Marking from one cat and dominance displays from another

[carpdirector]

I have 3 male, neutered cats that I've posted about before. Simon and Blue we've had for 6 or 7 years and they are like brothers. Blue is dominant and Simon is A-OK with that. Then we took in a stray over the summer, Charlie.  For the most part things have settled down but there are 2 issues that I'm just baffled by.  

First,   Blue is still dominant but I'm not sure how or if Simon and Charlie have ranked themselves (do cats even do that?).  Simon will now play with Charlie daily; they chase each other and play bitey-face until Charlie gets too rough.  I've seen no aggression between them at all in the past couple of months.  Blue seems to have finally accepted Charlie and at least tolerates him.  But then there are times when he stalks Charlie, sometimes he'll chase him down and smack him several times (no claws) with no apparent provocation from Charlie.  This morning, for example, I was sitting on the floor and Blue was laying next to me getting petted. Simon was laying on the floor nearby. Then Charlie stuck his head in the room and all of Blue's attention went right to Charlie. He hyper-focused on him for a couple minutes and then without warning took off like a shot and chased Charlie down and smacked him around, then came back to lay down next me again.   Charlie has learned to be very cautious around Blue, often cringing to the floor with his ears laid flat when Blue walks by him. It's definitely a "please don't hurt me" pose.   Is this part of the acceptance process? 

Second, Simon keeps marking around the house.  Since he and Charlie get along so well now, I'm not really sure why he's doing it.  Could it be stress from Blue and Charlie still sorting things out?  Or the fleas we've been battling for 3 months now?  Hmmm, or maybe because my son keeps picking him up and Simon does not like being picked up or petted unless he asks for it?  He recently had a check-up, and we have 4 litterboxes throughout the house. And I know for sure it is Simon because I caught him backing up to the arm of the couch a couple weeks ago and later found that spot marked.  I clean the urine with the enzyme cleaner and have even gotten a little blacklight to make sure I get all of it.  He went a long while without marking and now he's done it 5 times that I know of in the past few weeks. Any suggestions on other things we can do or why he keeps doing it?

Thanks!!  

 

[red top rescue]

Marking usually indicates they are still working things out.  It sounds as if Blue has established that he still owns the top of the totem pole, but it may not be clear between Simon and Charlie as to which of them is next in line.  Simon seems to be making a statement that he is the second in command.  I can't say whether or not the spraying will stop, and if Simon is the only one spraying.  With your son, the fleas, and the three cats it sounds rather chaotic, so the marking behavior may be going on between Blue and Simon, or Charlie may be involved too.  Yes, there is definitely a pecking order or totem pole that is established in a house with multiple cats.  Usually marking doesn't start when you have less than five cats, but marking is a natural cat thing, male and female.  I have one female who is still doing it because she wants to be an only cat and she will never be that unless someone takes a chance and adopts her.  Will she spray in someone else's house if she is an only cat?  Who knows.? 

My only suggestion would be to try to give each cat some special personal attention without either of the others around.  Do you have a TV room or bedroom where you could bring one at a time for special cuddles?  Mothers of humans learn this, how to make each child feel like he or she is the favorite.  This works on cats too.  Try it.  It can't hurt and it might help.