Aggression: intercat

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Sections available in full article Introduction, Presenting signs, Acute presentation, Age predisposition, Sex predisposition, Breed predisposition, Cost considerations, Special risks (e.g. anesthetic), Pathogenesis, Etiology, Predisposing factors, Pathophysiology, Timecourse (incubation, duration), Epidemiology (population dynamics), Diagnosis, Presenting problems, Client history, Clinical signs, Diagnostic investigation, Gross autopsy findings, Histopathology findings, Differential diagnosis, Treatment, Initial symptomatic treatment, Standard treatment, Monitoring, Subsequent management, Prevention, Control, Group eradication, Sequelae, Prognosis, Expected response to treatment, Reasons for treatment failure, Sources, Publications, Vetstream contributor(s),
Contributors Ms Emma Magnus BSc(Hons) MSc CCAB
Dr Karen Overall MA VMD PhD DipACVB, ABS Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist

Introduction

  • When considered as a descriptor of normal feline behavior, intercat aggression is most commonly seen between toms.
  • In most wild, feline social systems, few males mate with most of the females.
  • The form of intercat aggression that is pathological and with which most clients are concerned is more commonly based on conflicts within social hierarchies than it is with sex.
  • For aggression between cats which may be considered "normal", the skewed sex ratio in the breeding population is induced and maintained by vigilance and aggression on the part of the males.
  • There is an additional olfactory component of spraying and non-spraying marking that contribute to this type of aggression.
  • The aggressive behaviors are classic and involve flattened ears, howling, hissing, piloerection, threats using eyes, teeth, and claws and combat.

Early neutering (prior to 12 months of age) decreases or prevents fighting by 90%.

  • Cats begin to become socially mature somewhere between 2 and 4 years of age.
  • At this time, some cats may begin to challenge others.
  • Problems arise when one cat will not accept lack of engagement by another cat.
  • Responses include:
    • Passive aggression (staring and posturing).
    • Active aggression.
    • Marking  Indoor marking  .
  • Cats that consider themselves as more equal are less likely to participate in overt aggression - expect covert aggression.
  • Intercat aggression is extremely complex, often subtle, and under-appreciated.
  • Heuristic model for thinking about phenotypic patterns of feline aggression - potential axes:
    • Overt versus covert aggression.
    • Active versus passive aggression.
    • Offensive versus defensive aggression.

Diagnosis

Clinical signs

  • The signs are non-specific and may be best understood in terms of the aggressor versus the victim.
  • The primary sign exhibited by the aggressor may be staring and passive displacement of the victim cat from any environment which the victim occupies.
  • Clients do not perceive that an aggressive event occurred because all they note is one cat leaving a room as another enters.
  • Such interactions are more common in covert aggressions.
  • In overt aggressions the following may occur:
    • Staring.
    • Hissing.
    • Posturing including:
      • Changes in piloerection.
      • Tail postures.
      • Ear position.
      • Pupil shape and dilation.
      • Back and rump posture.
      • Facial signs.
    • Marking with urine or with scent gland  Indoor marking  .
    • Out-right attack and fighting.
  • The victim may simply avoid the aggressor cat and become withdrawn and invisible.
  • If excluded by the aggressor from the litter box the victim may develop a secondary location and, or substrate preference for elimination.
  • While the aggressor may more commonly spray, when marking with urine the victim may be more commonly involved in non-spraying urine marking.
  • More data is needed on this topic.

The non-specific signs may be most easily understood in terms of the following sample scenarios:

  • Overt, passive, offensive aggression : confident cat staring when another enters room.
  • Overt, passive, defensive aggression : less confident cat leaving room or backing up and withdrawing into smaller space, tail tucked vocalizing.
  • Covert, passive, defensive aggression : vanquished or less confident marking with mystacial glands in boundary areas or areas from which cat had been displaced.
  • Covert, active, offensive aggression : vanquished or less confident marking with urine or feces in boundary areas or areas from which cat had been displaced.
  • Overt, active, offensive aggression : chase and attack using teeth and accompanied by vocalization by resident cat toward new cat in environment.
  • Overt, active, defensive aggression : attack or response using hitting and or swatting while leaning back or avoiding further pursuit.
  • Covert, active, defensive aggression : withdrawal and marking of restricted area by victim cat.
  • Covert, passive, offensive aggression : displacement or theft of "bully" or higher ranking cat's toys, bed, food, etc.

Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis

  • Differential diagnoses can include aggression due to incomplete socialization  Lack of appropriate socialization andor habituation  , fear aggression  Aggression: fear  , territorial aggression, hyperthyroidism  Hyperthyroidism  , lower or upper urinary tract disease  Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD)  , brain lesions (primarily forebrain), or response to the disease state of another housemate.  Any conditions involve eruptive dermatoses, relatively sudden onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or alopecia  Alopecia: overview   should also be evaluated in terms of the social situation in the household.
  • Aggression due to incomplete socialization, fear aggression, territorial aggression.
  • Lower or upper urinary tract disease  Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD)  .
  • Response to the disease state of another housemate.
  • Hyperthyroidism  Hyperthyroidism  .
  • Brain lesions (primarily forebrain),
  • Infectious diseases, including rabies  Rabies  .

