- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
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Hey there
It's been awhile, but I'm having some disputes between a couple of my cats, and wondered if the community could weigh in?
We brought Little Helen home last November. She adjusted well, got along well with everyone, with only one real point of conflict: one week she seemed to be Matt's "girlfriend" and the next she was Midnights.......whichever one she picked, the other was moody
Now recently, the issue seems to be Midnight.........he seems to be going out of his way to pick on her. Started out as not taking no for an answer, when he wanted to play-she's a rough-and-tumble, all-claws-bared scrapper, and he loves it. Now it's his daily routine to ambush her until she growls and swipes at him from a place under furnature.
His morning routine looks like this:
I put the two younger cats in the basement, so that we can get some sleep, so when I get up, I let them upstairs again and feed all three cats. Three different bowls, lined up about a foot apart. They usually switch part way through.
After breakfast he does his own thing until about 11am, when he gets chatty, and wants attention. I'll play with him, and give him scritches, maybe bring out the laser.
When he's done with me, between 11:30-12, he goes looking for Helen. If she doesn't want to play, he'll say Mrrr! and pounce on her anyway, triggering a fight, and pressing it until she kicks his fur.
After I break them up, because Helen's under the bed, growling at him, he wanders off to find some ponytails, or other amusement....maybe take a nap until the kids get home from school.
Now we have plenty of litter boxes, spread over both floors, and two large water bowls. The cats all start with their own food bowls, though they swap three or four times during a meal. I can't pin down exactly how long this has been going on, and I never hear any signs of trouble when they're downstairs at night...and they do still curl up together to sleep in the afternoon.
So I don't know if this is aggression, or "annoying little brother syndrome" ?
Matt hates the fighting, and rushes to break it up.........but then, he purrs at me, and looks up for approval every time, so I don't know how much of that is him being a good boy.
It's been awhile, but I'm having some disputes between a couple of my cats, and wondered if the community could weigh in?
We brought Little Helen home last November. She adjusted well, got along well with everyone, with only one real point of conflict: one week she seemed to be Matt's "girlfriend" and the next she was Midnights.......whichever one she picked, the other was moody
Now recently, the issue seems to be Midnight.........he seems to be going out of his way to pick on her. Started out as not taking no for an answer, when he wanted to play-she's a rough-and-tumble, all-claws-bared scrapper, and he loves it. Now it's his daily routine to ambush her until she growls and swipes at him from a place under furnature.
His morning routine looks like this:
I put the two younger cats in the basement, so that we can get some sleep, so when I get up, I let them upstairs again and feed all three cats. Three different bowls, lined up about a foot apart. They usually switch part way through.
After breakfast he does his own thing until about 11am, when he gets chatty, and wants attention. I'll play with him, and give him scritches, maybe bring out the laser.
When he's done with me, between 11:30-12, he goes looking for Helen. If she doesn't want to play, he'll say Mrrr! and pounce on her anyway, triggering a fight, and pressing it until she kicks his fur.
After I break them up, because Helen's under the bed, growling at him, he wanders off to find some ponytails, or other amusement....maybe take a nap until the kids get home from school.
Now we have plenty of litter boxes, spread over both floors, and two large water bowls. The cats all start with their own food bowls, though they swap three or four times during a meal. I can't pin down exactly how long this has been going on, and I never hear any signs of trouble when they're downstairs at night...and they do still curl up together to sleep in the afternoon.
So I don't know if this is aggression, or "annoying little brother syndrome" ?
Matt hates the fighting, and rushes to break it up.........but then, he purrs at me, and looks up for approval every time, so I don't know how much of that is him being a good boy.
