How To Break Up a Cat Fight

Breaking up a cat fight may be necessary to prevent bloodshed, but it's often best to stand back if you can. Cat fights often sound worse than they are, but you're still likely to get scratched or bitten if you get in the middle of it. Still, if you must step in, here's how to break up a cat fight:

1. Wait. Is it necessary to break up the fight? Many scuffles between cats will break up after just a second or two, and if this is the case there's no reason for you to get involved.
2. Use water. Most cats will respond to water.  Using a garden hose, a squirt gun, or a spray bottle, aim for the cats but keep your body out of the middle of the fight. This is an effective way to break up a cat fight without placing yourself physically in the middle of it where you might get bitten or scratched.
3. Put on protective clothing. If you have no water around or it doesn't work to break up the fight, prepare yourself with long clothing and thick gloves to minimize the potential for injury. If you get in the middle of a cat fight while wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and no hand or arm protection, expect to be bitten and scratched in the process.
4. Break up the cats. Avoid hitting the cats, which may make them redirect their anger toward you. Do not get your hands near their mouths unless you want to be bitten. Yell loudly, and run at the cats. Wave a cloth or something interesting around your head, distracting the cats from one another. Keep making loud noises and distracting movements until they stop fighting.
5. Physically separate the cats. If one or both of the cats are yours, take your cat(s) inside immediately. Cats are known to continue fighting after the fight has already been broken up once. Eliminate this possibility by locking one cat in one bedroom, and the other cat in the other room. If only one cat is yours, take it indoors away from the other cat. Let him calm down before letting him outside again.
6. Get vet treatment. After treating your own wounds, if you have any, assess the cats. Do either of them have injuries in need of vet treatment? Abscesses resulting from cat bites can pose serious health risks for your cat, so it's important to get them treated as soon as possible even if the bites seem small. Bites pose the risk for infection with a number of diseases, including feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).

If your cat is constantly getting into fights, consider keeping your cat inside. You never know what diseases ferals, strays, and neighbors' cats may be carrying, and you don't want your cat getting into fights with them. Spaying or neutering your pet can also stop some pet fights, particularly if your cat is territorial. By figuring out why your cat is always fighting other cats, you may be able to solve the problem. Some cats may fight over food or attention, for example.