Why Group Of Cats Can Suddenly Burst Into Fight?

[cindy321]

we have 5 cats, they may not like each other, but normally they tolerate others, they eat together, sleep in same room, sometimes even groom each other

However I noticed a few time, if one of them suddenly attacked another one, within a few second, all the cats will run to these 2, then start fiercely attack each other, all you can hear is loud cat noise, and fur fly everywhere, within 1 or 2 minutes, the fight ends, everybody find somewhere to hide

It happens once every a few months, it normally triggered by the loud noise when one cat attacking the other one. Once heard this noise, all the other cats, no matter what they were doing, all stop and run to find out what is going on.What confuse me is, they just randomly attack each other, chaotic scene :-(

can any one tell me why they doing this? is there anything I can do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
It's something to do with group/clowder dynamics, I think...

Anyway, the best thing you can do is find a large piece of cardboard and utilize that to protect yourself (legs and ankles included) while you also slide it between cats, to stop them from seeing each other and to help break up the fight.

As you know, you can't reach in to pick up a cat or two, they won't realize it's you and you'll end up scratched and bitten by accident.

 

[cindy321]

all my cats are actually very friendly, normally when this kind of fighting happened, all I do is shout loud to them, they will stop and run away, some hide, some just behave like nothing happened

what puzzled me most is, why the rest of cats join the fight? and why they random attack each other? and it is always triggered by the loud meow fighting sound, all the cats will run to the fighting scene and join it without any hesitation

just completely mad, you hear loud noise and fur fly everywhere, very shocking

 

[Furballsmom]

There may be something happening outside your house/apartment, where a dog or another cat or something is being detected by one of your cats.
That loud meowing sound causes some sort of instinctual reaction in all the rest of the cats in the near vicinity.
You are fortunate that you are able to stop it all simply with a shout

 

[cindy321]

We live on 2nd floor, so definitely caused by our cat themselves, actually I did see how it start for a few times.

normally cat A for some reason today is not happy about cat B, so it just jump on B and B immediacy meow very loud as she is under attack, then all the rest gang joined

in most time, A and B are fine with each other.

yes, normally when I raise my voice, all cats know they are being naughty, they stop and run away :-)

 

[KarenKat]

A kitty rumble! I keep imagining the Jets and the Sharks dance-fighting it out!

We only have three, our newest one just wants to hang out and not cause trouble, the Tabby gets angsty about her and often whacks her in the face for no reason, and the last one is more voyeuristic and watches it go down. So I don’t have any major cat fights with more than two, so it’s interesting to hear about larger group dynamics.

 

[cindy321]

The first time it happens definitely scared me, as I have never seen anything like that

and in this kind of chaos, they just attack each other, even some of them normally like each other, just totally mad

 

[Kflowers]

I've had as many as 8 at a time and never experienced this. Actually, there weren't many fights at all, just a lot of ignoring. Okay, there were two who tended to fight with newcomers, but never a group rumble.

 

[cindy321]

sometimes I can stop it before it happens, it normally caused by two of them for some reason do not like each other that day, one will jump on top of the other

sometimes they may give me a bit notice, you see one of them stare at the other, you just know something gonna happen.I just make a bit noise, like I was cleaning my throat, just to let them know I was watching, they immediately stop and walk away.

however if I am not around, then it will escalate and big bang!

 

[talkingpeanut]

If your cats aren’t spayed and neutered, this is probably exacerbating the problem.

 

[momof3b1g]

Wow i think there is a full moon. So many posts about fighting cats. Mine are acting up too. :/

 

[susanm9006]

I think it is sort of a cat version of a bar fight. Someone swings at someone, next cat over gets bumped and hits back and a few more join in without even knowing what they are fighting about. Then over, done and everyone is off to clean themselves off.

 

[Furballsmom]

I just make a bit noise, like I was cleaning my throat, just to let them know I was watching, they immediately stop and walk away.

I can visualize this, and you doing that, and the cats then acting all nonchalant like "oh, we weren't doing anything..."