How do cats fight?

Under wild conditions cat-fights are a rarity because there is plenty of space, but in the more crowded urban and suburban areas feline territories become squashed together and frequently overlap. This means that a great deal of squabbling and serious physical duelling occurs, especially between rival tom-cats. Occasionally there are even killings or deaths resulting from battle injuries.

The primary objective of an attacking cat is to deliver a fatal neckbite to its rival, employing much the same technique as when killing a prey. Because its opponent is of roughly the same size and strength, this lethal bite is hardly ever delivered. Indeed, the most craven and cowardly of rivals will defend itself to some extent, and a primary neck-bite is almost impossible to achieve.

The point to remember here is that even the most savage and dominant individual, as he goes in to the attack, is fearful of the consequences of the 'last-ditch-stand' by his terrorized underling. Driven into a corner, the weakling will try anything, lashing out with sharp claws and possibly injuring the dominant cat in a way that may pose a serious threat to his future hunting success and therefore his very survival.

So even an out-and-out attacker shows fear mixed with his aggression, when the final crunch of physical contact arrives.

A typical sequence goes as follows: the dominant animal spots a rival and approaches it, adopting a highly characteristic threat posture, walking tall on fully stretched legs so that it suddenly appears bigger than usual. This effect is increased by the erecting of the hairs along its back. Because the crest is greater towards the rear end of the animal, the line of its back slopes up towards the tail. This gives the attacking cat a silhouette which is the exact opposite of the crouching shape of the weaker rival, whose rear end is held low on the ground.

With the backs of his ears showing and a great deal of howling, growling and gurgling, the attacker advances in slow motion, watching for any sudden reaction from his cringing enemy. The noises made are startlingly hostile and it is hard to understand how anything so totally aggressive can ever have been misnamed the tom-cat's 'love song'. One can only wonder at the love-life of the people who gave it this name. Needless to say, it has nothing whatever to do with true cat courtship.

As the attacking cat comes very near its rival, it performs a strange but highly characteristic head-twisting action. At a distance of about three feet it raises its head up slightly and then tilts it over to one side, all the time fixating the enemy with its eyes. Then the attacker takes a slow step forward and tilts its head the other way. This may be repeated several times and appears to be a threat of the neck-bite to come, the head twisting into the biting position as much as to say 'this is what you will get'. In other words, the attacker acts out the 'intention movement' of the assault typical of the species.

If two cats of equal status meet and threaten one another, a long period of deadlock may follow, with each animal performing exactly the same slow, hostile approach, as if displaying in front of a mirror.

The nearer they get, the slower and shorter are their movements, until they become frozen in a prolonged stalemate which may last for many minutes.

Throughout this they will continue to give vent to their caterwauling howls and moans, but neither side will be prepared to capitulate.

Eventually they may separate from one another in incredibly slow motion.

To increase their speed would be tantamount to admitting weakness and would lead to an immediate attack from the rival, so they must both withdraw with almost imperceptible movements to retain their status.

Should these threats and counter-threats collapse into a serious fight, the action begins with one of the adversaries making a lunging attempt at a neck-bite. When this happens the opponent instantly twists round and defends itself with its own jaws, while at the same time striking out with its front feet, clinging on with its forepaws and then kicking wildly with its powerful back feet. This is the point at which the 'fur flies' quite literally, and the growling gives way suddenly to yowls and screams as the two animals roll and writhe around, biting, clawing and kicking.

This phase does not last long. It is too intense. The rivals quickly pull apart and resume the threat displays, staring at one another and growling throatily once again. The assault is then repeated, perhaps several times, until one of them finally gives up and remains lying on the ground with its ears fully flattened. At this point the victor performs another highly characteristic display. It turns at right angles to the loser and, with great concentration, starts to sniff the ground, as though at that very moment there is an irresistibly delicious odour deposited there. The animal concentrates so hard on this sniffing that, were it not a regular feature of all fights, it would have the appearance of a genuine odour-check. But it is now only a ritual act, a victory display which signals to the cowering rival that its submission and capitulation have been accepted and that the battle is over. After the ceremonial sniffing the victor saunters slowly off and then, after a short while, the vanquished animal slinks away to safety.

Not all fights are conducted at such high intensity. Milder disputes are settled by 'paw-scrapping' in which the rivals swipe out at one another with extended claws. Slashing at their rival's head in this way, they may be able to settle their disagreement without the full ritual battle and all-in wrestling described above.