Showing dominance towards humans?

hbrady

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Since I recently got married, Josie has been very unhappy about my husband and I sleeping in the same bed. It's going to be a long while until my prissy princess accepts him. She always swats and hisses at him. The past couple of days I noticed that she hasn't been covering the poop in her litter box. I know this is a dominance behavior toward other cats, but could she be directing it towards my husband?
 

miss mew

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Since she has already been hissing at him I would say that it is a possibility. Just hang in there..I am sure she'll come around for him soon!
 

loveysmummy

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I can't say if its dominance or not..But what I would do is put your husband fully in charge of Josie's care for a short while. Ie, He is the only one who feeds her, gives her treats, cleans litter, etc..
She will gradually warm up to him.
 

sibohan2005

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I thought everyone knew this but

Dogs have Owners
Cats have Staff

People don't own Cats, cats allow us to live with them.
But Seriously, does your Husband try to get along with the cat? if he don't like the cat then the cat is probably picking up on that and acting accordingly. Maybe he and your Kitty need to have some good old fashioned bonding time.
 
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hbrady

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He's frustrated and I'm sure she's picking up on that. I don't know about him doing all of her care though....She hasn't adjusted to daylight savings time yet. She was howling early for food and he got up to feed her. Then she pouted the rest of the morning around me because I didn't feed her.
 

carolpetunia

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For six months, Dylan was my parents' only cat, and it was clear from the start that he was a very strong alpha male. As he grew older, he became so aggressive that my mom was afraid to even say "No" when he was tearing up furniture. He often scratched her very deliberately and badly.

I had begun to think I would have to find some way to take Dylan home with me just to save Mom from the injuries, but then a friend suggested that getting a second cat might provide Dylan with someone to dominate besides Mom. We went to the shelter and found a fluffy little three-month-old calico girl with a very mellow personality. At the time, we didn't know about proper introduction techniques, so we just put them together and watched closely.

It was amazing: when Dylan set about showing little Sassy who was boss, she drew herself up in the most regal manner, raised one tiny white paw as a warning, and simply stared him down! He never touched her. Later, when she was bigger and stronger, they started tussling as cats do, and even though Dylan weighs 18 pounds now, Sassy can still take him down with her patented Counterclockwise Half-Nelson Whirling Drop... and ten minutes later, the two of them will be entwined in blissful slumber on the sofa.


And Dylan has never laid a claw on anyone since Sassy arrived! In fact, he has become incredibly affectionate toward Mom. Sometimes, he will reach up with both paws, take hold of her wrist, and rub his cheek against the back of her hand. They've been through a lot together, and they're very close now. :-)

So...maybe you need another kitty?
 
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