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- Oct 31, 2018
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So I’ve had all 4 kitties under one roof for about 5 or 6 months now. The oldest, Otis, is an orange tabby and definitely likes his attention and has spunky/curious personality. Fairly outgoing and playful as well! He is about 1 year old now and has never been aggressive or hostile aside from first introductions with the other boys in the house. Then there is Richard. He is about 10 months old, and a Bengal/Siamese mix. Almost 100% bengal in appearance with a Siamese personality. Very vocal, needy, loyal, and affectionate toward humans he trusts. He was introduced to the household while two of my other boys were already established here. My two oldest boys were already neutered at the time of introductions. Richard has ongoing health issues including chronic URI symptoms so we delayed the neuter process until he was a little over 8 months old. This was per vet recommendation otherwise I would not have waited so long! So while he reached sexual maturity, he began getting a little territorial. He’s always been more athletic and speedy than the other cats, so naturally he took over as “king of the castle” rather quickly even before sexual maturity. Well I think some tensions rose while he was waiting to be neutered because there was some borderline aggressive play or fighting going on (hard to tell which since they are so young). Now a few months have gone by and all 4 of my cats, including Richard, are neutered and given lots of attention throughout the day. There are 4 large litter boxes for them to use and we clean them 2-3 times per day. The apartment is a tad small but we have window perches, a 6 foot cat tree, and lots of toys. We also have two water fountains for them! Well Richard and Otis the two spunky “loud”, outgoing cats seems to be getting into little hissing matches lately. They are very spread out, maybe once or twice per week, but I’ve been paying closer attention this week and Otis seems to be afraid of Richard and only hisses if he feels attacked or threatened. Otis is a big cat and usually not the shy type so it’s weird to see. Richard will hiss of Otis is using his toys or if I’m playing with a cat dancer toy and Otis is getting his turn with it. Richard also gets borderline too rough with the other two cats but I think it’s just the older, stronger, faster brother forgetting his own strength most of the time because he also grooms them occasionally and plays nice most of the time. So I just don’t want to ignore the fact that Otis seems afraid of Richard and will run away into the other room if Richard is playing with a larger interactive toy with me and running all over the place. Almost like he’s afraid Richard will go after him or run into him. Otis also has been spending more time in our bedroom in the small cat hammock away from the other cats which might be a coincidence but I figured I would mention it. Am I being paranoid? Will I have to reintroduce Richard and Otis slowly? They have been living together for several months now so I’m in unfamiliar territory if I have to do something like that.
!
