Monday, May 16, 2011

Charlie's Quandary

For Some time Charlie our orange and grey tabby has been chasing the females around and pouncing on them.  Lately it has gotten worse.  Pouncing roughly on the female cats and leaving big scratches and other small wounds.

I had talked to a behaviorist.  She brought up a point that male cats bond closely.  Charlie and Smokie are very close and always snuggle with each other.  Charlie will follow Smokie around if he moves and cuddle with him.  They groom each other all the time.  So I realized that Charlie's behavior is because he senses that something is wrong with Smokie (hyperthyroidism) and it is causing him stress.  I often give the cats cat nip as a treat.  Cat nip is also the cause that he is more aggressive in his play.  Since stopping the cat nip, he has calmed down some.  I've also gotten some calming chews which I give to him at night to keep him calm and relaxed.

The behaviorist also thinks that since Charlie can sense that Smokie is ill, he is also trying to be the dominant male now.  Since Smokie has been sick he isn't as pushy towards the other cats.  He lays around and sleeps.  Plays once in a while.  So being that Charlie is the only other male cat in the group, he is trying to fill the dominant male void.  Between those two things, Charlie is stressed out.  He is a very sensitive cat.  You look at him the wrong way and he'll run and hide.

So, the course of action right now is to give him calming chews nightly to help.  Will be getting some calming oil to put him on him to see if it helps.  If it doesn't then, we may have to go to the vet to get medication to help him during this time.



So far so good though! ;)

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