Cat hierarchy--for those with more than one cat (belly, food, dog)

[galore]

I have one male and three female cats. All fixed.
The female cats can't stand each other.
The male cat is easy going and is friends with the other three cats.

[AnyDayNow]

Good point, galore: all mine are fixed, too.

How do you deal with three cats that can't stand each other? Separate rooms or...?

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I have three cats - Odin & Celine are 11yo littermates, and we recently adopted 13yo Charlie because she was living at the vet's for a year after her human died. Odin is definitely our alpha, but he's very laid back about it... mostly he just makes sure to mark everything and then leaves the girls alone unless he feels like grooming or is cold. Celine thinks she's in charge, and is very bitchy sometimes, but Odin will crack her upside the head if she gets too carried away. Charlie is still in the process of getting used to us, so she growls a lot and there have been some slap fights and chasing (mostly Celine). Charlie has claws and the other two don't, but she hasn't decided to use them to take control of the house... so it looks like Odin gets to keep his throne.

[littlelou]

The Mooch was the big cat on campus at my house...the most laid back, gentle, patient cat you'd ever meet. Brought strays to the house to feed, and let "mom" rescue and take to his buddy the vet to get adopted. When we brought in Tyson the female hurricane (actually she moved in the garage 1 cold rainy day and wouldn't leave) he realized he was the king. Taught her some manners and she always respected him...the only person/cat/animal she respected. When the Maine Coon, Bubba came to live with us he knew his spot...heck he was glad for a home!!!!!!!! and still is.... Moochie went to Kitty Heaven in April, then Tyson who always had the wild streak...took off during a rainy week in June and we never saw her again....the following January I brought Annabelle Lee home recovering from her battle with the neighborhood punks and a grocery sack full of gasoline. She rules the household. She doesn't care if Bubba outweighs her by 5 pounds (she's part Maine Coon) or that I don't want to get up and get her treats......NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW is her favorite word in her squeaky MC voice.

She's a sweetheart, but on her terms. She can dance, chirp and lately ask to sit on my lap, but if I want to snuggle, or pet her....dash she's gone. And pushes Bubba away from the food bowls, water bowls and if he doesn't eat his treats fast enough, she'll snatch those too. Watch out with the catnip leaves. I have to pick up Bubba and take him somewhere else to give him his treats, or catnip and then run back and give her more to allow him to enjoy his. If she wants something/someplace he has/is she'll start crying like "he's beating me, leaning away from him, like he'd ever be aggressive toward her, he's a wimp...once in awhile, he'll stand up for himself....but mostly it's whatever Annabelle wants!

[deegers]

Our two littermates are best friends. Am afraid to introduce any other animals for fear of losing our wonderful household balance.

[regarese]

Our female, Lady, definately wears the big red bow in this house. LOL. She had to bide her time though. We go her and her littermate, Tramp at 6 weeks after my husband's 7 year old cat, Oscar, died leaving my 8 (at the time) year old cat, Keller, very depressed. We thought he needed a friend, but wanted that friend to also have a friend since Keller would probably pass and leave another depressed cat. Keller took to them slowly, and never really played with them-just kind of tolerated them. He was in charge of all things except bedtime-he would always let Lady push him out of the way. Now that he's gone, Lady, now 6 years old, is a downright b****. LOL. We added a puppy to the house, and she hates the dog. She actually spits at her. She is tolerating the new cat we just adopted (1 year old Reggie), but only because she hates the dog more. She and her littermate really act like a brother and sister. They don't really bother with each other, but always seem to come together at some point of the day. She gets so disgusted with her brother though when he plays with Reggie, or has the nerve to interact with the dog.

[Tesaje]

3 cats here. Jerry is the oldest male and clearly the dominant one. But he never starts a fight, he just gives back. He's a real sweetie. He will periodically go lay in the other cat's favorite spots so they have his scent there. Nissa followed me home as a 3 mo old female kitten when I was thinking Jerry needed another cat buddy. It took a good 6 months for him to quit hissing and growling at her. She adored him and kept jumping him. He would go pow and flatten her every time and back she went. No blood was drawn, so I let them sort it out. They became best buds.

A couple of years ago, Syl showed up and decided this was a good place. He was a problem. Very sweet to me and the dog but he thought the way to ensure his place here was to chase the other cats away. Blood was drawn but Syl got the worst of it. He never did land one on Jerry, tho and seemed to agree to leave him alone. Nissa got really scared of him so I stepped in and instituted a zero violence policy. Any argument, any chase, any aggression at all landed Syl in the crate and he stayed for hours. It has helped but this fall, Jerry has been ailing some and Syl has started to challenge him again. So there's been more crate time and a few bloody noses (Syl's). I keep them in separate parts of the house when I'm not here.

From reading this thread, it doesn't sound like there is any more I can do. I tried to find him another home but failed.

[amayol1]

the siblings came in to my life from craiglist. they are so sweet so I imagine the lady who raised them was hands on. i am blessed. boy loves his smaller sister but he tells her what to do.the funny thing (they are 6 months old) is that she obeys. is fascinating to watch. sometimes I have to hold him so she can have her treat to herself. anybody relates to this? the love is there but i feel sad for her sometimes, is that normal?

[=^..^=]

I have three cats and one, Zephyr, really doesn't like the other two. We believe she would be happiest as an only cat. She tolerates the other female but hates the male cat.

They seem to really irritate her so she tries to stay out of their way if she can. When she's sleeping on the bed and Phaedra joins her, she'll stay for a few minutes, then find another place to sleep.

[601halfdozen0theother]

I think about this often regarding my current set of cats. I have a very dominant male, a very dominant female, and a submissive female. They all mostly love one another, but they have a very distinct pecking order for eating. I feed using 3 bowls. It used to be that the male got the first bowl filled, then the dom female got the next one filled, then the other female got the last one filled. But now that the male is getting old, the dom female grabs the first bowl first. Then the male goes for the 2nd bowl, and the 2nd female waits for the other 2 to finish before she goes to the 3rd bowl. I don't interfere, and they really don't fight other than regular play.

It's interesting how differently the dog relates to each of them. Shes a female golden. The dog submits to the dom male cat - if he's lying on the floor in front of her she won't go over or around him, just waits for him to move. And when he's rubbing all over her (he LOVES her) she just stays and puts up with it, although she obviously doesn't like it. The dom female and the dog are jealous of each other - they vie for my attention. And the dog loves the submissive female - she will lick and sniff her, but never the others.

(It was weird writing about them as dom and sub - they are Rooty, Rose and Lydia!)