Your Cat — November 2017

46 Your Cat November 2017

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Beha

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Break

it up!

PETER NEVILLE is

an expert in feline

behaviour and works

both in the UK and

abroad. To fi nd out

more about Peter, go

to http://www.coape.org

Behaviourist Peter

Neville steps in to

referee an ongoing

scrap between two

feline sisters.

SIMONE BRADLEY WRITES: “Our

two cats have recently started

fighting. They are sisters and used to

get on so well, but in the last month,

we have had several incidents where

Socks has pounced on Sarah. Sarah

is now getting rather defensive

whenever Socks comes near her, and

has started swatting at her sister. We

don’t want them to fight for the next

fifteen years, what can we do to fix

this behaviour?”

The problem...

Kittens may practise

hunting behaviours

on their siblings.

W

hen Simone emailed me

two months ago, I decided

to visit her as soon as

possible, since it is often

easier to change behaviour problems

when they are new, as opposed to when

they’ve been rehearsed for years. I met

her at her home in Romsey, Hampshire,

along with Socks and Sarah, who were

then very lively six-month-old lady cats.

Simone had bought Socks and Sarah

from an acquaintance whose cat had

produced a ‘surprise’ litter. The two

kittens were the last left from the litter

of six.

The mother was still with the kittens,

and they were obviously much loved

and used to a normal home life. They

were allowed free rein of the house, and

were used to being handled by people.

They were also well socialised with the

family’s two dogs, and Simone said her

first impression was that they were both

perfectly confident and outgoing. They

tolerated the journey home without

showing any signs of stress, and when she

opened the cat carrier, the two strolled

out and settled in as if they had been

born there.

Socks and Sarah slept curled up

together on Simone’s bed, spent every

waking moment exploring and playing,

and would groom Simone as well as

each other. They were inseparable, and,

barring the odd ‘overexcited’ kitten

roughhousing, presented no concerns.

While I was chatting to Simone about

the kittens, they woke up from their nap

on the sofa and came to investigate

their new visitor. Both were curious and

friendly, and didn’t show any signs of not

liking one another, until Socks brushed

past Sarah. She didn’t seem to notice at

first, but then swatted at her sister when

Socks continued to nudge her as they

explored me. Sarah pounced on Socks,

and suddenly the fur went flying.

FELINE FISTICUFFS

Thankfully, the fight was over as quickly

as it had started, with both cats running

away in opposite directions. Simone told

me that this behaviour was typically how

the fights started, and it seemed both

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