SPOILED!

We have two girls, ages 4 and 5. After being a dog family for many years, we took in our first cat about 5 years ago. I thought she needed a companion so we found her a sister. Jules, our oldest, never bonded with Tara like I had imagined. (Jules would prefer being an only child.) She tolerates Tara and that's about as far as it goes. Tara is pretty laid-back and would probably get along well with anyone. I'm finding that Jules beats up on Tara anytime she doesn't get what she wants (like sunshine, my lap, etc, etc). It has started to bother Tara to the point that she is always watching over her shoulder to she where her sister is. When we go to bed, Jules comes in to claim her spot and Tara will sit in the hallway and look so sad because she's afraid to even come in the room. What can we do? It's not fair that Tara should live like this. Please help!

...so how long have these two actually been together? It can take a substantial amount of time to become friends.

I have the same problem with my cats. There are three of them and the troublemaker is the last cat I took into my home. He is half siamese (which may explain part of it) but he picks on my oldest cat (female) and has her squalling half of the time. She is just wary of him but all three will lay on my waterbed. He is going on two years old now.

Similar situation with us. We have two males, Cosmo and Luther (alpha). They are unrelated, but the same age (6) and grew up together...they bonded and are very close. They are also 15 and 17 pounds, respectively.

A year ago we adopted Bunny, a stray female, who is about 3-4 years old. The boys accepted her pretty well into the family and she settled down in no time.

But she bullies Cosmo and will, on a regular basis, just get him in her crosshairs and go after him. If he would stand his ground, or return fire, she might back off. But he cowers and cries and is clearly intimidated by her. We intervene with water squirts, etc. when we're around, but during the day, they're on their own.

Luther won't take any crap from Bunny. While he doesn't pick on her, he will not back down if she should have the poor judgment to go after him (which she does).

The rest of the time, everyone's getting along. Bunny and Cosmo might share the bed at night, as if they had no differences.

Bunny is a tortie. Whenever I describe how bossy and aggressive she is, many people say, well, she's a tortie.



[This message has been edited by Linelle (edited January 27, 2001).]