My Two Thugs

[Jugglering]

As you lot probably know, I adopted two gorgeous lady cats back in May - BigThug (about 8 years old) and WeeThug (now 2 years old) from a nearby cat shelter where they had little contact with each. Both have been neutered, microchipped and are in good health. WeeThug is a very friendly, curious, happy little soul whilst BigThug has been around a bit, been there, done that, got the T-shirt and spends most of her time sleeping. All is fine unless BigThug sees WeeThug, then all hell is let loose, lots of hissing and snarling (from BigThug). They chase each other around the place (and managed to hurt each other once). I had assumed that eventually things would settle down and one would reign supreme but both are obviously still fighting for that top spot in this household.

Has anyone any good ideas on how to get BigThug to stop hissing and snarling at WeeThug (who actually hasn't ever done anything to deserve this, she just wants to be friendly..) ? I have a Feliway diffuser plugged in the downstairs lounge (the room they are in most often) and put blasts of the spray around the other rooms. They are not stuck indoors - they have a Pet Porte cat flap and are free to roam in my fairly wild but safe back garden.

[wiggal]

Hey Jugglering,

I dont really think I have that much helpful information for you, as we just let our lot get on with it!

They mostly get on fine, but Sammy and Smokie who are brother and sister, both 4 1/5 years old and the oldest 2 in the house quite often have hissy fits at each other!

I dont know if they are competing, or just dont get on, as Sammy Lee is very much the leader of the house, and Smokie likes to think he is, however he is terrified even if you sneeze or cough and he is in the room!

One little madam we have, Spinks, has recently began to get very defensive of my partner. (I didnt realise cats got so attached to people!) But if she is near him, even sat on the floor, and another cat comes near him, she hisses and bites there ears! But she is a funny little thing anyway!

But we just let them get on with things, we have never had any injuries, and mostly they have learnt the pack hierachy, and everything is ok.

[wolf63]

My two are brother and sister litter-mates. They mainly ignore each other and do their own thing. They are indoor cats and are about 3 year old.

Frankie is just a big kitten and wants to play but Merlin isn't too playful. There have been a few spats and Frankie is usually injured on the face - Merlin has big paws and she has a powerful whack. He has been to the vet twice in the two years that I have had them due to infected wounds.

If your two thugs are evenly matched and there are no great injuries I would leave them to it. They can get out and if either of them were unhappy with the household they could move on to anothe home. Is wee thug bothered by the hissing and spitting?

Some times I think that I live in a war zone and I am reduced to screaming at them - they stop fighting for a little while and then start up again. I thought that having pets was meant to help my depression and not drive me to despair.

What are the real names of the thugs again?

[bensmum]

I had Florence and her sister Minnie (who died nearly 2 years ago) from a re-homing centre. I was told they had to be re-homed together which wasn't a problem but they hated each other so I never quite understood why they had to be kept together. Min could be a real little cow and she hissed and scratched at Florence with no provocation. She didn't like other cats full stop but was the most affectionate cat with people. Interestingly when she was very ill Florence would go and wash her which was lovely to see.

[Jugglering]

Thanks for all your kind words... I suddenly had a brainwave ! I have moved the Feliway diffuser to upstairs.... since BigThug only seems to hiss and snarl at WeeThug when they are upstairs or on the stairs..... WeeThug doesn't seem to be at all put out by BigThug's nonsense, she either whacks her right back or just starts to chase her around...it can be very funny watching them - one chasing the other in one direction and then in reverse order coming back... it's just the growling, hissing and baring of the fangs that scare me !

[Babz]

Cats and their politics eh? We have two neutered boys, the same age but not related, since we lost our older cat who was the matriarch they have struggled to decide who is the boss, one day it's one and another day it's the other, they have some battles royale but never seem any nearer to deciding who's top cat. I suppose in their natural environment they go their seperate ways whereas we keep them pretty much on top of each other. I don't think there's much we can do about cats, they're a law unto themselves!