Chattering - does my cat want to seriously hurt my other cat?

[alic23]

We are still trying to integrate our two cats after 9 months. The boy Shadow continually stares at, stalks, chases, bites her anywhere he can, and mounts and then bites the back of the neck of my girl Tinkerbell. They are 11 and 12 months old respectively. We keep them separated when we are not in the house. She will sometimes be playful with him but mostly is very wary of him and does not tolerate his chasing/attacking and will growl and run away. We try and discourage his behaviour. They both had their neuter/spay ops in the New Year.

We will hopefully be seeing a behaviourist soon. But in the meantime i am concerned/intrigued about something. Sometimes Shadow will 'chatter' (make gutteral clicking fast calling sounds) at her whilst staring at her and before he pounces. I never knew what it meant but thought it was a little creepy. I have since looked it up and by all accounts almost every article or forum says the cat does this because they are either: excited by prey or when they are about to attack prey, prior to delivering the killing bite, or spotting desirable prey but not being able to get at it so it's a cry of frustration. They all refer to 'prey' as in birds etc, but not about a cat chattering to another cat.

Does Shadow really want to hurt Tinkerbell but knows he won't be allowed to follow through properly, as he knows the humans will try and stop it? We are pretty sure he is not playful he seems to just want to drive her away we are guessing this is territorial aggression, but wanted to know what others thought about cats chattering at other cats they are about to pounce on?

Thanks..

 

[red top rescue]

In my experience, chattering is prey excitement, especially about birds and bugs.  There is another sound which is a "churring" (combination of chirp and purring) that two of mine make when playing with each other, which involves chase and tackle, but they are bonded and not at all interested in hurting each other.

 

[alic23]

Thanks, yes he definitely isn't making chirping purring noises at her.

 

[molly92]

That's interesting. I read about a study where a wild species of cats would imitate a South American monkey (their preferred meal)'s calls to lure them out, and the scientists proposed that could be why domestic cats chattering sounds similar to noises birds and squirrels make-they want them to come closer.

It is generally seen as a response to potential prey, although cats have a lot of instinctive behaviors that don't really have a purpose in their domestic lives anymore, so they've de-evolved somewhat and don't always make sense in context. Like how cats will "dig" around their bowl to "cover" their food even when there's nothing to dig at. So it could just be that the chattering instinct is more generalized in your cat's brain, and is triggered by general excitement and play rather than being purely prey-based. That's what my guess would be. I think looking at all of his signals combined will give you the best estimate of his motivations, and I wouldn't worry too much just about the chattering.

My cat will chatter at birds and squirrels, but also a little bit at her laser pointer. She's not a very skilled hunter, nor very active during play time, but chattering and crouching down low are a couple of the cat instincts she does whip out occasionally.

 

[alic23]

Thanks Molly, i was just alarmed that perhaps he is seeing her as prey as all he does is he seems to want to bite her all the time!!

 

[tobilei]

I'm no help but just wanted to say you have my empathy with this. I have a 2 year old male and a 1 year old female and we've had all sorts of issues trying to get them to get along (not there yet, 1 step forward, 2 back a lot of the time!). I hope you can figure it out, it's no fun and very stressful.

 

[alic23]

I'm no help but just wanted to say you have my empathy with this. I have a 2 year old male and a 1 year old female and we've had all sorts of issues trying to get them to get along (not there yet, 1 step forward, 2 back a lot of the time!). I hope you can figure it out, it's no fun and very stressful.

Thank you Tobilei. Yes it feels like that with us, i sometimes wonder if it'll ever get better! Good luck with your two.

 

[Catz3]

We are still trying to integrate our two cats after 9 months. The boy Shadow continually stares at, stalks, chases, bites her anywhere he can, and mounts and then bites the back of the neck of my girl Tinkerbell. They are 11 and 12 months old respectively. We keep them separated when we are not in the house. She will sometimes be playful with him but mostly is very wary of him and does not tolerate his chasing/attacking and will growl and run away. We try and discourage his behaviour. They both had their neuter/spay ops in the New Year.

We will hopefully be seeing a behaviourist soon. But in the meantime i am concerned/intrigued about something. Sometimes Shadow will 'chatter' (make gutteral clicking fast calling sounds) at her whilst staring at her and before he pounces. I never knew what it meant but thought it was a little creepy. I have since looked it up and by all accounts almost every article or forum says the cat does this because they are either: excited by prey or when they are about to attack prey, prior to delivering the killing bite, or spotting desirable prey but not being able to get at it so it's a cry of frustration. They all refer to 'prey' as in birds etc, but not about a cat chattering to another cat.

Does Shadow really want to hurt Tinkerbell but knows he won't be allowed to follow through properly, as he knows the humans will try and stop it? We are pretty sure he is not playful he seems to just want to drive her away we are guessing this is territorial aggression, but wanted to know what others thought about cats chattering at other cats they are about to pounce on?

Thanks..

Hi h

Thank you Tobilei. Yes it feels like that with us, i sometimes wonder if it'll ever get better! Good luck with your two.

Hi there!!

I know this is an old thread but I’m having the exact same problem! I am really interested to hear how the situation is now, do they get on? Did your cat stop attacking the other?!! I would like to know as we are seriously thinking of having to return out attacking cat back to the rspca and ta breaking my heart, i would love to hear how they are getting on!!! Thanks