Is Chester going to become a bully? (kitten, eating, declawed) - - City-Data Forum

SunInHair · 10-20-2009, 11:53 AM

We have two cats, Miss Kitty, 1.5 years; Chester, about 6 mos, adopted in June. Both are fixed. After the initial growling and swatting period, the two have gotten along quite well, playing with and grooming each other. Now that Chester is the same size as Miss Kitty, he's playing a little rougher with her and sometimes she doesn't like that! But he ignores her loud hisses and continues to pounce on her. Because she's in distress, I remove him to a room, close the door, giving him a "time out". I'm concerned he may become a bully. Any suggestions?

chaseystarz · 10-20-2009, 12:25 PM

Male cats are going to try their boundaries and try to be the boss. I have three cats, two fellas and one little lady. The younger of the fellas is always trying to push his way in and be a bully. He's either playing too rough with the little miss of the house, or bulling his way into the poor diabetic cats dinner when you turn your back.

The little miss is smaller, she's around 6 pounds and he's around 13 pounds. The older fellow is about 9.5 pounds. But both cats seem to hold their own with smacks on the head to the would be bully. My trouble maker always seems to get more owie bites on his neck then the other two. So needless to say the two are holding their own with him. The older fellow of mine is a rescue and had been front declawed by his previous owner.

When you are at home you can try to control it as best you can. It's just when you are in bed asleep or gone when the trouble can and will come back. Shutting the cat away when he's being bad sometimes will make the situation worse. Think about all the stunts the cat's going to pull when you aren't there. When you are home you have to establish that you're the boss of the place. And when the cats are fighting get a rolled up newspaper/magazine and slap it in your hand followed by a sharp NO!

Now are you sure the male is causing all the fights? Sometimes the females can be just bad at starting the fights and blaming it on the male. Females cats are master manipulators. As I know all too well.

Sometimes at my house I only see half the disturbance when the young fellow and my little miss are chasing each other. I have no idea how it started but somehow the bigger one always gets blame. I don't even have to say NO STOP IT much anymore because once I say HEY they both scatter off.......LOL

So see? I'm the boss!

Sounds like to me you have typical young male cat behavior. What you can do for you female cat is provide her with a safe place she can run off too to feel secure. Eventually the fighting may stop and they'll go back to being friends. But your female cat may to learn to hold her own with the male and prove she's boss.

eger · 10-20-2009, 01:41 PM

Seperating cats does not work, as much as people say they have short memories are wrong. Cats are very vindictive, if they get attacked from behind you better believe they are going to get even later.

Example, the door was halfway closed in my bathroom last night. One cat had his paw under the door and the cat in the bathroom was smacking the paw from the other side of the door. The cat outside came in, snuck from behind and thumped my cat on the head and ran off as if to say Ha ha I got you sucker.

Any Male cat I have ever owned is usually Alpha of the house while the females are more submissive. The younger adult male cats have a little more spunk and will pull rank over the older male cats. Size does not make a difference either, I have a 23 pound male cat that gets his butt kicked all around the house by the 10 pound cat...lol

ShelbyGirl1 · 10-20-2009, 02:08 PM

Chester is being a typical kitten. Notice, I didn't say male. He will push the limits of kittenhood , until the elder puts him in his place. My Jax is 5 months old and doing the same. The older cats, I notice, are starting to swat a little harder and not so forgiving these days. Male or female, it would be the same. My next to the youngest is a female and the antics were the same. Re-directing his attentions works well.

Hartwell Girl · 10-20-2009, 02:24 PM

My little Sidney is doing the same thing with the two older boys, one is more tolerant than the other. There are many mornings Sidney sits in the office with me due to bad behavior. Normally, I would let the older one put him in his place BUT Munchkin has been a little under the weather for the past few weeks getting medical attention, so they get seperated. I have found that the paper bags are keeping him occupied and he is trying to stay out of trouble ;-)

pdubyaslc · 10-20-2009, 02:27 PM

This sounds like normal cat playing to me. Make sure Miss Kitty has a safe place to retreat to (kitty condo or something). Play with them both as much as you can to tire them out. But as long as nobody is getting wounds from this, I'd say let them continue to do it.

I made the mistake of discouraging my boy to stop playing with his younger sister because I was worried they were playing "too rough", and now my boy is afraid to play with his sister at all and they never play anymore, I feel terrible about it. Remember these are Animals, they play rougher than we would think is ok, try not to anthropomorphise their behavior. As long as nobody is getting hurt, as long as miss kitty is still eating, grooming herself, then things are ok. If she stops grooming herself or eating, then there is a real problem.

But really, it is good that they play like this, it tires them out and keeps them occupied.

tasmtairy · 10-20-2009, 02:33 PM

My George kitty just got neutered last week, he hasn't slowed down at all. My older female of 8 just gets hammered and makes all the noise, hissing and growling, George will leap off a table and pounce on her back.

I'm wondering if the female is distressed. She never starts it, she is antisocial even with me. If I remove her from the situation whe will walk back into the same room as George.

I'm worried too!!

ShelbyGirl1 · 10-20-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tasmtairy

My George kitty just got neutered last week, he hasn't slowed down at all. My older female of 8 just gets hammered and makes all the noise, hissing and growling, George will leap off a table and pounce on her back.

I'm wondering if the female is distressed. She never starts it, she is antisocial even with me. If I remove her from the situation whe will walk back into the same room as George.

I'm worried too!!

It could take months for George's body to be completely rid of the hormones. Nothing is instantaneous. It will take time for him to calm down.
If your female is going right back into the room to be with George, than she could not be too concerned or distressed. Let them work it out...There could be lots of noise and hissing....as long as that is all it is. This is all normal cat interaction.

SunInHair · 10-21-2009, 06:22 PM

Sounds like I need to let the cats work it out unless someone's obviously being injured. Basically this is what I do but sometimes it's hard to watch one get picked on. The rough housing can make for some humorous situations--the two cats chasing and the dog comes around the corner for a 3 way collision! Or, one cat lands on the dog's back by mistake--fortunately the dog hardly reacts. Would like ideas on "safe places" for the kitty to retreat to when being pursued. (?)

chaseystarz · 10-22-2009, 08:42 AM

cats kinda of find their own safe places. Mine like under the bed, sofa, closet, behind the washer/dryer, and bath tub. If you keep bedrooms closed off- open them up.

One of my friends cats has a scratching post cubby house thing that the cat likes to hide in, but it's not used as a scratching post.

Just watch your cats when they are in the fights and see where the cats pick to hide or run off too. When a cat finds a spot they like they will defend it.