Kittens at five or six weeks are fluffy, passive, bumbling and dependent physically as well as emotionally. They can eat kitten food and use the litter pan but will constantly run back for reassurance. It's the age greeting card photographers get their best results, before they turn into Rocket Kittens -- but they need their mothers at this age to grow into psychologically healthy cats.
If you choose an older cat, seek one that's already socialized to humans and responds well to you personally. Does the cat look up to make eye contact? Does the cat purr when you approach, or lean against your hand?
Will the cat come toward you if you make clicking sounds and scritching motions with your hand? All this is starting off on the right paw with a cat. Purring means a cat wants to be social, is seeking interaction and affection. Cats will purr when they are sad or hurt, because they want the comfort of their family and clan members. When a cat or kitten enters your life, you are being adopted into that cat's family as a human member of the clan.
Cats will adopt many other species into their clans. Cats who get along with dogs do so because they establish pack dominance over the dog by sitting higher and giving dominant body language. Dogs are comfortable with this if raised by a cat, it's psychologically stable. Understand cat dominance. Cats are not pack animals. To function well, a hunting pack has a leader and the leader decides what the pack will do, the beta will give advice, the others follow and the omega plead and beg to be privileged with remaining in the pack.
Dogs can be comfortable in the omega position. To a dog, being the omega in a great high pack better than all other packs is far better than being the alpha of a miserable pack of one. Cats do not work together. Cats work alone and socialize together in their off time.
They sleep together, guard each other in the nest, socialize for pleasure, communicate, play, share food, establish safe den territory and have one sterling grace cat lovers learn to appreciate. A cat's reaction unless cornered is to walk away from an unpleasant situation.
Thus, attempts to dominate a cat the way a human would dominate a dog will often result in the cat walking away, tail high, pretending that didn't happen. Or severe discipline from the cat for crossing his or her boundaries. You can win a stare-down with a cat. Even an adult cat. Even an adult cat who's used to winning stare-downs with humans.
The result of winning a stare-down with a cat is usually that the cat will stalk away. A direct stare-down may be a territorial challenge. Within a clan, many different cats are establishing themselves constantly. Dominance is a fleeting thing. Who looks away first does matter -- but humans will look away a lot sooner than most cats until they understand this. It also helps to understand that winning a stare-down with a cat does not necessarily win your argument with that cat, or win anything but that moment's stare-down.
Don't try to enforce this all the time. Don't always look down first or always look away. Keep this to moments when the cat is clearly challenging you in areas that ought to be yours. The key to cat dominance is that a dominant cat is saying "This is mine. Too much aggressive dominance to a cat may convince the cat to move out, find friendlier accommodations.
This is one of the pitfalls of relearning dominance behavior from human or canine to cat -- if you carry it too far, you convince the cat he's not welcome. Toms are more likely to move on than queens.
Female cats are the dominant gender among cats, but they understand this is not always the case with humans. Dominance is maternal. The dominant cat takes care of other cats. Food gifts to you are a cat's respect to you as the keeper of the den, and a recognition that you're family. It's symbolic now after thousands of years of human-cat interaction, but because cats hunt for their friends and family, cats learned to bring mice to humans. To the cat it means "I love you and you're family.
You give me food, so I'll bring you something. Friends cause we want to be, not because we have to be. Not so much! Learn More. Great blog. If the two cats are familiar with one another, they may simply try to pin each other down rather than cause bodily harm, but this is not always the case.
In a dominance struggle, each cat attempts to position herself above the other and may nip at the neck or belly of her captive. Cat fights are often very loud, as both cats scream, hiss and growl throughout the altercation. Cat claws are sharp, so howls of pain are commonplace as well. Fierce competition over food, water and attention can be a cause or symptom of feline dominance struggles. The food bowl is likely the prime place for a kitty showdown, so feeding your cats separately is a simple way to reduce the chances of conflict between your pets.
Give your cats treats, attention and catnip separately to prevent them from feeling that their survival and happiness is reliant on "beating" each other to the good stuff. All rights reserved.
Please enjoy this video from Jackson Galaxy, a well-known cat behaviorist and host of How much will it cost to care for a new animal companion? Common types of aggressive behaviors between cats Territorial aggression Cats are very territorial, much more so than dogs.
Inter-male aggression Adult male cats normally tend to threaten, and sometimes fight with, other males. Defensive aggression Defensive aggression occurs when a cat is attempting to protect himself from an attack he believes he cannot escape. Any change in behavior may be an early indication of a medical problem. Spay or neuter any intact pets in your home. The behavior of one intact animal can affect all of your pets.
Slowly re-introduce the cats again following this slow introduction process. You may need professional help from an animal behavior specialist to successfully implement these techniques. Your veterinarian is the only person who is licensed and qualified to prescribe any medication for your cats.
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