For those of you with multiple cats...

What "cat politics" happen in your house? Who's Alpha, who hangs with who, who has hidden agendas?

Our Alpha apparently is Little One, who is sick right now, but while they're confused they see her enough to know she is still the one in charge. Now, I have Missy who has a crush on Harley and follows him everywhere! Sometimes he snuggles with her, sometimes he just tolerates her. Gizmo is slowing trying to get Alpha status right now, but Little One always used to beat him down...now Harley is fighting with him. They've had some major ones that weren't play fighting. I guess Harley is her second in charge. Missy and Corky hang out together because they are sisters, but Missy is the follower, Corky is the one that gets into anything and everything she can, but usually Missy gets the blame (or is supposed to but we are on to Corky! ) Poor Moster is the outsider. She is our little "seizure kitty" and I guess they can smell her medication on her. I feel bad for her, but she doesn't seem to want attention from the other kitties. Of course, they've seen her having seizures so maybe that frightened them. We give her extra lovings.

So, what's it like in your household?

Spaz is my alpha and the oldest.
Ivory (youngest) is next in line to the throne, despite what Vash and Trouble may think.
Vash and Trouble share the exact same position in the group, though they go back and forth over who is most dominant.
Cassi doesn't care and is pretty submissive, as long as she isn't lowest on the totem pole.
Shadow lets the other two boys bully him, he is second oldest and low man on the totem pole.

All in all it's quite peaceful, Spaz only every shows her dominance when the other annoy her too much.

Does having just 2 cats count as having multipe cats?

Originally Posted by Miagi's_Mommy

Does having just 2 cats count as having multipe cats?

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Absolutely! 2 cats are multiple cats. Who is in charge? (I only said multiple cats because if you only have 1 then we already know he/she is in charge )

Not too complicated with only three, but it's still interesting.

Fawn is alpha (I'm pretty sure), though not aggressively so. She does what she d-well pleases, eats from everybody's dish, and everybody defers to her when the food goes down, even if only for a few seconds. She also gets along with everybody of every species, EXCEPT any cat who thinks he'd like to move in.

I'm not sure about the relative status of Cindy and Suzy. Suzy is the martyr. Cindy chases her, and Suzy hisses. They do not fight, ever. On the surface, Cindy appears to be the aggressor, except if you happen to notice that Suzy meanders through Cindy's territory, not looking to avoid her, but looking to see if she's around -- as in available for a little exercise, and perhaps to get her in Dutch with the humans. I think, in fact, that there's a constant tug-o'-war going on between them for second place. Neither of them would ever admit it, but I see them co-existing peacefully, only a couple of feet apart, too often to believe that there's any real antagonism between them.

Lily and Sparkle barely tolerate each other and old Oberon gets along with everybody. I guess Oberon's the alpha.

24 cats..they have all sort of worked out any issues they had. the females tend to mother any cat younger then they are. the boys tend to grow out of their nursing/i need a foster mommy alot faster. there are a couple I can count on for issues(jonathan-jd loves to knock over cans, ducky likes to buggy hunt but has no depth perception as he repeatedly slams into the wall...but oh so lovable. maggie and max were taken from a guy with a few cats who were reproducing and undersocialized. max thinks i am great maggie still stalks me to see whats up lol. one thing with this many is they learn from eachother.. good and bad:S the shy ones learn its a great place to be the active ones learn more things they can get into and how to open bags of outside cat food(outside cats get the cheap brands) or how to climb the tree onto the doorframe and jump off(UGH@)

Awww poor Monster!!!!

Stumpy's alpha in our household, the first adopted and the oldest. She makes sure the household runs smoothly, welcomes the newbies, and always steps in when Lily or Smudge make any sounds of "pain" (whether through wrestling, or from us giving meds).

Lily's definitely the middle child. She's best friends with Stumpy and best friends with Smudge. She's the quiet one, but is next in line in the chain. she kicks Smudge's butt when they're wrestling and is faster

And Smudge is definitely the baby of the household. She looks like the little baby, acts like the little baby and gets away with murder She adores Lily, and loves to snuggle and play with her, and she follows around Stumpy around constantly, and likes to hang near Stumpy, who smacks her away if she gets too close. They hang out, but Stumpy never snuggles with Smudge, never cleans her, and they may chase each other and interact occasionally, but it's definitely not real playing like they do with Lily.

Smudge is our little piggy and always pushes the others out of the way when it comes to food, and the older girls let the baby get her food first Smudge is the snuggler with us, and definitely the people cat, but bottom of the pile in the kitty hierarchy. The kitties are all friends, but there's a definitely hierarchy from eldest and first adopted to youngest and most recently adopted.

Jasmine is the alpha and also the smallest of the bunch. Bear is everyones friend. Molly is kind of like the momma..even though she is the youngest. She wants to baby everyone. Buddy has a crush on Molly. Max is the calm, layed back one. Bosco I guess would be the low guy on the totem pole. But they really all get along and I am very lucky to have a nice, relaxed bunch. Never really any fights.

You think over the 4 years my cat family has been with me I could figure out who is top cat. Phantom hates Woden, hisses spits growls and claws at him. Phantom is indeffrent to Loki her other son. Loki loves woden and vice versa, play and fights are started equally among the brothers. Phantom does not really play with either of her sons unless they keep bugging her then it turns into a fight. Phantoms palace is our bedroom and the bed is her domain she will hardly move for my husband when he comes in. Loki loves the space behind my computer moniter and will sleep there for hours provided i'm at the keybord. Woden loves to stay under the bed or when I am home at my feet or near me. They go where I go for the most part. Humm who is top cat.

I don't have alpha's in my house. My cats LOVE eachother, they don't fight at all. All they do is watch eachother eat bugs, groom eachother and sleep together.

Forest might be the only one in charge, per say. But he is sooooo laid back, the other two seem to look up to him.

Oh geez. My alpha cat passed away from complications of old age 2 months ago: and I could write a screen play about the politics that have been going on around here.

The expected clash between Etcetera D'Calico and Peanut Butterum for the alpha position as tribal Queen did NOT take place, with Peanut simply allowing Etcetera to assume the title. However, Turvy's job of mothering and nurturing new found wayward kittens passed to Peanut, with her adopting tiny Freeway within days of him arriving here....

Skimbleshanks the Hobo doesn't care who's in charge, as long as someone will race and wrestle with him...

Mischief Mistoffolees really wants everyone to know that he's top male cat, but he can't demonstrate that because no one wants to challenge him. Sooo, he has to show off by picking on poor Trace, who just wants to eat, sleep, get brushed and watch the birds.....

And so on and so on....

It's an ongoing battle between the two- suprisingly our smaller younger cat, Sonic, is more aggressive but I still can't see Radar giving up his status in the house.

I think Bella is the alpha, but according to Stan that's up for debate . They will have periods of time where everything is just fine and then we'll have a period of litterbox stalking and food competition. Luckily it's really more peaceful than not. Feliway helps too.

I think eventually the dust will settle, but Stan is getting older and feeling his oats I guess. Bella is stubborn and bossy and a little bit tortie, so I think she'll still end up on top.

Patches is the Queen, she's definitly the alpha cat.
Whitey comes in a close second and you almost think he is at first, but if Patches is playing he'll comply and wait his turn. He doesn't really do that for the Beauty or Luna

Luna and Beauty are neck in neck. Beauty is very passive, she just wants love...she could care less about being alpha. Luna would love to be Alpha, but Whitey and Patches just know not to take any crap from her

Originally Posted by Skippymjp

Oh geez. My alpha cat passed away from complications of old age 2 months ago: and I could write a screen play about the politics that have been going on around here.

The expected clash between Etcetera D'Calico and Peanut Butterum for the alpha position as tribal Queen did NOT take place, with Peanut simply allowing Etcetera to assume the title. However, Turvy's job of mothering and nurturing new found wayward kittens passed to Peanut, with her adopting tiny Freeway within days of him arriving here....

