Video example of antagonism between cats in multi-cat household

This lady bought some new cat shelves which attach to the glass in a window frame through suckers. It's quite a clever idea as cats love to look outside and high vantage points. She is pleased that they work. She is not going to be pleased that her cats are fighting. It looks like a minor contretemps between two family cats in a nice home. 

Video example of antagonism between cats in multi-cat household. Screenshot.

They, are no doubt, well looked after and loved. But my guess is that there is a background of quiet, simmering animosity between these two cats. They probably get along pretty well nearly all of the time. But they both jumped onto these new cat shelves to try them out which put them close together and a slapping competition commenced.

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This is an embedded tweet. They often go caput because they are pulled from Twitter. Sorry if that's happened. You have a still image instead which is nowhere near as good.

Was looking at “cat shelf” reviews and found this truly perfect user-submitted video: pic.twitter.com/s7IzHpg5e2

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) August 24, 2021

The experts say that if there is a cat behaviour problem described as "bad cat behaviour" in a home it's often caused by friction between cats in a multi-cat household. If that isn't the cause it is going to be the behaviour of the human caregiver which has rubbed up against feline emotions.

Adopting a second or third cat into a home is a problematic process which should be carried out with great care. Rescue centres should allow people to "suck and see" when adopting a second cat. They should allow them to bring the cat back after a week if it doesn't work out. Perhaps they do this in some shelters but it should be the default policy.

You get chemistry between cats. We don't know why some cats get along and some don't but I'm going to propose that the reason is a common sense one: they just get along like people get along because it's the right chemistry. But the big issue with multi-cat homes is that you are putting cats quite close together; unnaturally so. 

Domestic cats need several acres at least of home territory and they have to adapt to a much smaller space especially if they are confined to the home. They do this but it is easier for some cats compared to others. This is likely to cause stress if the cats are not friendly with each other. This is what has happened in this instance in my opinion.