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When I feed my cats wet food, one cat eats first, the second one waits. I put the food into 2 bowls, but still, the second cat waits until the first cat finishes eating.
The funny thing is the cat that eats first is Scaredy. He is younger, smaller, was a second cat in the home, and is scared of everything. How in the world did Scaredy become an alpha cat?Originally Posted by hissy
It really doesn't have anything to do with gender. It has to do with the Alpha cat- the one that has proven him or herself to the others to be the quickest, the smartest the strongest. My alpha is a 5 month old male (at the moment). But before he was introduced the alpha was a 3 year old female. In a multi cat household the alpha can change all the time, as the kittens grow up, or as new cats are introduced. Your alpha is the cat that always sleeps on the highest point, sometimes doesn't cover their waste or chases or bullies the others- not to the point of distraction, but to make a point. In the wild in a colony, the alpha is the reason the group is surviving and this is instinct. Bringing a cat inside and forcing it to live inside (which is unnatural to them) does not take this trait away from them.
You can allow your cats to eat together, by putting the first food bowl (your alpha's food bowl) down first, then a minute later, a second bowl for your other cat is given to her/him. And don't feed them real close together, they should see each other, but not crowd each other.
No, I just don't understand how Scaredy who mostly lives under the bed can become an alpha cat over a normal cat that mostly lives in a living room.Originally Posted by Nano
Perhaps your opinion of which cat should/could/would be the dominant cat is filtered through which one you appreciate more as a tame household pet?