I got this from Rosie in Middlebury Vermont and it worries me because she says she has The Cat Bible – which makes me very happy. However, she hasn’t read (or maybe understood?) the section on introducing cats, or the part about how to tell whether an interaction is play or fighting between two cats, which makes me really unhappy.
I’m a new cat mom of less than a year and I’m the recipient of two cat re-homings, 3 months apart. Yes I have The Cat Bible and I’m feeding the best canned food available. I’m waiting for a sample of Platinum Performance feline supplement to come in the mail, to try out on my boys.
Occasionally I get a serious looking cat fight between my boys. (They have only been together for 3 weeks.) Timmy is 3 years old and the dominate male and I understand he needs to establish his dominants over 9 month old fearless Oscar. I try not to intervene in the fight… but when should I? Timmy stalks Oscar and pins him down, they use open mouths and claws with some auditory comments. Sometimes fur flies as the wrestling accelerates and looks to be more aggressive. Oscar does not run and hide in fear when he escapes but gets himself to a place where there is an object between him and Timmy, like a plant or a chair. Oscar acts like a fresh teenager and eggs Timmy on from his protected position.
Most the time the boys play and race all over the house together. I’m trying to document what time of day these few serious fights come on… they might be before or after feeding… I’m still watching. Also the boys are left alone in the house together so I’m not around to see if they are fighting when I’m not here. What is your suggestion… leave them alone to fight it out like I would my own children? I understand a pecking order must be established between the two.
Rosie clearly wants to do the right thing by these kitties and is feeding them correctly and even going down the road to healthy supplementation, and I’m really grateful for that. But how could she miss the advice about the right way to introduce (or even re-introduce) two cats, and then how to recognize and immediately separate two cats who are not at the very least neutral towards each other. Cats are NEVER supposed to be left to duke it out, which only creates more ill will, and can result in vicious fights with dangerous biting and scratching. As for pecking order, that section of The Cat Bible differentiates between the ways multiple dogs co-exist versus how cats find their harmony, and having a bully cat or victim is never the right avenue to take. Right now Rosie needs to get some “Ultimate Peacemaker” flower remedy that she’ll find on the Spirit Essences page of my website and follow the Bible’s instructions on starting fresh with her two boys.
Tracie
