Fighting cats

[Ismee]

My lovely Mango keeps coming home with injuries.

Just before we went on holiday he had quite a few wounds around his face so I took him to the vets, they said they were just small puncture wounds, to keep an eye but he would probably be fine.

In the last few weeks he keeps coming home with different wounds around his face, nothing major but they are there.

Is there anything I can do? He's never been a fighter before, I'm assuming there is a new cat in the hood but I have also seen a fox in the garden a couple of times which worries me.

[absley]

When Rufus had wounds on his face we were told this meant he was in the thick of it, rather than trying to escape the fight, in which case he'd have had wounds on his haunches from running away. I don't know how true it is but it helped me a bit to know this.

We just tried to shoo away other cats from the garden and were diligent in checking him for injury in case of infection. I don't know what you do about foxes though.

[Edith Bacon]

Poor Mango.

As absley has said, Rufus is a scrapper and he’s usually got some sort of scratch or bite somewhere about his face. He’s had a couple of nasty bites that were hidden and got infected but antibiotics fixed him right up. The vet said that some cats just fight and that’s who they and there’s nothing to be done about it - keeping them in is really stressful for them if they want to be out defending their territory. I have no clue about foxes though.

[smartiecat]

My Teddy was like this and I thought that lots of other cats came to bother him for some reason. Now I have Thomas and he never fights (he’s old) with the other cats other than occasional stand offs, and the number coming round are much fewer. So I guess Teddy must just have been a fighter. It’s horrible but I don’t think there is much you can do. Teddy got a few infected cuts in his time so definitely keep an eye on those.

I don’t think cats and foxes would fight although that’s a presumption on my part and I don’t really know why I think that. I’ve just never known it happen I guess. I also imagine foxes biting more than scratching so I think it is much more likely to be other cats.

[Shoe]

Herbie is a nightmare. It appears he fights with anyone. He's constantly covered in scratches and scabby bits. In fact, I'm currently monitoring a swollen chin and a small gash on his neck for signs they need properly looking at.

I have no idea how to stop him. S saw a big ginger tom spraying our path the other day so I'm sure he is part of the problem.

[Ismee]

I'm glad it's not just Mango but it's weird as hes never been like this before. Not a fighter, just a bird/mouse killer.

Hopefully the fox was just a coincidence and nothing to do with it. I will keep checking him over.

[Edith Bacon]

Maybe a new cat moved to near you and it’s triggered fights he’s never had to have before?

[Froozy]

Maybe a new cat moved to near you and it’s triggered fights he’s never had to have before?

I thought this. Harry had several fights when he first moved to Bristol which we assumed was a settling in period. Fingers crossed things settle down for Mango soon.

[Shoe]

Herbie sadly is just a bam and likes fighting, I think. He's always had minor injuries since I started letting him out and I catch him squaring up to large birds and stalking other local cats quite often. I think he just enjoys dispatching a good cutting.

[Thora mkii GTi]

My bet would be on a new cat on the block that is messing with the shared territory timetables. It never ceases to amaze me how Moses will at one time of day just sit and watch the ginger & white cat come across the back of our garden and down the side of the house, over the gate, to exit via the drive; later, if he tries the same route, Moses will be out the cat flap like a Tasmanian Devil and all hell breaks loose.

Hopefully, things will calm down soon.

I've found it helps if you're there at the right time, to disturb them at the yowling stage... when Max was still around, I was once woken at ungodly o'clock by three-way yowling on the drive, Max and Moses had cornered a cat and it was a shouting stand-off. In a raised voice I said "Max, Moses, that's enough!" they all stared at me like kids caught in the act of something naughty, looked at each other, and then walked off nonchalantly in different directions as though nothing had happened... like I was just a nutcase randomly shouting out of the window.

[Ismee]

I'm glad they listened to you, Thora.

Mango has been ok for the last couple of weeks so maybe it's calmed down a bit.