Alpha status

[sirrahbed]

Is there always an alpha female and alpha male in a household? What are some of the behaviors??

I am curious because it seems that with our five - 3 males and 2 females - there is nobody who seems to be boss at all. Both girls are very easy going and sweet - maybe Emily is a bit more testy and she does have small tantrums now and then, but not towards Lizzie.

The boys - well Dylan is the biggest but is usually so gentle and moves aside most of the time. Like Emily - he has a temper when he has had enough - but seldom shows it.

So - do some households just not have alphas??

Since Boomer is coming to us as an adult male - are there likely to be more territory issues with him? Does the newcomer ever become the alpha? Will his coming be likely to make one of the others want to be bossman??

Thanks!!

[catnapper]

Deb I don't know! I know Allen has always been the boss, but if he and Minette meet whisker to whisker she sends him running with a bushy tail and some missing clumps of fur!

I think it depends on the cat. Some cats are just passive, others are agressive. I don't think Boomer is the agressive type, si I think that everyone will settle into a nice routine similar to what you have now.

[CalliesMom]

Callie is definitely alpha in this household. As a kitten, she beat up on Whisper and Shadow :rolleyes: There aren't A LOT of fights in the house; mainly her and Whisper play fight and Shadow SCREAMS if anyone messes with her. I think Callie is just the loudest of the group and gets her point known "I'm hungry." "Scratch my back." "Open the door." :rolleyes: :)

She is usually the first one to eat if she is really hungry..if not, she lets Whisper eat first and Shadow is always last. She always has the top spot on the cat tree; she pretty much just gets what she wants when she wants it.

We don't have much territorial issues except with Whisper and Shadow. Callie is pretty laid back about stuff like that but Whisper has to show his dominance over Shadow every once in a while.

I'm not sure of introducing Boomer to other kitties. I wish you luck though and I'm sure everything will be fine once he gets use to everyone.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Storm is definitely the alpha cat in my house but Sunny and Pearl are the noisiest. It will be interesting to see if anything changes once Pearl's all grown up.:) Good luck with the Boomer introductions.:)

[dragonchilde]

You've probably just created a situation where YOU are the alpha, and none of the kitties feel the need to be beta. :)

[Craftlady]

Eleanor came into the group and became the alpha.
Everyone buries except Eleanor.
Eleanor is always first one in line for food and eats everyone elses if you let her. LOL

[catmandu]

JJJ3,IS THE BIG BOOS CAT HERE,ALTHOUGH SCRAPPY 2,HAS A LOT,OF CATTITUDE,SHE IS JUST SO RELAXED,IN THE PHOTOS,THAT I HAVE TAKEN,WITH HER,AND THE OTHER CATS.
THE OTHER CATS,ARE SO LAID BACK,AND GENTL,I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/catphotos995.jpg

[jazzcat]

Debbie, I hadn't thought about how the balance will change with Boomer coming. Maybe he will just blend in like the others and you still won't have an alpha.

I think Jazz is my alpha here but she is constantly being challenged by Scout (who loses) and now Rumor. I think Rumor has some big plans for how things are going to be run around here, LOL!

[barncat]

Every cat colony is different, but your household sounds the way it was at my home when my cats Lily and Bunny were the main cats.

Bunny (or Panther) was a large and gentle tom who ruled so gently it never seemed there was a problem (Schnockerbear, Nuisance,& Lionel were his co-males). If a male got proddy Bunny would "hug" him to his chest until he ran out of air and that ended the challenge.

Lily, Holly, Marmalade, Callie, Dee, and Dearie were the females of the house hold and the only sign that Lil ruled was that she was the first to acknowledge a newcomer and deferred to at treat time. At all other times the queens were polite with each other or never quite made eye-contact and so did not have to acknowledge that the others existed. (Except for Callie and Dee who were sisters and insperable.) Everyone groomed each other though there was a subtle order to it.

The years we had together were the happiest in my life. Bunny and Lily made taking care of strays so easy... I love my present family of fur, but that grouping was a very happy time and combination.

[Grace]

Reese is most definitely our Alpha Cat. She rules with an iron paw.

