My cat Eli is an angel-kitty. He is so sweet and such a good boy (other than chewing on paper when he wants me to feed him). He LOVED my 15-year-old cat Maggie who died last month.
2 weeks later I adopted "Sammy", a 5-month old kitten. I posted about the introductions in another thread. It took less than a week for them to get acquainted, and 2 weeks later they were best buds, grooming each other, playing together, cuddling up napping all day together.
The problem is that Sammy has decided that he is the "alpha cat." He is the instigator of rough play. He nudges Eli away from his food. He has now decided that Eli's cat tree is his. And Eli lets him do it, because Eli is a sweet, docile, wussy-boy.
Should I just let this dynamic play out between them? It seems that there is not much a person can do about these territory things. Sammy is not aggressive about this, it is play-type batting and slapping, no growling or hissing is involved. But Sammy is a very confident little cat and Eli is kind of timid, shy, and uncertain. It's just his personality.
So do I just let them figure it out for themselves? I hate seeing Eli not standing up for himself.
2 weeks later I adopted "Sammy", a 5-month old kitten. I posted about the introductions in another thread. It took less than a week for them to get acquainted, and 2 weeks later they were best buds, grooming each other, playing together, cuddling up napping all day together.
The problem is that Sammy has decided that he is the "alpha cat." He is the instigator of rough play. He nudges Eli away from his food. He has now decided that Eli's cat tree is his. And Eli lets him do it, because Eli is a sweet, docile, wussy-boy.
Should I just let this dynamic play out between them? It seems that there is not much a person can do about these territory things. Sammy is not aggressive about this, it is play-type batting and slapping, no growling or hissing is involved. But Sammy is a very confident little cat and Eli is kind of timid, shy, and uncertain. It's just his personality.
So do I just let them figure it out for themselves? I hate seeing Eli not standing up for himself.