Really Aggressive Cats

Question
Both of my cats are around 1 year old, and they're both really  healthy and kind. I have a girl cat, Coco and a boy cat Totoro (Toto for short). They're always so kind and loving, but when they're in the same room, they jump on each other and start fighting. Right now, Toto is on our 'water treatment' where we spray him with water whenever he's bad. Also, one of my friends say that they are fighting over territory, or something like that.

PLEASE Tell me why my cats are fighting, and what I can do to stop it.

Answer
Park,

Are your cats neutered and spayed? If not that would be the major cause of the problem and should be done right away.

If they fixed then probably what you are seeing is a fairly common problem called Redirected Aggression. That happens when a cat sees a strange cat outside and  becomes territorial, but can't get to the strange cat to defend her territory. The cat then turns on the closest animal member of the family and fights with them as if they were the other cat. They have been known to attack family cats, even though they may have lived and gotten along with them for years (as yours is doing), the family dog, and even their owners (though that is rare). They are not attacking each other in thier mind...they are attacking the strange cat. It is also common that they can begin 'spraying' and defecating outside the litterbox due to the stress of the other cat.

First thing you need to do is block the window past the cat's eye level of the window that they cannot see another cat out of the window (out of sight, out of mind). If it is allowed to go on the cats may develop a permanent personality change.

If you can, keep the cats away from each other for awhile unless you are feeding them yummy cat treats TOGETHER. That is so they will associate something pleasant (cat treats) with each other and not unpleasant (the strange cat). Do not punish the cat. That will just cause more stress and more behavior problems.

There is a very popular cat calming spray and plug-in you can use called Feliway. It is available at pet stores or on-line. It copies relaxing pheromones that cats produce from rubbing their faces on things.

There is also a calming product that you can add to the cat's food that reduces anxiety called Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is available on-line and in health food stores. Here is a link about it: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)
http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm

If the cats are still being very stressed the vet can put them on "kitty Prozac" for a short term (usually 2 weeks) until they calm down. You may want to speak to the vet about it.

I am including links to 2 good articles on Redirected Aggression that may be helpful to you: (copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar)

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/aggression3.html

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=redirectedagr...

I hope this helps,
Tabbi