Although people enjoy keeping more than one cat in a household, the population density in the home and in the urban area around it is not necessarily compatible with natural feline behaviour. In order to understand and accurately diagnose cases of aggression between cats, it is therefore important to appreciate the natural social behaviour of the cat and the potentially unnatural demands that life in a domestic environment puts on our feline companions.
The motivation for aggression in any particular case should be determined through a combination of observation and history taking. The list of possible differentials is similar to that relating to aggression toward people and includes fear-related aggression and misdirected predatory behaviour. In addition, cats are more likely to show territorially motivated aggression toward other cats and in these cases, consideration of natural feline social systems is crucial to understanding the behaviour and offering realistic means of controlling it.
Other common types of aggression between cats sharing a household include despotic behaviour, inter-male aggression, and maternal aggression.
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