Sequelae

Prognosis

  • Common sequelae include any stress related condition.
  • Susceptible individuals may start to manifest obsessive-compulsive disorder involving mutilation or sucking only after being victimized by an aggressive cat.
  • If cats that are involved have experienced resolved dermatological or urological conditions, relapse may occur.
  • Any condition that has any stress component can be made worse or relapse when intercat aggression is a concern.
  • The prognosis is good for control, guarded for complete resolution. The extent to which the prognosis varies for the victim of the aggression depends on the amount of time he or she was exposed to aggression and the intensity of the aggression because these factors are involved in molecular learning.

Expected response to treatment

  • The likelihood of managing the condition, once recognized, is high.
  • Even without a change in the aggressor's behavior, if the clients can completely separate the involved cats the victim can often improve and the problem is controlled, albeit not treated.
  • If clients choose this management strategy they must accept that it is truly forever.
  • They cannot reintroduce the cats after 2 years of separated bliss and expect that they will get along: in most cases they will not.
  • If clients actively work with the behavior modification, are willing to use medication, and can completely separate the cats when they are not supervised, the chance of improvement is tremendous.
  • In most cases the cats are able to peacefully co-exist, but may never be close friends.
  • That said, medication and behavior modification may be for life, and the more difficult cats to treat is often the one who was victimized.
  • For him or her, the aggressive response they have received is truly out of context and despite their best efforts to work with it socially, so the helplessness aspect is likely important.
  • If these cats become panicky or phobic clients should expect that treatment will require months for improvement, and that management and medication are for life.

Reasons for treatment failure

  • Treatment failure is usually due to client tolerance of risk and their ability to physically manage the problem.
  • Clients who are able to easily physically separate the cats have an advantage.
  • If the clients insist that their cats must exist in a 'peaceable kingdom' lifestyle treatment will fail because the quality of the victim(s) lives will decrease greatly.
  • If clients have young children, the children may not be helpful in the management of these cats, and they, themselves, may be at risk, leading to an increased risk of treatment failure.
  • Clients can re-home these cats, although it is recommended that the aggressor be housed in a single cat home.
  • Clients must also aggressively treat the victim and unless they are willing to use medication in the severe cases these cats never seem to fully rebound.

Sources

Publications

Refereed papers

  • Overall K L (2004)Paradigms for pharmacologic use as a treatment component in feline behavioral medicine.JFMS.l6, 29-42.PubMed DOI
  • Ogata N & Takeuchi Y (2001)Clinical trial of feline pheromone analogue for feline urine marking.  J Vet Med Sci,63, 157-161.PubMed
  • Pryor P A, Hart B L, Cliff K D & Bain M J (2001)Effects of a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor on urine spraying behavior in cats,JAVMA.219, 1557-1561.PubMed
  • Hunthausen W (2000)Evaluating a feline facial pheromone analogue to control urine spraying.  Vet Med.95, 151-155.
  • Frank D, Erb E N & Houpt K A (1999)Urine spraying in cats: presence of concurrent disease and effects of a pheromone treatment. Appl Anim Behav Sci.61, 263-272.
  • Overall K L (1999)Intercat aggression: Why can't they all just get along?Vet Med.94, 688-693.
  • Overall K L (1998)Tracing the roots of feline elimination disorders to aggression.  Vet Med.93, 363-366.
  • Seksel K & Lindeman M J (1998)Use of clomipramine in the treatment of anxiety-related and obsessive-compulsive disorders in cats. Aust Vet J.76, 317-321.PubMed
  • Overall K L (1997) Animal Behavior Case of the Month: Intercat aggression associated with spraying and urine marking. J Am Vet Med Assoc.211, 1376-1378.
  • Bernstein P & Strack M (1996) A game of cat and house: Spatial patterns and behavior of 14 domestic cats (Felis catus) in the home. Anthrozoös.IX: 25-39.
  • Center S A, Elston T H, Rowland P H, Rosen D, Reitz B L, Brunt I E, Rodan I, House J, Banks S, Lynch L, Dring L & Levy J (1996)Fulminant hepatic failure associated with oral administration of diazepam in 12 cats. JAVMA209, 618-625.PubMed
  • Hughes D, Moreau R E, Overall K L & Van Winkle T J (1996)Acute hepatic necrosis and liver failure associated with benzodiazepine therapy in cats. J Vet Emerg Crit Care.6(1), 13-20.
  • Adamec R E (1975)The neural basis of prolonged suppression of predatory attack.  I.  Naturally occurring physiological differences in the limbic system of killer and non-killer cats. Aggr Behav,1, 315-330.

Other sources of information

  • Overall K L (2004)Manual of clinical behavioral medicine for small animals.  Elsevier, St. Louis.
  • Seksel K (2001)Training your cat, Hyland House, Australia.
  • Beaver BV (2000) Feline behavior: a guide for veterinarians, 2nd edition, WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 2000.
  • Horwitz D, Heath S, Mills D (2000)BSAVA Manual of canine and feline behavioural medicine.  BSAVA, Gloucester UK.
  • Overall K L (1997)Clinical behavioral medicine for small animals.  Mosby, St. Louis.

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