Beta's

[Deacon Blues]

In the last few years we have adopted several ferals, some of which moved in doors. One of them, a large (biggest kitty in the house) black short haired male cat is clearly a beta male. He is subservient to all of the other cats in the house (male or female) even though he is clearly bigger and stronger then all of them.

We love him, dearly. He has the sweetest cat cry, ever.

We have found dealing with a beta male, that is so big, unique.

My question, what experience have you had with a beta male cat? Do you have any insight as to their nature that you feel would help us?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi

I'm not sure, but there might be something in this article that applies ;

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Deacon Blues]

Good stuff!

I did not know that cat's had beta personalities, until this one.

What a treasure he is, though...his quiet mews and only occasional requests for a pet are unique,..

 

[Furballsmom]

I wish I could meet him, he really does sound like a wonderful little man

 

[susanm9006]

I have never thought of cats as being Alpha cats or Beta cats. They certainly aren’t dominant or submissive in the way that dogs are. But some cats have just very laid back personalities and let the other cats have their way because they either don’t care or don’t see it as being worth the effort.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I think a cat's personality - rather than size - dictates their demeanor. You just have a bigger kitty that has no desire to 'rule the roost'. I've known tiny cats to intimidate larger cats, and the same goes for dogs too!

The article above might help to bring your guy out of his shell a bit, but if it doesn't, it probably doesn't matter to him anyway. As long as he is happy that is all that matters!!

 

[Deacon Blues]

We have no desire to change him. We just want to understand him better. He is very shy,...

 

[Zerthax]

The biggest cats can be the biggest babies sometimes. My mother has a large, very muscular cat that is afraid of his own shadow.

 

[Furballsmom]

He is very shy,...

Wow, he is gorgeous !!
Gentle, shy, retiring, what a classy gentleman

 

[Deacon Blues]

He is very smart, too. He routinely opens doors, drawers, cabinets, etc. He has even learned to use a paw like we use our hands on drawer pulls. We have to use child proof cabinet locks to keep him from getting into everything.

 

[betsygee]

It sounds like you have a wonderful kitty there! We have an 18 lb. male cat who's such a sweetheart. We've always called him our Zen Cat because he's so laid back.

We adopted him from the SPCA and were a little nervous introducing him to our two resident cats because of his size but he was wonderful. He just sat there and let the other cats sniff him and hiss at him. He never reacted, though he could have flattened either one of them.

Your boy sure is beautiful--what's his name?

 

[Deacon Blues]

Our daughter insisted he be named Salem. Thus, he is Salem. He knows him name, too!