Cats and dominance?

[slleipnir]

Are cats like dogs in that you have on "Alpha" and lower members? I know cats generally live alone..but if they are together...does this happen??

The last week there has almost been nothing in the liter box...for 2 cats, it's really odd. There is like 1 pee and one or 2 poos over 2 days...?? I've been thinking they pee somewhere else? I know Shadow has been using it...cause he always pees at the FRONT of the box and doesn't cover it.

The other day the cats were around the litter box area..The box is in a closet, and the food is on a table not too far from the closet. Anyway, I heard them kinda growl and hiss at each other...I got up and that was that.

Today I was looking in the litter box and I noticed there still wasn't a lot in it. I took Kiba over hoping she would go in. She didn't even want me to put her in it. She squired away. Then she was walking out of the closet and Shadow comes running at her growling/hissing. I yelled "HEY!" and he ran under the bed. Kiba's tail was HUGE..she had it all puffed and she was really scared. I put him out of the room and put food in a bowl and put it on the floor away from the "Area". She ate some food as soon as I put it down but was so nervous at every sound she stopped eatting. I then took the box out and put it in the middle of the floor and she had a LOOONNG pee. I don't think it has to do with the closet or litter box..she's been using it fine for a year almost?

Do you think he is telling Kiba to stay away from his food and litter box?? How can I stop this??

[catnapper]

Definately there's a head cat situation. In my house, its Allen, followed by Harry (who is starting to work up the nerve to fight Allen for top cat position). Sounds like some territorial issues have arisen over the litterbox.

Rule of thumb with litterboxes: one box for every cat plus one. So two cats should ideally have 3 boxes. I have 6 cats, and 7 boxes. I say ideally because it isn't always something we can do, but its what would be best. One box for two cats is really just too few - and you're finding out the outcome as to why. For the longest time I resisted the rule of thumb thinking that if two of my boxes were larger and I scooped 3 times a day it wouldn't matter.... it does. My life has gotten sooo much easier with the additional boxes. Feline relationships got better.. Who knew!

[Abby&Buddy'sMom]

At my house Miss Abby is definatley in charge It is her way or no way and Buddy does respect her for the most part, but when they play wrestle he definatley can take her down until she has her hissy fit, then he backs off

[catmandu]

The Found Cats all have formed a pecking order,but I have never really seen them pull rank.
Generally Michael,and The Princess eat first,and Scrappy 2 upsets that,but I have never seen the Older Cats get all that upset by her antics!
The Moose may hide,but he loves her,from a distance.
On the Porch Nugget is the BOSS! Followed by Catzilla!!
Then Scratchy!
And The Shadow Cats,sadly have to take whats left.

[rosethecopycat]

Dogs are pack animals. They definitely follow a pecking order.

Cats are territorial and they form a 'club' when they live together.

There can be an Alpha male as well as an Alpha female, at the same time.

The other statuses are: Laid Back, non-agressive, scardey, and pariah.

The Laid Back cat has no aspirations of being Alpha, but could become Alpha if the current Alpha is removed. They are easy to get along with cats, more commonly altered males.

The non-agressive cat knows its place, but will stand up for itself.

The scardey cat is fearful and wants nothing to do with the social order.

The Pariah, or victim cat will run from the other more dominant cats, and not stand up to them. The others will take advantage of this, and chase and pick on this type of cat.
They are best living alone.


As far as your litter box situation, the cat who goes and does not cover is definitely daclaring himself Alpha.

More litterboxes will help. Give the cat that is afraid to go in the box a new box in a new location, which she can be first to use. And if you can keep the Alpha away, at least for a while, it might help her relax.

[sirrahbed]

It really sounds like an additional litterbox would help with Shadow and Kiba. It is amazing just how long a kitty can "hold it" and not use the box. I hope you can fix the situation or Kiba might start using the floors instead.

Rose - the status info is very interesting as I often try to figure out if I have an alpha or not - do not seem to have one out of my six as they are all quite laid back

[rosethecopycat]

Rose - the status info is very interesting as I often try to figure out if I have an alpha or not - do not seem to have one out of my six as they are all quite laid back [/QUOTE]

I suppose you could have 6 non-dominant cats. Usually one will come to the fore. Slapping around the others, eating first, not covering the business in the box.

Let's hear from our larger cat 'clubs'.

Jen?

I suspect in clubs of over 10 there will be a couple of Alpha cats.


Does anyone know of any other 'statuses' that you cats hold besides,
Alpha, laid-back, non-dominant, scardey, pariah?

Knowing more will help me in my rescue efforts, when matchmaking cats!

Only 4 years ago (I thought I knew a lot about cats) I had my cats totally mislabeled. I thought Snowy was Alpha, because he was more active. (kitten at the time) Now I know different.
I know a little more now, but still have a lot to learn.

[Kirsten]

That's very interesting, Rose.

Yes, it's true that when cats live in groups, there's usually an alpha cat. In my house, it's Luna. Lily has accepted that very well and is enjoying her "baby girl status" a lot!

Kirsten