Is This A Dominance Thing?

[susan denning]

This morning, I witnessed my two cats Trixie and Felix having a staredown. The staredown ended with Felix being rolled over by Trixie and giving a squeal. He tried again when he got up, which ended with Trixie swiping at him again and then leaving. These staredowns seem to happen when they are both on the floor in the house at the same time. They usually end with Trixie going back out to the garage. There has never been any bloodshed, and the cats get along with each other otherwise. I do believe Felix is the aggressor as he was following her from behind. I’ve also seen him stare Trixie down when she’s laying on a rug in the garage. Which usually results in Trixie giving him a couple of swipes and then moving to a different place. Oh, and my Mom said that Trixie left some tuna juice she was drinking when Felix came over.

My question. I talked with a lady that I know at the local shelter. She said that normally one cat in a multicat household is dominant, and she that that was what was going on. I understand that cats do sometimes have a hierarchy. However, I would have thought that they would have worked it out by now to where there wouldn’t be any tussling of this sort. Does that sound normal to you, or does it sound like one or both cats could be stressed? And if I were to try to calm things down, what would be the best way to go about it?

 

[Columbine]

This does sound like dominance to me. In these kinds of situations, 'getting along' often means 'can tolerate and coexist with each other's rather than any real bonding or friendship. This is fine so long as no one is too stressed (it's the situation I'm dealing with eith my guys too...except Asha's more vocal about her dominating than it sounds like Trixie is).

Anti stress measures such as Feliway diffusers and individual interactive playtime can help ease tensions considerably, as can opening up more vertical space, thereby increasing the available territory.

I hope at least some of that helps. It doesn't sound like anything to be majorly worried about at this stage

 

[ArtNJ]

I dunno, because cats stare at each other before pouncing to practice hunting. Its a kind of play. Its just that the more active cat doesn't always give a *&^! if the other one actually wants to play. Usually it is a stare, the tail starts twitching and then boom, the pounce! If you are sure it isn't that, I guess its dominance. Either way, doesn't sound too bad in the scheme of these things.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks