Very odd!

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radiation

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Hello everyone, first time poster. As a matter of fact I would have never found this site if it weren't for the odd question I have. First off I own two cats, both are "adopted" (aka cats that I found and could not find the original owners for so they sort of moved in). My older cat Hunter is at least 16-17 years old and in renal failure for going on 2 years now (poor guy). The younger female one Chai is approximately 1 year old and extremely feisty.

Chai is always wanting to play play play and Hunter wants nothing to do with her. Of course this leads to a lot of sneak attacks from Chai when Hunter is passing by. So I'm no stranger to hissing and yowling. Any way normally it's pretty quick and then it's over, Chai usually runs off after getting her sneak attack in and Hunters walks off. Yesterday though I heard Hunter making his "I'm extremely mad" sound over and over again, I go into my bedroom to see what's up low and behold there's Chai sitting on Hunter as if he was a sofa! Normally if I have to intervene Chai takes off running at the very sight of me approaching her, this time however she just looked up at me as if she was just chilling out and nothing was wrong. Hunter of course was still yowling at her, but she just acted like she could have cared less.

Any way they stayed like that for at least a minute and I had to snap a picture of it with my iPhone. Can somebody please tell me what is behind this behavior? Is it some sort of dominance thing?

 
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judi

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Originally Posted by Radiation

Hello everyone, first time poster. As a matter of fact I would have never found this site if it weren't for the odd question I have. First off I own two cats, both are "adopted" (aka cats that I found and could not find the original owners for so they sort of moved in). My older cat Hunter is at least 16-17 years old and in renal failure for going on 2 years now (poor guy). The younger female one Chai is approximately 1 year old and extremely feisty.

Chai is always wanting to play play play and Hunter wants nothing to do with her. Of course this leads to a lot of sneak attacks from Chai when Hunter is passing by. So I'm no stranger to hissing and yowling. Any way normally it's pretty quick and then it's over, Chai usually runs off after getting her sneak attack in and Hunters walks off. Yesterday though I heard Hunter making his "I'm extremely mad" sound over and over again, I go into my bedroom to see what's up low and behold there's Chai sitting on Hunter as if he was a sofa! Normally if I have to intervene Chai takes off running at the very sight of me approaching her, this time however she just looked up at me as if she was just chilling out and nothing was wrong. Hunter of course was still yowling at her, but she just acted like she could have cared less.

Any way they stayed like that for at least a minute and I had to snap a picture of it with my iPhone. Can somebody please tell me what is behind this behavior? Is it some sort of dominance thing?

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It could have to do with dominance.
One of my Vets told me to leave the two that I have alone. They usually work it out. I make a point of clipping their nails at least once a week so that they don't accidentally hurt each other.
 
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radiation

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Oops! didn't post that pic right, I reposted it!
 
momofmany

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Cats hide their illnesses very well from humans but typically they do not do that as well with other cats. Cats that are very old or ill are usually driven out of a cat colony as they have no useful purpose to that colony. If they remain, they are dominated over by the others. So this could very well be a sign of dominance.

I'm not sure that I would leave them be to work this out at Hunter's age and failing health. Things could escalate very quickly between the 2 of them.

My oldest cat has been the alpha cat for many years and has been sick for the last 1-1/2 years. I do things for him that keep him higher in the rankings from others such as feed him wet food in front of the other cats and don't let them eat it. Alpha's eat first. I think that has stopped many squabbles in my household.
 
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radiation

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Momofmany,
Thank you for that interesting respnse. It's ironic that you say that about the older cat. I allow Hunter to eat all day long anytime he's hungry because of his condition and this makes Chai very jealous. She tries to sneak his food, sometimes she suceeds, but most of the time I catch her in the act and she freaks out and runs away.

Also I do not allow Chai to harass Hunter unchecked. I will chase her away when she does. This seems to keep her from anything more than the ninja like "sneak and touch" type attacks she tries that are complete harmless. Hunter also gets treats every once and a while as well as preferential treatment to go outside or follow me anywhere where Chai has to wait. I knew right off the bat with Chai that she would a little terror in this respect, so we keep the two seperated during the day.
 
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As I just mentioned in another post, I'm having the same problems too, with two of my cats. I'm at a loss as to what to do myself..
I wish you luck with your two squabblers, too..


Momofmany, that was an interesting post, which makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for your input!


~KK~
 
werebear

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We have a very shy older cat with no social skills, and a six and a half month old kitten.

Puffy has no "presence." One look from James Bond and the kitten alters his trajectory in midair, but Puffy just doesn't know how to impose his will, and thus is constantly being "asked to play."

We police the encounters and don't let it get out of hand. As the kitten gets older, he will learn to leave Puffy alone more consistently, but I don't think we could do it if we didn't have Mr. Bond as a buffer. He likes the kitten, can impose discipline, and offers the kitten a cat companion to go to, which keeps the pressure off of Puffy.

Older, sick, or nerdy cats, like Puffy, have a serious disadvantage if they are the only other cat in the household, as you have there. The younger, or just more lively, cat can't help asking for play and interaction, and the other cat doesn't have it to give.

It's not dominance, from what I see; it's a status thing, though. The other cat approaches to have some of the "magic" rub off or to try to figure out what is so special about the cat getting all the attention, and there's also, I think, hurt feelings when their attempts at interaction is rebuffed.
 
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