moving two cats...territory issues?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

floralswag - 21 Dec 2004 18:26 GMT

I'll soon be moving to a new house with my two cats and am wondering
how this might shift the balance of power between them.
These are two neutered males, Max is 4.5 years old and Sketch is 1.5
years old.

Here's the situation:
When I moved to my current house, I only had Max. He spent the first
week in the laundry room (hiding behind the washer and dryer for the
first two days), before he was brave enough to venture out and explore.

About 6 months ago we brough Sketch home, and within an hour he was
ready to move beyond the bedroom and explore the rest of the house(we
didn't let him out for a week though because we wanted to introduce the
cats to each other slowly). The two cats get a long for the most part,
but I'm pretty sure Max is the "top cat". I'm thinking this because
Sketch licks Max a lot, while Max doesn't reciprocate this behavior.

When we move to our new house, here's what I expect will happen...we
will keep each cat in a separate room for a few days, then open the
door to let them out. If past history is any indication, I suspect that
Sketch will have already completely explored the whole house and rubbed
his scent on it, before Max ever gets up the courage to go beyond his
room.

Will this shift the balance of power between them, making Sketch the
top cat? And if it does, is it something I should worry about?

Reply to this Message

Mathew Kagis - 21 Dec 2004 18:42 GMT

> When we move to our new house, here's what I expect will happen...we
> will keep each cat in a separate room for a few days, then open the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Will this shift the balance of power between them, making Sketch the
> top cat? And if it does, is it something I should worry about?

I think you will experience a power shift. I don't think it's cause for
major concern. I'm expecting a slow power shift with my two as they grow.
Chablis (5 months) is definitely the Alpha cat. Muscat (3 months) is the
newcomer & follows Chablis's lead... But the size difference between them
will shrink as they get older & I'm expecting the young male to challenge
his big 'sister's' dominance. As they are both young, they are bonding
nicely and acting like littermates in many respects... By the time the snow
melts in spring I think there may be a more complex 'power sharing'
arrangement between them. Fascinating to watch.... Hope your cat's new
peace treaty works out well. Can't wait to hear the results.

Signature

Mathew
Butler to 2 kittens: Chablis & Muscat
En Vino Veritas

Reply to this Message

John Doe - 21 Dec 2004 21:22 GMT

>I'll soon be moving to a new house with my two cats and am wondering
>how this might shift the balance of power between them.
>These are two neutered males, Max is 4.5 years old and Sketch is 1.5
>years old.

...

>Will this shift the balance of power between them, making Sketch the
>top cat? And if it does, is it something I should worry about?

Preventing injury is job one.

I think there is a straightforward way of coping just in case. Clip
the aggressor's claws. It's about that simple (the clipping might not
be simple though). Backed into a corner, the defender probably will
inflict damage and help discourage the aggressor.

About 14 months ago I took in a stray male. I thought my resident
female would enjoy the company. Kiki puts up with him now and I'm not
clipping any claws. It's too bad they don't get along better but oh
well, I cannot imagine how to force one cat to like another.

Good luck.

Reply to this Message

Alison - 21 Dec 2004 23:55 GMT

How do the two cats get along now?
Moving is stressful but if the cats get along ok, I would leave them
in the same room together and only seperate them if they become
aggressive to each other.
Alison

> I'll soon be moving to a new house with my two cats and am wondering
> how this might shift the balance of power between them.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Will this shift the balance of power between them, making Sketch the
> top cat? And if it does, is it something I should worry about?

Reply to this Message

floralswag - 22 Dec 2004 23:11 GMT

Most of the day Max and Sketch get along fine, they even sleep a few
feet away from each other in the window. Sometimes they chase each
other and there is sometimes growling and wrestling and tufts of fur
coming off in mouths. I've never seen any blood or injury. I've never
been sure how much of their fighting is play fighting or real turf
wars.

Regardless of whether I separate them after the move or leave them in
the same room, the real issue as I see it is that Max is a scaredy cat
when it comes to exploring new places and Sketch is the total opposite.
So even if I keep them together, then open the door to the whole house,
Sketch will likely have complete head-butted every corner in sight
before Max gets the nerve to come wandering out. And maybe it doesn't
matter if this is the case...I was just curious about others'
experiences in a similar situation.

Reply to this Message

dgk - 23 Dec 2004 18:32 GMT

>Most of the day Max and Sketch get along fine, they even sleep a few
>feet away from each other in the window. Sometimes they chase each
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>matter if this is the case...I was just curious about others'
>experiences in a similar situation.

I doubt that it matters. When I moved into my house the very last
thing to arrive was a box containing two (2) cats. I put it into the
living room and opened the box. Nico (The Wonder Cat) jumped out,
explored the living room, dining room, circled around through the
kitchen, discovered the stairs heading up, and went to check out the
upstairs. Bushkey (his brother) was still sitting in the box whining.
Within a few days they were both all over the place.

Moral: There are two kinds of cats, scaredy cats and curiosity killed
the cats. It is important to have at least one of each kind.

Reply to this Message

Monique Y. Mudama - 23 Dec 2004 19:11 GMT

> Moral: There are two kinds of cats, scaredy cats and curiosity killed the
> cats. It is important to have at least one of each kind.

I tried that, but the curious one was so curious about my scared cat that my
scared cat became terrified hidey-cat! Unfortunately, there is no way to
communicate to a curious cat that the object of his curiousity would rather be
left alone.

Signature

monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

Reply to this Message