Laundry Aggression

Hi Everyone

So it seems my "can do no wrong precious baby blue" has started something mean. 

When my cleaning lady is over here doing laundry, she jumps in the basket of warm clothes, fine normal I know. However when Shirley tries to pull any clothes out to fold or hang them, it is met with growling and swatting, just ugly behavior by Xena- but only when Shirley does it. I can pull the clothes out and she is fine...... And when Shirley walks by, Xena tends to growl at her as well. Now she has always liked Shirley.

When Shirley comes over, she brings her Schnauzer and has since we hired her 2 years ago, Xena has grown up with this dog and her playing together. I wonder if Xena is older now so she is starting to be bothered by the dog? Or she associates Shirley with the vacuum maybe? I just know that I'm not tolerant of her behavior. She never snaps at , claws at or growls at me or her daddy, or her grandparents- or other friends and family- just Shirely and her dog.

She just had her yearly checkup and is fine - no problems, she checked out fully healthy.

It's odd that she only does this to Shirley and nobody else.
Does Shirley like cats or does she just tolerate her because she is your cleaning lady? I think cats can definitely sense when a person dislikes them.
Maybe Shirley has tried shooing Xena away at some point and Xena didn't like it.
It might be the dog. Is the dog excitable and tried to play with Xena or maybe nipped at her?

I hope she settles down soon.

Shirley loves her!# the dog is pretty excitable but so is Xena.. they have always played together.

There are a lot of dog lovers that only tolerate cats, so your Xena might sense this. I would almost bet that there was a bad experience at one time, or maybe she figures she can get away with it with Shirley! Almost like a horse that can 'sense' a poor rider! I guess the only thing to do is to fold the clothes right away and not give her a chance to become territorial! All the luck!

Maybe Shirley smells different somehow.
New perfume or body spray? Had she been using bleach at all?
It's just strange that she is being aggressive with only one person.

She loves cats though, and had cats for years. The instant she puts the laundry basket down, Xena is in it..

That might be it. It might be the smell of Shirleys CAT'S bothering her.
If I were her I would shut Xena out of the room while sorting the laundry.
Have you witnessed Xena' s behaviour towards Shirley?

Di and Bob said:

There are a lot of dog lovers that only tolerate cats, so your Xena might sense this. I would almost bet that there was a bad experience at one time, or maybe she figures she can get away with it with Shirley! Almost like a horse that can 'sense' a poor rider! I guess the only thing to do is to fold the clothes right away and not give her a chance to become territorial! All the luck!

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KittyWhiskers said:

That might be it. It might be the smell of Shirleys CAT'S bothering her.
If I were her I would shut Xena out of the room while sorting the laundry.
Have you witnessed Xena' s behaviour towards Shirley?

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I have, I am at home all day since I have school full time.. I see the behavior, hate to just lock her up in a room but I could... Shirley put a blanket in the dryer for her yesterday and gave her a treat to try and win her over, but she just laid on the blanket and still was mean..

I'm new to this site I was readingsome of the post I saw one cats name was bella bear I have a male cat his name is boo bear

Nebula said:

I have, I am at home all day since I have school full time.. I see the behavior, hate to just lock her up in a room but I could... Shirley put a blanket in the dryer for her yesterday and gave her a treat to try and win her over, but she just laid on the blanket and still was mean..

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Oh I didn't mean to lock her up in a room, just to shut her out while sorting the laundry.
Could Shirley have accidentally stepped on her tail or paw while doing the housework?
Not sure what else could have caused Xena to take a dislike to Shirley. How long has she been acting this way and how old is Xena now?

She has been acting this way about a month, and turns 1 year old on April 10

It sounds to me like something has definitely triggered this behaviour if she has always been fine with Shirley up till a month ago.
I think the vacuum is unlikely as my two girls don't like it either but it doesn't make them aggressive towards me.
I can't think of anything else it might be. Maybe someone else will think of something I've missed. I hope it all sorts itself out soon.

Just editing my post because I thought of something.
You say Shirley loves cats and has cats of her own. Does she love cats so much that she is always trying to pet and cuddle Xena?
If this is the case then Xena May be getting fed up with it and the only way Xena knows to tell her to stop is to lash out or growl. She should try totally ignoring Xena for a while and then see how thing's go.

KittyWhiskers said:

It sounds to me like something has definitely triggered this behaviour if she has always been fine with Shirley up till a month ago.


Just editing my post because I thought of something.
You say Shirley loves cats and has cats of her own. Does she love cats so much that she is always trying to pet and cuddle Xena?
If this is the case then Xena May be getting fed up with it and the only way Xena knows to tell her to stop is to lash out or growl. She should try totally ignoring Xena for a while and then see how thing's go.

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She respects her distance, and she has no cats now- just has in the past.

I folded the laundry today, she laid in it- purring and no problems or aggression.

KittyWhiskers said:

I think cats can definitely sense when a person dislikes them.
 

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Haha, true, but in my experience, the cat seems to gravitate to that person  - though I'm not sure if the cat is trying to win them over or is  having fun toying with them, "I know you don't like me, so I'm going to stay with you constantly and be nice since you humans for some reason choose to let me torment you so long as I don't act outright agressive . >"

Maybe instead of trying to figure out "why" though your time would be better spent simply finding a solution. I'm guessing you will never find out why, especially since she could have done something to upset the cat without ever realizing it.

Does she have any spare time after she finishes the work or maybe could come early to spend some time in interactive play? Wand toys, treats, other things so that she can have positive associations to replace whatever negative one she has now?

EDIT - You may could even have her start feeding the cat if she comes over either decently early in the morning or late enough in the afternoon/evening to have her feed the cat one of her meals.

Sparrowhawk said:

Haha, true, but in my experience, the cat seems to gravitate to that person :lol3: - though I'm not sure if the cat is trying to win them over or is  having fun toying with them, "I know you don't like me, so I'm going to stay with you constantly and be nice since you humans for some reason choose to let me torment you so long as I don't act outright agressive . >"

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The cat's probably secretly laughing about all this and thinking, "I've got those dumb humans wasting their time once again, trying to make sense of my behavior." :happy2:

Sparrowhawk said:

Haha, true, but in my experience, the cat seems to gravitate to that person :lol3: - though I'm not sure if the cat is trying to win them over or is  having fun toying with them, "I know you don't like me, so I'm going to stay with you constantly and be nice since you humans for some reason choose to let me torment you so long as I don't act outright agressive . >"

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:lol3: Yes I know what you mean. When we have people over that are not cat orientated or have allergies ours seem to want to keep pestering them.

What I meant was that I think that a cat can definitely sense when a person is mean.

Spending time playing with and feeding Xena sounds like a good idea.

It went better today. Shirley got out our extra basket for laundry and put a warmed blanket in it, it worked. Xena got in "her" and left the real one alone. So the plan now is to keep putting that in the dryer with the clothes...and give her her own basket with warmth

Nebula said:

It went better today. Shirley got out our extra basket for laundry and put a warmed blanket in it, it worked. Xena got in "her" and left the real one alone. So the plan now is to keep putting that in the dryer with the clothes...and give her her own basket with warmth

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Yay! That's a great idea.