Ten Years Later...he's Still Jealous

[ExoticShortHairz]

Kitty mama to two exotic shorthairs. One is 11 years old, the other 10. While they're not from the same litter, they've been together most of their lives.

Problem is, the younger cat gets SO jealous of anything I do with the older cat. She loves being brushed. Little cat will attack her after most brushing sessions. He also blocks her from using "his" cat tower, and has upon multiple occasions peed on her bed. We've had the latest bed for six months without him peeing on it - which I consider a person victory.

What the heck is going on? While they have completely different personalities, I try and treat them the same in the sense I spend time doing the things they like. Older cat gets chicken treats, brushes, and night cuddles. Younger cat gets supervised outdoor trips, shrimp treats, and morning cuddles.

At this point in their lives, maybe it's just a personality thing, but I feel like I'm failing my younger cat in some way. There's no reason for him to feel jealous/insecure. He's quite smart - maybe I'm not playing with him enough? Would bonding with him more help?

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS.

Sorry one of your cats has a life-long jealousy of your other cat. I'm not sure if there's any way to change his behaviour now, since they've been together so long.

I've only ever had 1 cat at a time, so can't offer any suggestions. Other members will likely post with their comments/suggestions.

Meanwhile, here's a TCS article on The Multi-cat Household that might possibly be helpful.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

While there is nothing I'd like more than to swoop in with a sure-fire solution to this, I'm a little stumped. I am going to give you a link to yet another article, hoping that it, too, will give you some useful suggestions. If this were something new, I'd be far more certain of the outcome, but it is long-standing. Give it ALL a try, and let us know what does and doesn't work!

Do Cats Get Jealous? (and What To Do About It When They Do)

 

[danteshuman]

Is he jealous or an attention hog? I think the cat pee thing is an insecurity thing and not a jealousy or spite thing. I wish I had some better answers.
I live with an insecure attention hog. I have to lock him out to get some one & one time with his older brother. I have mastered petting both cats at once. I also am good at playing with one cat with a wand toy while tossing/jiggling a toy with the other hand. I have noticed that if I finish all my Salem time with giving my attention hog punk a minute or two of attention it seems to make it so he doesn't feel left out.

 

[Timmer]

You really answered your own question -- they have different personalities. In many ways our cats are like little kids. Know what I mean?
I lived with a similar situation for 8 years. Nothing I could do about it but love them both as best as I could.