How to Control Female Cat Aggression

Give your aggressive female cat some space while you monitor the situation. It can be tempting to try to separate the aggressive cat physically, but this could cause her to turn that aggression, and those claws, toward you. To stop your female cat from fighting, spray her with water, or throw a pillow or soft piece of clothing at her. This breaks up the fight without putting you in danger.

Use cat pheromone spray in the home to take the tension down a notch. Pheromone diffusers help spread the scent throughout the home. You won't smell these, but your kitties will.

Create multiple safe spaces for your cats in different areas of the home. Put your female's food and water in one area, and other cats' food and water in other areas. Have several litter boxes. By separating out their resources, you reduce competition between cats that can contribute to tension.

Offer your cats multiple perches, such as chairs, cat beds and cat houses. Your cats can hide under objects or perch on them to gain a safe space that can soothe tensions. If you don't have enough places for kitties to perch, they may find themselves competing for a desired perch.

Observe your cats to see if these steps decrease the female's aggressive behavior. If not, you will need to keep the cats physically in separate rooms so they cannot fight during the day. Keep the cats in different rooms of the house for several days to several weeks.

Reintroduce the cats slowly, when you are around to referee. To minimize the chance of fighting, do this on leashes or cage your pets and move the cages near each other. Allow brief, daily socialization periods to ease kitty tension.

Allow the cats be alone together when they can sit together without fighting. Leave them alone for short periods of time, gradually increasing the time they are alone until you can leave them alone all day.

Avoid engaging in behavior that can cause kitty to get aggressive. For example, if she scratches when you play, stop playing with her directly. Instead, use dangling toys, like fishing poles, or toss moving objects, like balls, to engage in play without the aggression. Since you aren't touching kitty while playing, she won't be able to scratch or bite.

Address the aggressive behavior with a noise deterrent to startle her out of that behavior. Try hissing at her when she begins to act aggressive, or blasting a can of compressed air. Ideally, your deterrent will startle her from aggression. Don't touch her, since she can interpret your touch as play behavior.

Get up and walk away if kitty continues to act aggressive. This teaches her that these actions lead to a lack of attention from you. By leaving her alone when she acts out, and rewarding her with affection and play when she behaves, you can teach her not to be aggressive.