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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

446.0. "Cat Wars" by MASTER::EPETERSON () Mon Jan 12 1987 14:30

    
    I currently have 4 cats.  I have observed over the years that my
    gang, from time to time, will go to war.  They as a group will run
    from room to room in one collective running - hissing - spitting
    - growling ball of cats.  Then, after a period of time, it will
    stop as suddenly as it started.  In some cases I can tell what the
    cause of the problem was.  Once it was because I had given them
    their first (and only) high potency catnip toy.  I found that my
    boy kitty found his "dutch courage" in it.  Another time I believe
    it was because I had only one kitten left from a litter, and the
    Grandmother kitty was very protective of her.  A fight would occur
    any time the kitten would make even the slightest sound.  It sort
    of went like this - the kitten would go "meeoo".  The grandma would
    figure "Gee, the kitten said 'meeoo'.   It must be time for me to
    try to kill every other cat in the house!!!".  Sometimes I can fairly
    well figure out what is causing the problem, but sometimes I cannot.
    Maybee if any of you notes readers have the same situation, and
    you share the experience, we all can have better insight as to what
    the basic cause is.
    
    As for me, I find the best action to take is no action at all. 
    The battles are vigorous, but the wars seldom last for more than
    a few weeks (in the one case, though, it didn't stop until the kitten's
    new owner came to get her).
    
    So lets get together on the Cat  Wars situation.  Perhaps we can
    truely achieve peace.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
446.1	Twice a day, every day	AKOV68::FRETTS		`Mon Jan 12 1987 14:50`	14
	Kitty wars occur in my house twice a day! - at breakfast and at dinner. Buster Brown usually starts it by picking out one of the other 6 kitties, following the other kitty all around the kitchen and meow-crying, and then if it looks like the other kitty might get a better position, he'll usually haul off and whack them across the face! And then all hell breaks loose, including me yelling for everybody to "Knock it off!!!!". It's really a perverse way to start and end the day when you think about it. Carole
446.2		USHS01::MCALLISTER	TARDIS Sales and Service Co.	`Mon Jan 12 1987 15:03`	16
	We seldom have wars, but we quite often have "air raid" practice. Our cathold is aligned with Crunch on top (now that they are all altered (Yep, no whole cats at the moment)). Rockie doesn't try to take Crunch's place, but doesn't take much guff, just leaves. The others all bow in his general direction. When a fight starts between other cats, Crunch goes over and breaks it up. He never uses claws, just whacks one of the two up the side of the head 5-6 times. After the poor kitty gets his bearing again, the fight is usually over. Was quite different during the days of two whole males and 5 breeding females. Dave
446.3		TOPDOC::DREW		`Mon Jan 12 1987 17:23`	10
	My brood seems at its most rambunctious just before feeding time at night. We usually get a 'floor show' that includes ambushes, frontal assaults, collie-strafing, and general free-for-alls. Fortunately, no one ever seems to get hurt and during the rest of the day these 'bitter enemies' can often be found curled up together in some comfortable niche. Sometimes I wonder if they rehearse when no one's looking... -nn
446.4	Cat Wars!	CADSYS::RICHARDSON		`Tue Jan 13 1987 13:41`	15
	My two are usually at peace with each other. Nebula, being half-Siamese and very fiesty, usually runs things, and JFCL, even though much bigger, usually lets her. However, if Nebula gets too far out of line (say, biting The Fickle's tail when she is asleep on the footstool with her tail hanging over the edge, or shouldering her away from the cat bowls), The Fickle will whack Nebula across the nose as if she were a kitten. This usually restores law and order. Sometimes the cats chase each other all over the house (CHARGE! down the hallway with Neb in thye lead, followed a few seconds later with a gallop in the other direction, with positions reversed), but I think this is all in fun, since they usually run with their tails curled over backwards, which is what they do when I play with them, and do not otherwise molest each other (though sometimes at the end of the hallway, the little cat will jump over her larger companion - which is pretty funny to watch!).
446.5	fights	NEWVAX::BOBB	GO GIANTS!!!	`Tue Jan 13 1987 17:50`	23
	Our two, Rascal and Merlin, have what I describe as an "older brother - younger brother" relationship. (they are not even remotely related) The younger cat, Merlin (thought he is about 2 yrs old now) seems to like to tag along with Rascal (about 5 yrs old), but will also pick on him, especially when Rascal is in what we call his "hissy-face" mood. During these times, Merlin goes out of his way to be a brat....he'll wait behind a corner or chair and when Rascal comes by, Merlin will swipe and run. Most of the time Rascal will just hiss and try to ignore the other one. If it gets too bad, we pick Merlin up and put him in another part of the house. About once every six months or so, the fighting gets out of hand, though. They've never hurt each other, but it sure sounds like murder is being committed. Now, who knows if they do this while we are out work (they stay inside when we aren't around) but if they do it at night, the best way to break it up is some type of loud noise, usually me yelling or smacking my hand on the wall. Water can be good on some cats (the new water pistols give you good aim and lots of water supply) - but Merlin likes water... I think an occasional tussle is natural - how many of us can live in close quarters without having some type of "fight" now and then?