Dealing with a cat dominating another cat

[jahzara]

I'm curious how you all would handle this situation:

So Cobalt & Rigby sleep together. He's been waking up and suddenly giving a bit of an aggressive meow at Rigby (who's asleep) and then proceeds to bite his neck. The last time this happened, I tried to reassure him that everything was okay and gave him some comfort.

I tried to see how they would deal with it without my intervening this time, and noticed he started kind of stepping on him, like some weird mating/dominance type thing. Rigby was getting really distressed and trying to pull away, but couldn't. It then it dawned on me - my giving him comfort last time might be inadvertently giving positive reinforcement for the behavior: he got attention and loves.

I know with dogs, if you have a lap dog that is being aggressive to someone sitting next to you, the best thing you can do is to place them on the floor and ignore them. They learn that a particular behavior was met with an undesired outcome, and learn to not growl when someone sits next to you if they want to stay on your lap. Cats aren't dogs, but they are social pack animals.

So this time, I picked up Cobalt, placed him on the floor, and walked away.

I'm curious:
A) why he is doing this in the first place? And
B) to know how you would handle a scenario like this and why?

 

[FeebysOwner]

How old are Cobalt and Rigby? Are they both neutered? Any medical issues (previous or current) with either of them? Can you tell if Cobalt is dreaming before he wakes up (twitching or other similar movements)? Are you sure he is even actually fully awake?
Does it happen every time they sleep together or just specific times (e.g; overnight vs. the day)?

Short of it being a health issue, which would obviously require a different approach, first telling him 'No' and if that doesn't stop him, picking him up, saying 'No" again, and placing him on the floor is probably a good tactic.

 

[Mv00]

It sounds to me like it may be a jealousy thing. Try one on one with each for a set amount of time and play time alone with each. Do they act that way at other times or just after waking up? Also, try to reward good behavior. It could be possible Cobalt is trying to get attention from you.

 

[jahzara]

How old are Cobalt and Rigby? Are they both neutered? Any medical issues (previous or current) with either of them? Can you tell if Cobalt is dreaming before he wakes up (twitching or other similar movements)? Are you sure he is even actually fully awake?
Does it happen every time they sleep together or just specific times (e.g; overnight vs. the day)?

Short of it being a health issue, which would obviously require a different approach, first telling him 'No' and if that doesn't stop him, picking him up, saying 'No" again, and placing him on the floor is probably a good tactic.

They are both 8 and neutered. Cobalt gets constipated sometimes and had coccidia when he was a baby. He did just go through a bout of constipation recently, during this same time as these episodes.

I do think Cobalt is dreaming before he wakes up and does this. While I didn't notice any twitching or meows or growls these last two times - they seemed sudden - when it's happened in the past, I know he was dreaming beforehand.

I'll have to keep my eye more on when it happens. The last two times were in the late afternoon, getting closer to the "2-hour pre-dinner pestering mom for food" time of day that Rigby does. Rigby pesters me for food by meowing and getting up in my face. Cobalt just sort of broads there letting his brother do all the work. But maybe it's related to hunger?

My instincts are kind of wondering if it isn't a smell type thing. Like, he's dreaming, smells Rigby cause he's using him as a pillow, and he gets confused thinking it's another cat? We had an incident several years ago where he smelled some weird spot on the carpet and suddenly turned on Rigby. We had to keep them separate for the night cause it was like he thought another cat was in the house.

It sounds to me like it may be a jealousy thing. Try one on one with each for a set amount of time and play time alone with each. Do they act that way at other times or just after waking up? Also, try to reward good behavior. It could be possible Cobalt is trying to get attention from you.

Interesting. What makes you think it's a "vie for attention" kind of thing??

 

[FeebysOwner]

I do think Cobalt is dreaming before he wakes up and does this. While I didn't notice any twitching or meows or growls these last two times - they seemed sudden - when it's happened in the past, I know he was dreaming beforehand.

I'll have to keep my eye more on when it happens. The last two times were in the late afternoon, getting closer to the "2-hour pre-dinner pestering mom for food" time of day that Rigby does. Rigby pesters me for food by meowing and getting up in my face. Cobalt just sort of broads there letting his brother do all the work. But maybe it's related to hunger?

My instincts are kind of wondering if it isn't a smell type thing. Like, he's dreaming, smells Rigby cause he's using him as a pillow, and he gets confused thinking it's another cat? We had an incident several years ago where he smelled some weird spot on carpet and suddenly turned on Rigby. We had to keep them separate for the night cause it was like he thought another cat was in the house.

Yeah, I would try to log the events, all the details you can think of to add to the log. It is odd that he would turn on Rigby for hunger, or even for smells. But maybe a log will give you more information to go on. It could be another animal/cat outside that he senses, but that would be more apparent if the log tells you anything.

I am leaning more toward some 'state' that Rigby reaches during sleep that causes his reaction - and, it may not have anything at all to do with Cobalt. Perhaps, it is sleep induced seizures. And, trust me, I have no reason to suggest that other than a guess.