I'm having a new issue with one of my cats, and even with having 11 cats, this has never happened before so any advice or insight would be appreciated!
I have 3 cats that "fight" for the top spot in the house. These 3 don't really get along, but have managed to avoid each other most of the time. They don't hurt each other. Its just general hissing and chasing, and its been going on for years so this is "normal" for this house. Its just really obvious that they are all dominant cats and want that queen/king of the house position. 7 of the other cats seem to be ok with this set up, and have no major issues not being the dominant cats.
Then there's my little girl Angelina. She's just under a year old, and as of a few days ago it seems like she might be trying to get that top spot in the house. The vet estimates that she was born in April, so my best guess is that she is just a few weeks shy of one year.
The day I brought her home I was actually impressed by her attitude towards the other cats, but now I'm wondering if it was a sign of what was to come! Whenever I bring a new cat home, I usually leave them in a carrier and let the other cats sniff him/her while I sit there. Then from there I do a slow introduction. Its always been the same - new cat comes in and the old cats hiss and growl for a while. The new cat never seems bothered by the hissing and growling, but also never hisses or growls back. It typically takes about 2 weeks for everyone to settle down into a normal functioning cat house.
The day I brought Angelina home, the resident cats did the normal hissing and growling, except this time, it took about 20 seconds for Angelina to hiss and growl right back at them. She was only about 3 months old, but as soon as she stood up for herself, every single one of the other cats backed off. I didn't do a slow introduction with her because the other cats learned from that very first moment that she wasn't going to allow them to bully her. She just strolled right into the house like she owned it and there was only 2 days of hissing and growling from the others, but it was very minimal. So for months, she just strutted around the house like a confident cat and everyone got along just fine. At the time I just thought "Great! The cats are getting used to me bringing home new cats!"
So as of a few days ago, Angelina has started hissing and growling at Phantom, and chasing him aggressively. My first concern was that something was medically wrong with one of them. However, Phantom is NOT a dominant cat. In fact, he's probably the most submissive cat that I have. So I kept an eye on them, and was debating having a vet check them both out even though they seemed perfectly healthy and had had recent checkups.
Then yesterday as I was getting ready to feed everyone, I watched Angelina growl and swipe at Marmalade and then give him a few good smacks on the face. This was odd because Marmalade is my most aggressive cat and no one messes with him. He fought back, but Angelina just kept growling and smacking, and he actually backed off, which I have NEVER seen him do before.
Today I watched her smack another cat in the face, knock one cat down, and growl at another one. She's not being violent, just aggressive if that makes sense. Now that I see her doing it to several of the cats it seems more like a "Don't mess with me" attitude.
So my question is - is she about to become the top cat in my house? Is there anyway to prevent her from being such a bully? In general, the other cats don't seem incredibly bothered by this new behavior, but its bothering ME! She just seemed like such a sweet little girl, but now that I'm thinking back, I am wondering if her initial "Don't mess with me" growl and hiss on the day I brought her home was an indication that she was about to take over my house.
Also, since she's almost a year old now, I thought that might have something to do with it.
So is this normal? Should I just let her continue to bully the other cats and just let them work it out themselves? If its possible to stop her, how do I do that? And why is she doing this NOW? Is she just becoming an adult cat with an attitude? What do I do if this isn't normal behavior? I have to admit that I liked my little hierarchy the way it was, but since I'm not a cat, I guess it doesn't matter what I think. I'm just having a hard time watching my sweet little kitten turn into a bully. So any advice would be welcomed!
ETA: She's a big cat if that makes any difference. A few months ago, before she was even fully grown she was larger than all of my other females. If I didn't know for sure that she was a female, I'd probably think that she was a male cat just by looking at her quickly. She's the size of my male cats, and is actually even bigger than one of them. Also, she is WONDERFUL with me. She is attached to my side at all times and just purrs and purrs and purrs when I'm around. She sleeps on my head while purring all night long and cries for me when I'm out of the room. She's definitely "my" cat. She's ok with my husband, but its me that she's bonded to. But basically, her interaction with humans hasn't gotten bad at all. If anything, its almost perfect, but I wonder if her attachment to me has to do with any of her issues towards the other cats.
