[raggiepaws]

Hi all...

I'm just hoping for some experienced cat people advice. I'm a first time cat owner and have two raggies who are 2 years old.

My blue point boy Dash has always been a fairly bossy cat and my seal point boy Cosmo has always been the soft mellow one. By and large they get along really well. Play together, eat together, nap together and generally just hang out and explore together.

Lately they've still been doing all of the above but a few times now I've seen Cosmo chase Dash down jump and pounce onto Dash's back and bite the back of his neck...Dash just sort of hunches down and then Cosmo will be on his way after pinning him down for about 5 seconds. Is this just them playing or does it mean something else?

Cosmo is a bigger boy than Dash...Dash only weighs about 5kg but Cosmo I think weighs around 6kg. Has Cosmo just realised he's bigger than Dash and can squash him?? I guess I'm a little concerned just cos in the two years of having them I've never seen either of them do this to the other before.

Other than this they seem to getting along fine still although Dash has been very sooky lately miaowing a lot more for attention and just generally being a snugglier boy than usual (although he's usually a big love bug anyway - he's just been even more lovey than usual).

I don't know much about cat behaviour and stuff so any advice on whether I should be worried or whether this is just normal cat behaviour would be great.

Thanks in advance.

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[fleabag]

It sounds like there is a shift in the pecking order ...if Dash keeps being more sooky, or the behaviour escalates ..I'd take him to the vet in case Cosmo is picking up on a heath weakness before we notice...

[gazey]

Are they are both desexed? That is the way that a male cat gets his girl, pounce from behind, grab her by the neck and pin her down. If they are both desexed perhaps it is just a dominance thing? Are there any entire male cats lurking around your yard as that can sometimes spark on entire male behaviour in neuters as well? Just a couple of thoughts, I'm sure there will be more soon.

gazey

[furball]

Even though desexed, this sort of behaviour can still present, particularly at this time of year. Just keep you eye on it and make sure it doesn't become any more aggressive.

[CatsRU]

I agree that it is a dominance thing - naughty boy.

[raggiepaws]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Yes, both my boys are desexed. They were desexed by the breeder before I brought them home at 14 weeks old.

I don't think that there are any entire cats lurking around certainly not in my yard..I have cat fencing installed around my backyard which keeps mine in and other cats out...plus I have two dogs and have never seen a cat in my backyard...well except for my two of course.

Is there anything I should do if it's just Cosmo becoming more dominant? Should I discourage it and tell him off when I see him do it or should I just leave them to sort it out themselves unless it gets worse?

I haven't done anything the few times I've seen him do it because it happens so fast and literally five seconds later he jumps off Dash and goes about his business and Dash wanders off too as though nothing's happened.

In all other respects they seem to be getting along fine...no fights over toys, sleeping spots, food etc...is there anything I should look out for as a sign that things are getting worse and I should to intervene?

Sorry for all the questions....I guess I was kinda shocked to see Cosmo (who's always been a big softy and generally the more submissive one) do something that looked so aggressive to Dash.

[Furkidz]

If you think it's more than just play and the one getting jumped on is upset by it - I'd keep a water spray bottle handy and squirt the bossy boy when you catch him out being naughty. You don't want it to get out of hand.

[aboutTaya]

I agree that you don't want the aggressive behaviour to escalate. When one cat picks up on a weakness in another they can really enforce their superiority. I agree with Furkidz and would water squirt but when you start to see Cosmo go to pounce on Dash. For some cats you need to deter the thought to deter the behaviour if you get what I mean. Deter Cosmo from thinking about pouncing on Dash by squirting when you see him sneaking up on him - no doubt butt wiggling and ears slightly flattened. I'd also be trying some rescue remedy in their water dishes or running a feliway to see if that helps Cosmo calm and to destress Dash.

[fleabag]

There are several schools of thought about this..
1. If they are gonna change the order ..the quicker the better and don't interfer unless there is murder afoot.
2. and my personal choice ..I'm the boss around here and I'll decide who beats up on who..so I break it up ..and reinforce MY position as top cat ..

It's your choice ...grin..

[raggiepaws]

Thank you all so much for the advice. You guys are great!

The squirting with a spray bottle idea is a great one...a couple of times I've flicked water at Cosmo to deter him from places I don't want him to go (like the dining room table!) and he high tails it out of there quick smart! And definitely I'll try and catch him pre-pounce. I wouldn't want to get Dash accidentally!

I've already got some rescue remedy actually (one of my dogs is storm phobic so I use it for her) so I'll pop some in the water bowls and see if that helps...

I've got a feliway diffuser too....I boarded my two raggies for 10 days in September and bought it in case they were stressed when they came home. Luckily they adjusted to being back home really quickly....at least I thought they did. Do you think that stress from boarding would cause problems nearly two months later?? It's possible that I've not noticed more subtle signals that they were still upset but they really seemed back to normal within a couple of days.

I like your personal choice fleabag. I think I'm much the same. I break up the little scuffles my dogs have when a lot of people say I should just leave them too it...it's more a reaction than anything I don't want anyone to get hurt just cos I let them have at it! So I think I'll be choosing your method with my cats too. It's so funny - I've had dogs all my life but these are my first cats and I feel like I can read dogs really well but cats are so much more subtle about what they're feeling and in how they act....I love them sooo much but sometimes I don't think I always know what they want/why they're doing things...

I'm so glad I've got all you lovely cat world people to ask my silly newbie cat questions.

[monty_dweezil]

When we first got our boys, Dweezil would do this to Monty sometimes...he'd jump on him from behind and chew his neck...sort of holding him at the neck. We weren't too concerned though cause Monty would play/fight back at other times, and whenever he made a noise if Dweezil was doing the neck thing, Dweezil would stop immediately and back off. So we thought that was good. lol.

At this point we were still waiting to have Dweezil de-sexed, and after he was, I think he may have done it...2 more times and never again since.

Monty has done it VERY occasionally to Dweezil over the time we've had them (almost a year, I can't believe how the time has flown!!!), but not much and it's sort of quite half hearted...

What we have noticed, and this was more so in the early days when I think Dweezil was the dominant one (now I'm not so sure who is dominant...I think still Dweezil), is that Monty would attack and bite the neck and mount from behind various of my stuffed toy animals. We think he did this to express those feelings he had and couldn't do to Dweezil cause Dweezil was the dominant/stronger one. So he took it out on the animals. lol