My cat is being bullied by another cat

I came home yesterday and saw this black cat sitting on my stairs. It had followed my own cat in through the catflap.

My own cat had a hole in its tail where it had been bitten. :frown:

Are cats territorial? If so, what is the black cat trying to prove by coming into the house and sitting around in my own cat's territory?

Is it a sign that my cat is not being accepted?

Reply 1

A5ko

Cats spray and rub their glands all over stuff to 'claim' territory, so yes they are fiercely so.

Do you have a cat flap which works on an electronic collar? Your cat needs a sanctuary it can live in, without fear of rivals entering it. If you don't provide a safe place, your cat is bound to become anxious and possibly ill due to stress.

To make it simple you normally see three kinds of behaviour.

1). Cats that befriend each other.
2). Cats who tolerate each other.
3). Cats who despise each other.

If you want to know for sure how your cat feels, watch how it reacts to the other cats presence. If it raises it's tail straight up when it's around, it normally indicates it is friendly with the cat, likewise if it exposes it's underbelly.

Obviously, growling/spitting and fighting tend not to be great signs.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

A Mysterious Lord

Throw water over it - it needs to learn.

Reply 3

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Original post by Democracy

Does your cat even lift? Bet it doesn't - probably a feminist too.

This is a serious issue, bruv.

Reply 4

Drunk Punx

"Are cats territorial?" Not so's you'd notice :teehee:

Whether this is true or not Idk, but there was a tv show on cats a while back. They operate on a time-share basis, where in order to avoid each other when possible the cats of the neighbourhood use various gardens at staggered times. If your cat or the rival cat is new to the area then they wouldn't have gotten a grasp of the rotation yet.

Is your cat male or female? Female cats generally seem to not travel all that far from their residence, whereas toms go further (and thus attract the attention of more cats).

Reply 5

A5ko

Original post by Drunk Punx

Is your cat male or female? Female cats generally seem to not travel all that far from their residence, whereas toms go further (and thus attract the attention of more cats).

I have the exact opposite experience with my cats. It is the female cats that travel the furthest, whilst the portly male stays close, just in case his food bowl fills up again.

Reply 6

Drunk Punx

Original post by A5ko

I have the exact opposite experience with my cats. It is the female cats that travel the furthest, whilst the portly male stays close, just in case his food bowl fills up again.

Behind our house there's a car park, and it's separated from the back of the garden by a stream with steep banks on either side, and a row of trees on the car park side (the view out of my bedroom window is pretty balla). Foxes live at one end of the stream and my cat had a run in with one of them once, she had a lucky escape but got her tail nipped so it's fluffier at her arse end where she was bitten. You'd think she'd have learnt her lesson, but she still goes down to the stream from time to time (although more often than not she sits on the shed roof and looks down into the stream from there).

She rarely goes more than 2 gardens in either direction, occasionally crosses the road (it's not a busy road) but is more likely to sunbathe in the drive. Spends most of her time on my bed though :lol:

Our previous female cat travelled faaaaaar. She was a right roamer. Our male cat never travelled all that far but he was abandoned by his previous owner when she moved house, and took to sleeping in our greenhouse. Eventually he became more friendly towards us and adopted us as his family (we didn't get much choice in the matter, he stuck to us like glue once he became used to us being around :lol:

) but he never went far, presumably out of fear that he'd get left alone again if he didn't stay close.

The concept of a lonely cat is enough to bring a tear to my eye :sad:

Reply 7

doobucks

Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

I came home yesterday and saw this black cat sitting on my stairs. It had followed my own cat in through the catflap.

My own cat had a hole in its tail where it had been bitten. :frown:

Are cats territorial? If so, what is the black cat trying to prove by coming into the house and sitting around in my own cat's territory?

Is it a sign that my cat is not being accepted?