I have 3 cats that "fight" for the top spot in the house. These 3 don't really get along, but have managed to avoid each other most of the time. They don't hurt each other. Its just general hissing and chasing, and its been going on for years so this is "normal" for this house. Its just really obvious that they are all dominant cats and want that queen/king of the house position. 7 of the other cats seem to be ok with this set up, and have no major issues not being the dominant cats.
Then there's my little girl Angelina. She's just under a year old, and as of a few days ago it seems like she might be trying to get that top spot in the house. The vet estimates that she was born in April, so my best guess is that she is just a few weeks shy of one year.
The day I brought her home I was actually impressed by her attitude towards the other cats, but now I'm wondering if it was a sign of what was to come! Whenever I bring a new cat home, I usually leave them in a carrier and let the other cats sniff him/her while I sit there. Then from there I do a slow introduction. Its always been the same - new cat comes in and the old cats hiss and growl for a while. The new cat never seems bothered by the hissing and growling, but also never hisses or growls back. It typically takes about 2 weeks for everyone to settle down into a normal functioning cat house.
The day I brought Angelina home, the resident cats did the normal hissing and growling, except this time, it took about 20 seconds for Angelina to hiss and growl right back at them. She was only about 3 months old, but as soon as she stood up for herself, every single one of the other cats backed off. I didn't do a slow introduction with her because the other cats learned from that very first moment that she wasn't going to allow them to bully her. She just strolled right into the house like she owned it and there was only 2 days of hissing and growling from the others, but it was very minimal. So for months, she just strutted around the house like a confident cat and everyone got along just fine. At the time I just thought "Great! The cats are getting used to me bringing home new cats!"
So as of a few days ago, Angelina has started hissing and growling at Phantom, and chasing him aggressively. My first concern was that something was medically wrong with one of them. However, Phantom is NOT a dominant cat. In fact, he's probably the most submissive cat that I have. So I kept an eye on them, and was debating having a vet check them both out even though they seemed perfectly healthy and had had recent checkups.
Then yesterday as I was getting ready to feed everyone, I watched Angelina growl and swipe at Marmalade and then give him a few good smacks on the face. This was odd because Marmalade is my most aggressive cat and no one messes with him. He fought back, but Angelina just kept growling and smacking, and he actually backed off, which I have NEVER seen him do before.
Today I watched her smack another cat in the face, knock one cat down, and growl at another one. She's not being violent, just aggressive if that makes sense. Now that I see her doing it to several of the cats it seems more like a "Don't mess with me" attitude.
So my question is - is she about to become the top cat in my house? Is there anyway to prevent her from being such a bully? In general, the other cats don't seem incredibly bothered by this new behavior, but its bothering ME! She just seemed like such a sweet little girl, but now that I'm thinking back, I am wondering if her initial "Don't mess with me" growl and hiss on the day I brought her home was an indication that she was about to take over my house.
Also, since she's almost a year old now, I thought that might have something to do with it.
So is this normal? Should I just let her continue to bully the other cats and just let them work it out themselves? If its possible to stop her, how do I do that? And why is she doing this NOW? Is she just becoming an adult cat with an attitude? What do I do if this isn't normal behavior? I have to admit that I liked my little hierarchy the way it was, but since I'm not a cat, I guess it doesn't matter what I think. I'm just having a hard time watching my sweet little kitten turn into a bully. So any advice would be welcomed!
ETA: She's a big cat if that makes any difference. A few months ago, before she was even fully grown she was larger than all of my other females. If I didn't know for sure that she was a female, I'd probably think that she was a male cat just by looking at her quickly. She's the size of my male cats, and is actually even bigger than one of them. Also, she is WONDERFUL with me. She is attached to my side at all times and just purrs and purrs and purrs when I'm around. She sleeps on my head while purring all night long and cries for me when I'm out of the room. She's definitely "my" cat. She's ok with my husband, but its me that she's bonded to. But basically, her interaction with humans hasn't gotten bad at all. If anything, its almost perfect, but I wonder if her attachment to me has to do with any of her issues towards the other cats.
