Cat bullying!

[sue11]

I have had my cats now for coming up to 14 years. I got them from the local cat rescue when they were very young and they have always been close, would clean each other and sleep together etc. But over the past year or so, my bigger cat Bandit has been having a real go at my smaller cat Ozzie. It does not happen all the time, every few days, i.e. we may be all in the lounge and Bandit will go up to Ozzie who is relaxing happily in her cat basket and just whack her one!! She does not use her claws, but thumps Ozzie with her paw. It is a real hard whack and poor little Ozzie cowers down and hisses at Bandit. Bandit then walks away from Ozzie triumphantly. We shout at Bandit to leave her alone, but of course being a cat, she does not take much notice of us. Bandit is not a nasty cat by nature, in fact she is very gentle and good natured generally. Do you think this is just old age grumpyness in Bandit or something more? Cheers Sue

[bensmum]

It doesn't sound as if there is anything wrong with Bandit - it's probably just a behavioural problem and could be down to old age grumpiness. Does Bandit approach Ozzie in a threatening way, ears back, hissing etc. or is she just going up and whacking her? Perhaps you should make a special fuss of Ozzie when this happens and ignore Bandit's bad behaviour.

[sue11]

She does not approach in a threatening way, in fact it looks like she is going up to play with her and then suddenly attacks her. We originally used to dismiss it as too rough horseplay, but the thumps have got heavier as time has gone on. It is though Ozzie has annoyed her, she hits her and then it is all over. I don't think Ozzie is suffering from this behaviour, it is probably me who is doing the worrying! I probably can put it down to old age and having lived with each other for too long! Many thanks for your reply.

[wolf63]

Old age - my two are like that (brother and sister) and they are only two!

Frankie tries to get Merlin to play and when he pesters her for a while she whacks him. And she has a powerful punch.

[snigsthecat]

I have 2 cats father and daughter snigs 16 and wobs 12 respectively and the younger one does this also. My theory is she is trying to be top cat and is putting him in his place. You do not say if they are indoor or outdoor cats mine are indoor and this is natural behaviour in pack animals so you will see this behaviour. Dont worry about it if there is no real claws and blood its just natural.
Hope this helps chris

[sue11]

Many thanks Wolf and Snigs for the answers given. Both my cats do go outdoors, but both also like snuggling up indoors and it may be that territory rights are getting in the way!