10 cats here, age 5 to 13. All were born feral and rescued anywhere from 10 days to 18 months. 4 were hand weaned. All are most likely related in some form as they came from the same rural area and I know that some are half siblings to each other. I have a large house with tall cat condos in nearly every room. There is a lot of space for each of the cats to have their own territory.
Stumpy (age 13) has been the obvious alpha since he was 18 months old. He's been ill for the last 2 years and sometimes hands off his alpha status to Spanky (age 5) when he doesn't feel well. Scarlett (age 7) has been the queen since we brought her into our lives at 3 weeks old (orphaned). We know who is alpha at any point in time because she will only play with the alpha male (either Stumpy or Spanky). Koko and Muddy (5 years) were orphaned at 10 days old and don't always realize they are cats. Having hand raised them, they hold very special spots in our hearts and are a bit over spoiled at times.
Enter Eightball (age 12, half brother to Stumpy) and Pinky (age 8, probable half brother to Scarlett). With the elevated status of the cats mentioned earlier, I can see some frustration in their house status. Eightball was attacking Muddy for a while, and Pinky starts to demand attention. The remaining cats have their spots in the house and really don't care about their position.
Feeding time has the primary cats being fed on the counter and dining room table (some of them are on meds so its easier for us this way). The rest are fed in a group on the floor. To counter Eightball's frustration with Muddy, I also started to feed him up there and he has visably calmed down since I started that. (Pinky gets picked up and loved whenever he walks by.)
Husband is very much a dog person and doesn't quite get that the pecking order in cats is not the same as the pecking order in dogs. He wants to stop feeding Eightball on the counter as he doesn't consider him a "primary". I know that height has a big influence on their perception of power/control, and wonder if I should continue to influence the pecking order by feeding them at different heights.
And btw......Feliway Comfort Zone doesn't work in my house. Stumpy will walk up to them and spray them.
Stumpy (age 13) has been the obvious alpha since he was 18 months old. He's been ill for the last 2 years and sometimes hands off his alpha status to Spanky (age 5) when he doesn't feel well. Scarlett (age 7) has been the queen since we brought her into our lives at 3 weeks old (orphaned). We know who is alpha at any point in time because she will only play with the alpha male (either Stumpy or Spanky). Koko and Muddy (5 years) were orphaned at 10 days old and don't always realize they are cats. Having hand raised them, they hold very special spots in our hearts and are a bit over spoiled at times.
Enter Eightball (age 12, half brother to Stumpy) and Pinky (age 8, probable half brother to Scarlett). With the elevated status of the cats mentioned earlier, I can see some frustration in their house status. Eightball was attacking Muddy for a while, and Pinky starts to demand attention. The remaining cats have their spots in the house and really don't care about their position.
Feeding time has the primary cats being fed on the counter and dining room table (some of them are on meds so its easier for us this way). The rest are fed in a group on the floor. To counter Eightball's frustration with Muddy, I also started to feed him up there and he has visably calmed down since I started that. (Pinky gets picked up and loved whenever he walks by.)
Husband is very much a dog person and doesn't quite get that the pecking order in cats is not the same as the pecking order in dogs. He wants to stop feeding Eightball on the counter as he doesn't consider him a "primary". I know that height has a big influence on their perception of power/control, and wonder if I should continue to influence the pecking order by feeding them at different heights.
And btw......Feliway Comfort Zone doesn't work in my house. Stumpy will walk up to them and spray them.