Scrapping

[Papergirl1968]

So, I was walking round the corner in my nightie at 1am, as you do, after hearing my two-year-old boy and another cat howling. From a distance it sounded like a baby crying, but as I got closer it was definitely them yowling at each other.
Both this time and a previous occasion a few days ago, my boy has been sitting and the other cat has been crouching or lying a foot or so away. Every now and again they have a bit of a scuffle. I'm assuming from the positions that my boy is trying to be top cat.
He was clearly mortified to be picked up and carried home and seemed uninjured apart from one or two minor scratches to his head, well hidden by his fur.
It wasn't a proper fight in terms of pulling chunks of fur out of each other. Is this howling and occasional scrapping just something cats to do establish the pecking order? He is neutered and is generally a very well behaved and docile lad!

I'm a 'backer-upper', I'll confess. I don't pull them in, though, because I always reckon they need to sort themselves out with the other cat.

The Lodger was very slow to fight by the way - he'd generally prefer to be organising a games room with bar and poker - but if it came to it...............

I used to run out shouting "fuck off" to other cats squaring up to mine. My cat would look pleased that his human had come to his aid and would saunter inside. Tbf his curfew was 9pm.

9pm is my boy's curfew too. I was so tired today I had to have a afternoon nap!
He was home on time tonight, thank goodness! After a bit of pitiful meowing to let me know he really, really couldn't manage to jump down from the fence, he deigned to walk across neighbour's garage roof and come in through my bedroom window.