Skimbleshanks the Hobo doesn't care who's in charge, as long as someone will race and wrestle with him...

Mischief Mistoffolees really wants everyone to know that he's top male cat, but he can't demonstrate that because no one wants to challenge him. Sooo, he has to show off by picking on poor Trace, who just wants to eat, sleep, get brushed and watch the birds.....

And so on and so on....

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Mike, I take it you're a "CATS" fan? I love your kitties names! Everytime I read one of your posts I can't get the song "Jellical Cats" out of my head. Off topic, but I saw "CATS" in March for the first time (DVD doesn't count) and it was awesome! Even my husband loved it, and he hates musicals.

Sassy has always been alpha cat in my household. He has always been the biggest and likes to strut his stuff. Linus knows this and will push his luck occasionally luckily sassy pretty laid back and Linus usually just gets a mild cuff, just enough for Sassy to prove his point.

We have 8 cats. 5 boys, 3 girls!

The boys fight pretty often... it's more play-fighting than kill-fighting.

We do have to put them in "Time Out" every now and then, when the testosterone gets a tad too outta control.

Alpha... not real sure. They take turns, methinks.

As far as 'who hangs with who', that's an easy one!

Snickers & Dusty - age 16 and 15 - known each other forever. Dusty ONLY allows Snickers to touch her and they are often curled up on the sofa together. Snickers can't see real well and is arthritic (you can tell it hurts when he walks sometimes) so he can't keep up w/ the younger boys; he tries but I usually put him in Time Out for his own safety!

Skippy & Tiger - they are brothers, so they like to hang together. They also play fight A LOT. Kind of annoy each other? Sometimes we have to separate them too, cuz one will puff-out and get all freaky while the other just wants to play, man!

Hammie & Zorro - Hammie has been literally obsessed with Zorro since the moment he laid his kitten eyes on him! He follows him EVERYWHERE. To the litter box... to the food bowl... to a napping spot. When Hammie is bored (which is often; he has ADD I think) he bugs Zorro. Zorro usually bops him on the head and bites him but it does not deter Hammie, he just wuvs him.

Miss Jessie is a loner cat. She has always been a loner. Age 14 and a sweetheart, you can usually find her on our bed purring the day away.

Miss KC is a Unibomber. She will not come out from her 'place'. She doesn't socialize. She has a weird obsession with Skippy (they are both black cats, maybe that's it) but other than that, she doesn't hang with any other cat!

Our dog Barney loves them all. You say "Kee Cat?" and Barney freaks out!

Chevy is the Alpha. He fits the exact definition as a matter of fact. He is in charge and refuses to be second to receive attention or play. I have to shut him out a lot of times to get a good play session in with Summer. Another person distracting him with another toy never works even if its in a sepqarate room. You don't dare ever close any door on him or you'll hear about it! We can only pet him for short periods of time, and it has to be on HIS terms! He will jump on us and headbutt like crazy! When he's had enough (which isn't long at all), he'll glance sideways at the hand that is petting him and begin to switch his tail from side to side. We then let him down or else he'll bite. He lets Summer bathe him, but never returns the favor. He's definitely in charge....or at least he thinks he is.

Is he normal?

Summer's always been pretty laid back, although she will actively pursue attention at times. She LOVES it when we come up to her too.

You know, I always wonder that with our kitties. I would think Enzo is the alpha cat but then other times I wonder if he is trying to be even with Leya. Neither one of them are bossy or tell the other what to do. They even share the same food dish! It's so cute to see them eating together. Leya used to growl at him, but since she went blind they've been like two peas in a pod. Enzo is always looking after her and playing with her. He'll meow and purr anywhere he runs so she can chase after him.

I'm surpized she's not more bossy since she can't see, but she's a lover and so is he. Is it possible to not have an alpha cat? Neither one ever bosses the other, it's weird now that I think about it. Enzo will even sit back and let Leya play with a toy. I know Leya isn't an alpha cat and I'm not totally sure about Enzo.