Having practised on the Border as a small animal veterinarian for the last 23 years, I have witnessed a steady increase in the number of dog and cat fights in our community.
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Unfortunately, the scope for severe injury to both fighting animals and to surrounding people and/or animals is huge since the strength of animals involved in a fight is pretty amazing.
Separating dogs and cats fighting is always difficult and carries the risk of injury to intervening humans.
When animals are fighting or attacking, they may not be thinking clearly and may not respond to commands or cues.
They also may respond to being grabbed or touched, by attacking the source of the stimulus.
There are many pieces of advice written in regards to grabbing hindlegs, nostrils and even testicles of fighting dogs.
Placing your hands on these areas may cause the pet to bite the human and may also cause injury to the pet. Intervention therefore requires the most careful of approaches.
If one animal is chasing and grabbing the other, try and create an escape route for the fleeing animal by opening a door, window or gate.
If both animals are engaged in the fighting, try and find something to throw over them to shock them out of the fight. This might be water hosed or tipped on them, it may be a blanket, doona or a thick coat tossed over them. A covering will also help provide some protection for any people trying to separate fighting animals.
If these things are not available, use a stick, walking stick, broom, mop or anything that lets you get between the animals and separate them.
Once fighting animals are separated, get them out of each others sight to allow them to calm down, since it may not be possible to examine them for injuries until they have settled. This is especially so for cats who may stay reactive for 24 hours after a stressful event.
It is important to remember that confrontational behaviour between two animals is motivated by their emotional state.
We, as pet owners, all have a duty to learn how to read animal signals and understand their natural, species-specific behaviour so that we can avoid putting these animals into confrontational situations.
If the dogs and/or cats are known to the person, and the fights are a regular occurrence, then separation and supervision become extremely important.
Dogs never attack without reason and this should be investigated, especially if it is of sudden onset and no previous aggression has been expressed. Many medical conditions may contribute.
Dogs that are aggressive are often anxious dogs so managing the mental health of the dog or dogs is important.
If you have any concerns about the changing behaviour of your dog or cat it is important seek advice and a health check up from your local veterinarian.