- Joined
- Nov 20, 2014
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- 6
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Hello everyone,
this is my first post on these forums, and this might become a bit long (plus English isn't my first language), so I humbly request you bear with me.
We currently have three cats, all rescued from various precarious conditions. Arcee, a calico, was taken in almost two years ago when she was apparently abandoned as a three month old near our house. Tigris, a black-white striped cat, was had given birth in a completely exposed patch of grass on a chilling February (2013): we took them all in, and when they were weaned, found suitable homes for the kittens, and eventually adopted her permanently. Raton is a muscular and ridiculously friendly chausie/abyssinian that was rejected for breeding (apparently he was pretty much sterile) and was forsaken by his breeders; we took him in about a year ago. He's about four, now. All of them were neutered as soon as was reasonable: Arcee at around six months old, Tigris when the last kitten was adopted, and Raton immediately. Arcee gets along very well with both of them, but, well, here is the problem:
Tigris can't stand Raton and she will hiss at him every time he gets close. Which wouldn't be a problem, if it wasn't for Raton's fixation on her. Often, whenever they're in the same room, Raton will keep looking at her with fascination for minutes at a time. Other times he will try getting close or even stalk and sometimes pounce on her. It doesn't seem like he's being actively aggressive, and he's the gentlest, sweetest cat to everyone, even other cats (we've had tons of them in temporary shelter this past couple of years, all tested for diseases beforehand of course), but he's a very strong cat and sometimes plays a bit rougher than he realizes. Of course, this infuriates Tigris even more, perpetuating the cycle.
From his behaviour, and if I didn't know better, it's almost as if Raton was smitten with Tigris. Which doesn't make a lot of sense for cats even ignoring that he's neutered, but after seeing Raton lay on his side to let kittens suckle on his nipples (yeah, they weren't his, yeah, he's a male and yeah, he was already neutered back then), I'm not ruling out anything with this cat.
My girlfriend and I are relatively well-versed in cat behaviour, having had cats since childhood, having read tons about them, having coordinated rescues and adoptions of over a hundred of them during the past two years, and having had to coach all those new adopters. Still, we're a bit stumped here. We're considering consulting with a cat ethologist but we don't even know of any here in Spain. Does anyone know of any online or can otherwise help shed some light on the situation?
this is my first post on these forums, and this might become a bit long (plus English isn't my first language), so I humbly request you bear with me.
We currently have three cats, all rescued from various precarious conditions. Arcee, a calico, was taken in almost two years ago when she was apparently abandoned as a three month old near our house. Tigris, a black-white striped cat, was had given birth in a completely exposed patch of grass on a chilling February (2013): we took them all in, and when they were weaned, found suitable homes for the kittens, and eventually adopted her permanently. Raton is a muscular and ridiculously friendly chausie/abyssinian that was rejected for breeding (apparently he was pretty much sterile) and was forsaken by his breeders; we took him in about a year ago. He's about four, now. All of them were neutered as soon as was reasonable: Arcee at around six months old, Tigris when the last kitten was adopted, and Raton immediately. Arcee gets along very well with both of them, but, well, here is the problem:
Tigris can't stand Raton and she will hiss at him every time he gets close. Which wouldn't be a problem, if it wasn't for Raton's fixation on her. Often, whenever they're in the same room, Raton will keep looking at her with fascination for minutes at a time. Other times he will try getting close or even stalk and sometimes pounce on her. It doesn't seem like he's being actively aggressive, and he's the gentlest, sweetest cat to everyone, even other cats (we've had tons of them in temporary shelter this past couple of years, all tested for diseases beforehand of course), but he's a very strong cat and sometimes plays a bit rougher than he realizes. Of course, this infuriates Tigris even more, perpetuating the cycle.
From his behaviour, and if I didn't know better, it's almost as if Raton was smitten with Tigris. Which doesn't make a lot of sense for cats even ignoring that he's neutered, but after seeing Raton lay on his side to let kittens suckle on his nipples (yeah, they weren't his, yeah, he's a male and yeah, he was already neutered back then), I'm not ruling out anything with this cat.
My girlfriend and I are relatively well-versed in cat behaviour, having had cats since childhood, having read tons about them, having coordinated rescues and adoptions of over a hundred of them during the past two years, and having had to coach all those new adopters. Still, we're a bit stumped here. We're considering consulting with a cat ethologist but we don't even know of any here in Spain. Does anyone know of any online or can otherwise help shed some light on the situation?