She's the only alpha we have. The boys don't seem interested in the role - actually, I think they're happy to have Reese take the job. So they can just have fun. It's such a responsibility being in charge, you know - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/March16th/wink.gif

[rkidsrcats]

It's weird but the Tribe doesn't seem to have a leader in the alpha respect. William is nosy about what everyone is doing - especially keeping track of Norbert - but he's not the boss of everyone. But they all seem to have their special privledges that no other cat can take over. William gets preferred snuggle spots on the bed w/ us. Percy and Norbert get the comfy chair in my office to sleep in. Pippin gets personal scratch time from Dad on the guest bed and deck promenades. Tiger gets shoulder rides outside where no other cat is allowed and gets to "drive" the big red truck.
Otherwise, they share the status of top cat on any given day, without much fuss. They all wrestle with each other (except William & Norbert) and all seem to know the other guys' limits. And they all have unique relationships to us which I think helps with them getting along. They all get what they need from us attention wise so there is no competition for that.
They are a very nice family to have!

[sandragonfly]

alpha of ark? hmm, ME! :D I rock the boat and make sure all of my furchildren (7 guys & 6 girls in one ark) are juggling nicely.. :o

debby, I don't think a household has to have at least one alpha... it really depends on who they are or their owner(s) are.. how you described your dear boomer in cat purrsonality thread, I don't think he's a terrorist enough to be an alpha. if he will, the alpha of the house, tyler would have already seen boomer's tempers! :eek: you seem to have those five freindly furriends so you must be a wondurrful patient meowmie!

but, ...I still consider my zephyra the queen and ocean the king of this ark. zephyra was the first girl I got and always is elegant yet, caring. and as same for ocean, first boy - very sweet and careless .. baths everyone who walks by! :)

boomer, when you get home, be sure to let us know your alpha status! we're curious..even though we know you'll be sweet enough to let tyler to be the little skinalpha! :cool:

[kuhio98]

We have all girls in the house. Halo was first, then Cammie, then Pepper.
Halo was an only child for about 6 months. When Cammie adopted us, Halo became very agressive. However, after the first and only time, Cammie swatted back, Halo became submissive. Halo and Cammie hardly ever have any interaction. :(

When Pepper came, she became the driving force of the house. She had no manners at all and just couldn't believe everyone didn't love her. She and Halo play a lot, but Pepper is in charge. She has learned to back off of Cammie because Cammie just wants to be left alone.

So, Cammie is kinda in charge, because her "crabbiness" makes the others back off.

[DogLover9501]

First, I must say(again) that Tigger is just like Dylan! He's the same way, just steps aside, or walks away from any trouble. Emma has smacked him and he's never responded in an angry way, just going away from her.

Also with your question, Emma is the "new girl" here and definatly the boss! I'm sure it's much different with 5 other cats. But Tigger went from being an only cat, and being confident, to being the scared cat, who will not cross Emma's path.

Debbie, it amazes me how well your cats get along and love each other! You're very lucky :)

Good luck with Boomer!

[Randy_K]

Mango is the alpha cat in his household. The girls are subordinate to him but, fortunately, he's a benevolent dictator. It appears that whatever he decides to be OK the girls have to go along with.

There have been cats fostered in the house with the three without territorial issues. Adult males, females, kittens. Mango has tolerated and even welcomed them while the girls are unsure probably because it might disturb their standing. Mango always plays with the kittens but, after a few weeks, gets tired of the clutter and gets a little cranky. We suspect he wants a little quiet in the house. Kids, you know. The older male he actually befriended while that cat was unsure of his place in the environment. He was there for a few weeks and everything was stable. He and Mango took up different positions on the bed at night while the girls stayed away.

It seems if there's one confident dominant male the household is stable no matter what change is tossed in.

[prechrswife]

Saphirah is definitely the Alpha kitty around here. She has seniority, and I think Chloe and Samson are just too laid-back to care about being in charge.:)

[Samantha Puppy]

Debbie - None of my cats seem to be interested in the alpha role either. Sushi and Kirin came from the same rescue, same foster home, so they've known each other since they were itty bitty kitties. While Kirin is definitely more outgoing than Sushi, neither of them have ever attempted to boss the other or put them in their place - to each other OR the baby girls.

All four of my cats cohabitate nicely, with the occasional "you've gone too far, knock it off" whap, but that's about it. So unless they see Samantha as the alpha (which would only be because she's bigger as she's very sweet and gentle and not an alpha dog at all), we have no alphas here either!

Good luck with Boomer! I'm sure everything will work out just fine.