who dares come onto our porch or in our yard. He is having absolutely none of that and makes his intentions clear.</p>
<p>Even companionable, spayed/neutered, generally docile cats fight. I have three cats and it always seems like at least two of them are doing the growling, puffy-tail-hopping, wrestling thing with one another. I realize that this isn’t the REAL fighting of which you speak - it’s mostly play-fighting - but still…</p>
<p>Once you figure out why cats fight, see what you can figure out about humans!</p>
<p>My cats are all “fixed,” but even they get territorial. I get them fixed as early as the vet will do it because supposedly that’s supposed to help negate some of negative traits.</p>
<p>We have an indoor/outdoor cat who was eating her dinner last night. Then her fur fluffed up and she dashed a few feet away. Even with the windows closed, what with our AC on and it being 11:00pm, she “saw” a cat outside. I turned on the patio light and sure enough, there was a strange cat roaming our patio. I think it’s a territorial response.</p>
<p>Agree that the fighting is territorial. My cat is fixed, as is the neighbor’s cat. They both throw a hissy fit the second they see each other. When introducing a new cat to a household, it normally takes a while for it to get along with the existing cat, due to territorial issues.</p>
<p>But cats mating sounds very much like cats fighting… so unless you’re looking out the window at two cats you know are neutered, you never know exactly WHAT you’re hearing!</p>
<p>When I was growing up, we often witnessed tomcats doing what my grandma called the “Mexican standoff”. They turn their head sideways, and make a guttural growl that almost sounds like talking. Imagine my surprise when my spayed females who rule the backyard also engage in this behavior. Too funny!</p>
<p>My cat seems to fall in love with me when I am on my laptop. She jumps on my stomach, kneads the dough (!), purrs, and settles down happily. I allow this, even contorting myself to work on the computer over her furry body. My husband says he does not understand why I tolerate this. I have no answer, but I do know that it is a sweet feeling, having her on my torso, purring and wrapping her arms around my body and looking so happy and content, knowing that when others in my family try to hold her or pet her, she runs off. I must be really special, ha ha!</p>
<p>I always think of the song from the musical Cats, where the narrator says we are to refer to our pets simply as “O, Cat.” </p>
<p>"With cats, some say one rule is true
Don’t speak 'til you are spoken to
Myself I do not hold with that
I say you should ad-dress a cat
But always bear in mind that he
Resents familiarity</p>
<p>You bow, and taking off your hat
Ad-dress him in this form: “O’ cat!”</p>
<p>Geez, my cat was on her regular perch (my lap). I turned on the video from #11 and now she’s all confused. Her heart is racing, ears are erect, nose? Nothing. I turned off the sound and she’s better, but still unsettled. Wonder what they were saying, because she certainly understood and wasn’t happy.</p>
<p>Limabeans! LOL! I just watched the video and one of my cats came slinking in looking around, looking out the windows, etc. with a puffy tail. I just had to reassure him all was well :)</p>
<p>I had 2 cats who sometimes went outside. Both were neutered. The female (first cat) used to come in with scratches and got a cut in her ear. The male (replaced female after she died) was the biggest fellow on the block and he never had a scratch on him, but I used to hear the other cats scream. I know they were saying “RUN for your life…” when they saw him. I really did not like letting them out, but somehow they snuck out when we opened the doors at night and weren’t looking at them.</p>
<p>The big boy used to fight with our yorkshire terrier. That was really funny to watch. He would sit on his two hind legs and beat her with both front paws. My husband swears that the cat cursed the dog out on one occasion.</p>
<p>The big boy used to fight with our yorkshire terrier. That was really funny to watch. He would sit on his two hind legs and beat her with both front paws.</p>
<p>One of my cats does that…he looks like a punching kangaroo. It’s amazing how TALL he can be when he stands on those hind legs and punches.</p>
<p>Our two spayed female cats provide sumo wrestling entertainment for my H while we exercise in our home gym (H’s bike faces the glass door, and he can see the kitties duking it out; my treadmill faces the opposite direction, and I can only hear the noise they make while slamming their 15-lb bodies around). Interestingly enough, the cats almost never fight - they only do it when we are sweating our calories away. :)</p>
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