G’morning y’all 🥰
For a brief moment there was peace and cuteness between the two fur beasts. And then Mads told Smitty to beat it. I wish I knew of some special magic that would help Maddie accept him. They’ve been together now for 23 months.
@see_the_sus My boys have shared a house for years, they still don't "love" each other. But they do mostly tolerate one another.
Their fights are rarely if ever vocal, and they never really injure each other, so I've learned to accept that. :(
What confuses me is the very first week I brought him home, I found them on the couch together. Then, once in awhile I’d walk in the bedroom & they’d be next to one another. As we were moving last August, they became very close; no fighting, laying next to each other in the hotel rooms, cleaning one another.
But as we’ve settled into the new apartment, she seems to becoming more and more irritated towards him.
That's pretty much my limit on cat psychology. Our SPCA has behaviorists that consult, maybe your local one does too. I'm sorry they're being catty. :(
Thanks ❤️ I’m pretty certain a lot has to do with Maddie being very snooty, which is why I call her the queen. She’s 13 1/2. Whereas Smitty thinks he’s a six month-old kitten in an almost four year-old body. I had thought that adopting a younger cat would be good for her, have someone to play with.
@see_the_sus @Myana I thought something similar with Carrot to help Tom, but now I'm quite clear that the correct move is simultaneous adoption of kittens or adopting an already bonded pair. :)
@see_the_sus @sfleetucker Pam Johnson-Bennett's book Cat-vs-Cat is a great help for defusing hostile cat situations.
The two boys I mentioned were part of a three-way dominance circle (Fat Boy < Moose, Moose < Killer, Killer < Fat Boy). So if one got upset they displaced their anger on their 'inferior'... who did the same... and it circled endlessly.
All disagreement were, of course, expressed through urine. 😩
Cat vs Cat didn't make them love each other but it decreased the pee by 95%.
Thanks, I’ll check it out! ❤️
Maddie gets physical with him but for the longest time I never saw her claws out but in the past two or three months, twice I’ve discovered a small puncture on his head. One was on top of his head by the left ear and the one I found last weekend was inside his right ear.
The biggest “instigator” seems to be their new cat tower. Both love the top bed platform but only Smitty will purposely kick her out of it, whereas Maddie doesn’t bother him. He’s a rambunctious goofball.
@see_the_sus I've found that only giving them treats when they're together, and feeding them side by side with the wet food has generally calmed Thomas down. (He's the instigator.) I've been able to take him off Prozac, which is good for me and him both.
For the first six or so months I had to feed them on opposite sides of the room because Maddie would go after his food and push him aside but she’s chilled out in this respect and they now get fed about 2-3ft from each other.
@sfleetucker @see_the_sus I had two brothers from the same litter, Fat Boy and Killer. They never, ever, through their long lives, got along. I always wished they would but I think all four of my cats secretly wished the other three would evaporate. 😋