Conference misery::feline_v1

2132.0. "VERNE&SHIRL,BIGTIME BRAWL" by ASABET::C_AQUILIA () Wed Jan 11 1989 11:54

    
    i haven't had time enough to do anything lately.  not even get in
    the kitty file and play with my furry friends.  verne and shirl
    have noticed it too and i just had to ask if anyone else has gone
    through what i went through last night.
    
    well, let me tell you first that its only been in the past few weeks
    that i've found myself not at home, coming in late and yes, asking
    other people to take care of the babes.   the first attack i saw
    was the s--t's that seemed to be missing the litterbox.  ok, so
    it was alittle dirty but least thing they could of done was told
    me.  and then shirl started fasting, as if to tell me 'if your not
    going to take care of me, i'm not going to eat'.  and now i've noticed
    that the somewhat small kitty is now a small skinny kitty.  of course
    we all know that verne took full advantadge of the extra food around
    but got bored with that quickly.  he decided to start working out
    again (after he weighed himself the other morning) (you see he does
    that every morning with momma) he normal exercises start with the
    kitty post that is covered with catnip.  now you have to realize
    that there has always been catnip rubbed on the post and the last
    time i remembered putting some on was about two weeks ago.  well
    anyways.... last night he started with the pole again and ALL OF
    SUDDEN he started in on shirl.  at first it was fine, they were
    just playing but then she started yelling and to me, it seemed pretty
    clear that he was hurting her.  i had to yell at him to get off
    her and when i did he loudly growled something like "gggggggglllll"
    and plopped himself over and sulked.  two minutes the little b___h
    was after him!  they were running, jumping and climbing over
    everything.  i haven't seen them play like that in months.
    
    so, to make a long story short (i guess its too late for that)
    verne and shirl were going at it last night.  BIGTIME.  i was scared
    that maybe something was triggering them to act so voilently.  really
    they never played like that before.
    
    was it just the catnip?????
    
    talk with you furfaces lata-
    
    carla jeanne, verne and shirl
    

    It could be the catnip!  When Cali gets catnip, she first gets all
    lovy dovy, rolling all over the floor and rubbing against us. Then,
    she quiets down and turns downright nasty, hissing and swatting the other
    two cats if they get near her!  A regular Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde!
    
    Needless to say, Cali doesn't get catnip anymore!
    
    Jeanne, Cali, Sam and Sweetie
    

    My neighbor had a problem with 2 of her cats a few weeks ago.  Sneakers
    and Maxie have been together since they were kittens.  They are from
    different litters several months apart.  They have never been the best
    of friends but have gotten along okay.  Several weeks ago, Maxie
    started stalking Sneakers and he would attack him viciously and send
    fur flying everywhere.  I had some nasty scratches to prove Maxie meant
    business.  We don't know why this behavior started, but it seems to
    have lasted about a week and gone away.  Both seem to be living
    peacefully again.

    I think that there's two possibilities here - especially for the
    note immediately preceeding this one.  1. The cats miss you and
    are probably angry that you aren't giving them the kind of attention
    they have been used to.  Since you are bigger than them it is 
    unacceptible for them to display their aggression towards you. 
    Therefore, it gets displayed in a safer direction - the other cat.
    2. Something that my cats have gone through, that may explain
    note -1:  I put in a rather long story about incidences we have
    had with stray cats in our yard who have severely upset my indoor
    cats.  The worst displays of aggression have been between Mao
    (9 1/2 yrs) and Isis (4 1/2 yrs) who have been living together
    relatively peacefully for four years.  The best thing I can come
    up with is that the cats (especially Mao) become very upset with
    strays invading their territory (they go out on leashes so consider
    the yard theirs) but are unable to drive off the invaders because
    they are in the house.  The instinctive aggression then gets displaced
    towards other members of the cat household.  The behavior tends
    to be temporary.  The stimulus wears off and things return pretty
    much to normal.
      Nancy DC