Bullying Behaviour

michelle owen

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Hi everyone,

My first time posting on this site. I'm worried about one of my cats and hope some of you can suggest something for me to do to help her.

We have 2 cats, both approx. 16 years old. Both female and spayed. The black cat I have had since she was 6 months old, the white cat I've had since she was about 9 years old.

We live in a 1 bedroom flat and the cats are indoor cats as we have no outside space for them. We have lived in this flat for the last 4 years with no issue. Before that, we were in a house with a garden which the cats used to explore however, moving hasn't caused an issue.

We have 2 litter trays. 1 in the kitchen for the white cat and one in the bathroom for the black cat. Each used their own tray fine until just recently.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that white cats litter tray is virtually empty when I change it and black cats is very full. Neither have any toilet problems or go more than each other. Then this morning I caught white cat using black cats tray. So clearly this has been happening for a few weeks now.

My concern is that black cat is being bullied.

The two have never really liked each other but usually tolerate each other with the odd screech, hiss or swipe at each other. But this was always fairly equal behaviour.

White cat prefers to spend her time in the kitchen and living room while black cat owns the bathroom and bedroom. Recently though, white cat has been encroaching on black cats space by coming into the bedroom often and also sleeping in there at night.

Usually white cat sleeps on the sofa in the living room and black cat sleeps on the bed with us. Now white cat sleeps on my husbands feet in bed and black cat gets off of the bed and goes into the living room for the night.

Black cat does seem a little sad and I'm worried that white cat is trying to push black cat out. What can I do to help things?

It's also helpful to note that white cat is deaf so shouting or trying to tell her off won't work and most of the behaviour is quite subtle so things like shooting water as I've read on other forums wouldn't work really either because it's something that's gradual rather than an attack of some sort.

Both cats get equal amounts of fuss from us too so one shouldn't feel left out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

calicosrspecial

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Hi, welcome to the site.

Have they fought at all?

Do they like to play?

They are using their litter boxes and eating normally, correct?

Is Black cat hiding at all or walking around lower to the ground or is the tail down instead of straight up?

Depending on the answer about fighting, etc I am not too worried. BUT i would do a couple of things.

Let's build their confidence. Step up play with Black cat. After play feed either treats or a meal. Do you have any cat trees? If not, you may want to add one or two  as going up in the world (height) builds confidence. Also, maybe add some cat scratchers. Cats like to own territory by having their scent on things. Finally, let them both know you love them, if you can get them to purr without putting yourself at risk of being scratched or bitten it could be helpful.

I would also do the same for the white cat. A confident cat is less likely to bully or be bullied.

Let's see if this helps a little. As long as Black cat is not acting differently (in a negative way) then I am not too worried.

When we see a change in behavior then it is more serious. So far it doesn't sound too bad but let's step up their confidence as a precaution and see how things go.

I am here for you so please feel free to ask anything anytime.
 
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