[wolfgirl69]

Okay so I have 3 cats. All sweet hearts... most of the time. But they are all guilty of fighting-not just playing, FIGHTING. We try to break it up but we can't always. Anyways they've done this for years but I have just recently noticed neck wounds. They are NOT bloody they are just puffy, pink, hard, and slightly crunchy. All 3 have them on the neck. What should I be doing to treat them. Now that I have noticed-and I don't think they have been this aggressive till just this year-I don't want to risk infection. Help? Any multi-cat owners here?

[Keep Moving Forward]

First of all, are your cats spayed/neutered? That can help drastically calm them down, if hormones are the problem. Have a vet look at them to make sure their injuries aren't getting infected, & if they are they can be treated with antibiotics. Also, do you play with them so they can get some exercise? Pent up energy can turn into aggression.

How many litter boxes do you have? Cats can become territorial over their litter boxes if there aren't enough of them, which can cause fighting. I think one per cat is the general guideline, though that seems like a lot.

I'm pretty new to cats (always been a dog owner until just last year) so I can't be all that helpful, sorry :/

[wolfgirl69]

No thank you that does actually help! I don't really play with them anymore. I'll start doing that from now on! I do enjoy it myself! And yes all my boys are neutered.

[nationalparker]

Well, I wanted to write to say that there must be something in the air with these cats fighting! Good luck with the wounds - maybe call your vet to see what the best option to apply would be, that wouldn't just instigate them cleaning it right off. I am actually taking one of ours to the vet this afternoon - we had two cats and a dog and another tick-ridden, scrawny cat showed up and we took her in back in October. From Day one, despite being separated to get used to each other's scent, etc. she has targeted one of our other cats (who was the meaner one before) ... We've tried Feliway- a pheronome that some swear works wonders - it's worked for us to the extent that the one who was hiding comes out much more often now ... only to get jumped by this new one. All of ours are female. ... Tried confinement and slow introductions to start, tried positive reinforcement with food, more play time, etc. and now our feline expert vet tech has recommended meds. I fought this for a few months but now I figure I'd rather have peace and harmony than such agitation even if it means medicating my pet/s - depending on what the vet thinks (we'll do the liver and kidney test to make sure all's okay before starting if vet thinks it's wise) ...

I can only wish you good luck - play diversion typically works with ours - I call her and call her and throw a toy and she jumps that instead, but I don't have time to be on my guard ALL the time, and she goes looking for the one to attack. I guess my post is to say give it all you can and then maybe talk to your vet about meds for a bit and then weaning them off. (She said it's about $4/month, which sounded much better than what I had been thinking they would be.)

[wolfgirl69]

Thank you so much! And good luck with you cats too! It sucks when something troubling is going on with the kitty cats. I'm gonna start playing with them again and see if that works! Fun fun fun fun!

[Daki]

I know you already said you are going to play with them more but I just wanted to chime in that it helped my situation. My fiance and I have 3 cats. Two girls over 4 and a boy under a year. The boy is a spazz and a half. He is so high energy. If we do not play with him until he is tired there will be no rest for anyone. He'll pull toys into bed to get us to play with him if we're trying to sleep. He'll pounce on the girls to instigate play but they don't see it that way and things can get aggressive.

So we'll wave around his favorite stick toy and play fetch until he's worn out almost daily. It has really helped the situation. It's still not perfect but it's a lot better.

Another suggestion I have is get a Feliway plug-in diffuser. The Feliway diffuser (As opposed to a calming collar or a different brand of plug-in) emits the pheromone that cats have in their cheeks. They rub their faces on things they like to scent it because it makes them happy. This thing emits that smell. Humans can't smell it. It is suppose to help the cat relax and chill out. It doesn't work on every cat, however, but even if it only works on one of your three it seems worth a shot. It is expensive though so don't buy it from the pet store, order it on Amazon, it's $25 instead of $45 in a Petsmart.

I have one and keep it plugged in constantly. I didn't think it was doing anything for my cats until it ran out. After it ran out, my girl who thinks she's the queen bee was much less tolerant and more likely to start problems with any cat in her personal space. My scaredy cat was petrified and we never saw her because she started hiding constantly. My boy was a holy terror. High speed chases around the house, knocking things over, pestering the girls, getting into our food, basically being an adorable jerk. We realized the diffuser had run out and bought refills. Two weeks later everyone had readjusted.

Between the playing with our boy and the diffuser our house is as calm as it's going to be until he's out of the kitten stages.

[Keep Moving Forward]

Originally Posted by Daki

The Feliway diffuser (As opposed to a calming collar or a different brand of plug-in) emits the pheromone that cats have in their cheeks. They rub their faces on things they like to scent it because it makes them happy.

Ooooh, that's why my kitty likes to rub her face on me, lol. I thought she was just being cuddly, but it's still affection I suppose