Cat group dynamic shift?

[bayareakitties]

I have three cats.  I adopted two first, a female one year old and a male kitten about 8 weeks. Since they grew up together they had a harmony.  Not best friends, my girl is high strung.  But they get along and play together here and there.  About a year later I adopted another male, who was about 2.   Of course this was initially on a trial basis to see how they would get along.  But things went so well I decided to adopt the third cat.   The two males became fast friends and did friendly wrestling and would sit together.  The female kept to herself more but they didn't seem to bother her.  For about 6 months this was the way it was.  Then things changed. But it took 6-8 months to shift.  Now the latter adopted male is chasing my female relentlessly and she just hides and is stressed.  And he doesn't seem as interested in playing with the original adopted male.  Is it common for the dynamic to shift like that?  

 

[mani]

@bayareakitties sorry it's taken so long to get to you...

Has anything else changed around the place?

They do change of course.  There's the young cat, the teenage cat etc etc.  Mine are now far more cuddly with me than they were, for example (and seem to like each other less

)  But your original adopted male is now a lot older and that can change the dynamic.

 

[bayareakitties]

Thanks for your reply!  Nothing else has really changed in our lives really.  I just think, on further thought that perhaps I was projecting human qualities on them.  They are not human looking for some egalitarian situation of balance.  They are just being themselves. The male I adopted the latest is establishing some dominance I see now.  What sort of does concern me is when we adopt multiple cats we usually judge how it's working by the first month or so.  And perhaps there should be more education for adopters about how that can change after a year or even more.  

 

[mani]

Oh absolutely.. we never really know.

But what changes can change again.. it may still evolve into perfect relationships all round.

But while your boy is flexing his male-muscles, how about some external help, like some feliway?