- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
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- 15
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Hi all,
Since I got such great advice last time from everyone here, I'm back again with my new problem.
Here's my situation: I have two males, both fixed. One, Spike, is eight years old. He was my first cat. He used to be this sweet little teddy bear that cuddled all the time.
Last September, I found Grayse. He was about five weeks old at the time. Spike was very tolerant of Grayse. He would hiss at the baby, but wasn't aggressive towards him--he never tried to hurt Grayse. Most of the time, he just avoided the new little guy.
Grayse, being a baby, just wanted to play, and he would follow Spike around. This was cute, but Spike would not participate in play. And if Grayse got too rowdy, Spike would want to go outside, which we would allow.
Fast forward to now. Grayse is about seven months old. This cat went from cute kitten to a hells angel. Seriously, while Grayse has his adorable moments, they're vastly overwhelmed by his bad behavior. He's tore up almost every set of blinds I have in the house. He claws the furniture, and he's literally dug a hole in the carpet in the livingroom about the size of a fifty cent piece. While this makes me want to strangle his little red butt, I do chalk his bad behavior up to his young age.
The real problem is Grayse's attitude towards Spike now. He stalks Spike just like a lion stalking an antelope. When Spike runs, Grayse jumps on his hind end to bring him down. Spike, not having an aggressive bone in his body, just runs away and hisses. I thought this was just an establishment of the pecking order, inwhich, Grayse is obviously going to be the alpha male. However, he keeps edging it up a notch. Over the last two weeks, I've caught Grayse slapping Spike in the face and biting at his face.
There hasn't been any injury to either party, but it seems as if Grayse is getting more aggressive with time. But here's what throws me...sometimes (and I mean once or twice per week) Grayse will be herding Spike through the house. And if Grayse stops, Spike will find him and slap at him in order to start the chase again--but these times aren't nearly as aggressive as the fights where Grayse is slapping and biting at Spikes face.
So my question is: Should I be concerned? Spike, for the most part, avoids him by staying outside as much as possible. Grayse, for all his bullying of Spike, is afraid of the outdoors, and will rarely venture past the backporch, and then, only after dark.
I read about the vanilla extract trick...do you think that might help? For all his bratty behavior, Grayse has found a special place in my heart. I don't want to have to get rid of him...but I love Spike, and I don't want him hurt.
Since I got such great advice last time from everyone here, I'm back again with my new problem.
Here's my situation: I have two males, both fixed. One, Spike, is eight years old. He was my first cat. He used to be this sweet little teddy bear that cuddled all the time.
Last September, I found Grayse. He was about five weeks old at the time. Spike was very tolerant of Grayse. He would hiss at the baby, but wasn't aggressive towards him--he never tried to hurt Grayse. Most of the time, he just avoided the new little guy.
Grayse, being a baby, just wanted to play, and he would follow Spike around. This was cute, but Spike would not participate in play. And if Grayse got too rowdy, Spike would want to go outside, which we would allow.
Fast forward to now. Grayse is about seven months old. This cat went from cute kitten to a hells angel. Seriously, while Grayse has his adorable moments, they're vastly overwhelmed by his bad behavior. He's tore up almost every set of blinds I have in the house. He claws the furniture, and he's literally dug a hole in the carpet in the livingroom about the size of a fifty cent piece. While this makes me want to strangle his little red butt, I do chalk his bad behavior up to his young age.
The real problem is Grayse's attitude towards Spike now. He stalks Spike just like a lion stalking an antelope. When Spike runs, Grayse jumps on his hind end to bring him down. Spike, not having an aggressive bone in his body, just runs away and hisses. I thought this was just an establishment of the pecking order, inwhich, Grayse is obviously going to be the alpha male. However, he keeps edging it up a notch. Over the last two weeks, I've caught Grayse slapping Spike in the face and biting at his face.
There hasn't been any injury to either party, but it seems as if Grayse is getting more aggressive with time. But here's what throws me...sometimes (and I mean once or twice per week) Grayse will be herding Spike through the house. And if Grayse stops, Spike will find him and slap at him in order to start the chase again--but these times aren't nearly as aggressive as the fights where Grayse is slapping and biting at Spikes face.
So my question is: Should I be concerned? Spike, for the most part, avoids him by staying outside as much as possible. Grayse, for all his bullying of Spike, is afraid of the outdoors, and will rarely venture past the backporch, and then, only after dark.
I read about the vanilla extract trick...do you think that might help? For all his bratty behavior, Grayse has found a special place in my heart. I don't want to have to get rid of him...but I love Spike, and I don't want him hurt.