Cat fight - need advice from cat people

[Elmorton]

Tonight, right as DH and I were finishing dinner, I heard Morty hissing. He and Elmo were sitting on the back of a chair in front of a window and I went over to them. Right as I approached, Morty flipped out, started hissing like crazy, jumped to the floor, and then jumped to the back of the chair. I saw that there was another cat sitting on our porch. Right as I noticed the other cat, Morty''s hissing escalated and he jumped into the window screen, causing it to pop out. Morty flew through the window and started chasing the cat.

Morty is an indoor cat and has NEVER done anything like this. In fact, usually it''s Elmo who is bothered by other cats. Morty was hissing and screaming and DH and I ran to the door. DH ran out toward Morty and yelled at me to get Elmo, since Elmo had also jumped through the open window. DH basically tackled Morty and the other cat ran away. I got Elmo back inside and I ran out to help DH who was howling with pain because Morty was biting and clawing at him the entire time (yes, we both know that water would have been a more appropriate response in retrospect, but we were terrified that Morty was going to get hurt/run away).

DH got Morty held down and then grabbed a water bottle and squirted him to try to divert his attention, and once we got him a little calmer, I took over just holding him down to the ground as he growled and hissed - the other cat was nowhere in sight, but he just kept growling and hissing, though he wasn''t trying to bite me. When I finally looked up, DH''s hands and arms were absolutely covered in blood. The second I realized how much he was bleeding I practically went into shock. While I held Morty down, DH got a carrier and we put Morty inside. Morty didn''t have any marks on him, but his anus was bright red/bleeding a bit.

DH''s wounds were really deep and he was bleeding a lot on both hands and up his arms. I called my MIL who is a nurse, and she had me cleaning him up, but then I said "These look really bad - I can see yellow stuff in wound." At that point, she said to take him to the ER, because what I was seeing was the layer of fat below the skin. So, that''s where I''ve been for the last few hours. He didn''t need stitches, but the bites went all the way to his tendon and they said we were right to come in to have everything cleaned since they''d likely get infected otherwise and that would be a big ol mess. They cleaned him up, and though he''s still in some pain, he''ll be fine.

But the whole time, we couldn''t stop talking about how surreal/strange the whole thing was. I can''t wrap my head around it. What the heck took over my cat? Both of our cats are neutered males. Morty is 4 and Elmo is 3.

When we got home, there were two cats in our yard - neither one of them don''t think was the original kitty from the incident earlier. Is there something we can spray to deter them? I don''t know why these neighborhood cats are suddenly antagonizing ours. Clearly, we''re never leaving the screens open when we''re not home. But short of that, I don''t know what to do. Last weekend, we returned home from a wedding to find that one of our leather chairs had a huge claw tear down the middle. I thought it might have come from regular play, but now I think it probably came from a freak out such as this one - and all the windows were shut while we were gone. Now it''s pretty quiet around our house - both kitties are being pretty passive - not at all hanging out together, though. Morty is just sitting next to me, calmly. But I''m still upset/nervous.

The whole night was just such a shock...my poor husband. I''m so glad he did what he did, because we could have lost Morty (that cat was DETERMINED to go after the outdoor cat and would have chased after to wherever it ran) - but at the same time, he''s in a lot of pain and I feel awful about it. We can''t let something like this happen again, for the health and safety of the humans and kitties in our household. Has anyone ever had a cat freak out like this about cats outside? How did you solve the problem? We''re going to call our vet in the morning for suggestions, but it''s too late right now to do anything, and I can''t stop thinking about what happened, so I came here. If you have advice, please share...

 

[LtlFirecracker]

First, I am sorry about what happened to your husband, those are some pretty severe wounds. I am glad you guys went to the ED and got that all cleaned out.

For the cats, yes I have this problem. I have 2 cats. A burmise and a mut. Well the mutt loved to sit on my bedroom window. One day I saw her tail big and puffy. I looked down outside and saw another cat, who I have named bully kitty. I walked away thinking he was down on the ground. Then I hear a noise, I run in and bully kitty was vertical on my screen. Since then, the two get into it all the time. My cat sits at my shower window, waiting, and they fight all the time when bully kitty perches on the fence. I cannot leave my blinds open in my bedroom anymore. My cat sits there for hours waiting for bully kitty. When he comes, they fight till I break it up than she is mean to the burmise, who really dosn't care about bully kitty.

This is totally a territory thing. My mutt thinks bully kitty is trying to take over the house. Bully kitty thinks my cat wants the outside area (she is indoor only). The only thing I could do was make sure they avoid each other. I keep an eye on the bathroom window, and shut it as soon as it has vented. She is not allowed to sit on my bedroom window sill anymore (I keep the blinds pulled all the way down, and they are wood, so she can't get by them). I know that is mean, but those two are destorying my window. There are a ton of holes on my screen just from the time they could get to each other. For your door, I know this is not ideal, but how about replacing it with a metal screen? I have tried the water gun on Bully Kitty, that does not work.

When a fight does break out, I go into the shower, start yelling, and start to close the window on her. After she realizes I am there, I grab her by the nape (and only by the nape to keep her from attacking me). I pull her back just enough to close the window and then walk away. If she starts to be aggressive to my other cat, I walk up to her with the other cat in my arms, grab her by the nape, give her a look and give a firm no. Than I ignore her. That usually works.

I know this is probably not much help, but this is a lot of animal instinct, and the best thing you can do is keep these cats away from each other. Once you have the place set up so they can't get out, consider clipping their nails to keep their claws from doing so much harm.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

To me it sounds like a territory thing too, i know when there are other cats outside because me eldest boy will start howling like a tom cat and will try and fight through the window if given a chance. My only advice is to try and keep the ''ferals'' away. I get the hose out and spray them if i am quick enough or i just run out and scare them off. I don''t think there is anything you can do to stop your cat from acting like this, and grabbing him by the scruff really is the only way to get him out of there without getting shredded to bits! (your poor hubby) I read somewhere that cats hate the smell of vinegar. My mum has a spray bottle with water and vinegar, she sprays her cats when they get where they are not allowed and they stop instantly, maybe if you kept a bottle by the door for emergencies so you can spray them when they start fighting.

 

[Haven]

El, I''m sorry this happened.

We have a kitty who has been hanging out in our backyard periodically since we moved in a year ago. At first, our three male cats would hiss and growl, puff up, and basically try to scare her off. They would occasionally fight with each other after seeing her, and then once she left they''d call down.
Now, they just stare at her. Sometimes they grumble, often they don''t.
When this all first started we would distract the cats by playing with them or giving them a small treat, so maybe that helped.

Maybe your cats will get used to seeing other cats outside?