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- Apr 3, 2013
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Hello all! I know I've been absent for awhile, busy busy finishing school.
Everything had been pretty good except for this one problem I cant seem to shake. I've had Simba now for five years, Nala for four years. All, in all, they get along reasonably well. They chase each other, cuddle, lick each other, share food etc.
I'd say for the past six months or so there has been this weird behavior going on between them two I can't get them to stop. It usually starts with Nala minding her own business; she likes to sleep in various corners. Simba will randomly lunge on top of her and bite her neck, hard. Nala then proceeds to run away, hissing and yelling at him. He chases her, swatting. She hisses and yells more. It usually ends with Dan or I yelling at Simba to stop, or Nala gets away. Lately, he's been doing this about three times a day. I'm starting to worry about Nala, not that Simba would injure her badly, but that her personality will be tainted.
Simba normally is a laid back cat, he loves attention, cuddles and playing fetch. He loves to be center of attention and always by a human. He has never ever shown aggression before, and still only does in this manner only. Simba came from a "backyard breeder" situation, where, it was many many sphynxs and one large bowl of food. They all crawled on top of each other to eat and I have feelings Simba didn't always make it because he was the runt and very small. He was about two and a half months old.
Nala is a more independent type. She likes to sleep in her own areas and come out for love on her terms.She still loves to cuddle at night. She loves to lick and give kisses. Nala came from a good upbringing and breeder, I got her when she was six months old.
I've observed this behavior in smaller mannerisms over the past year or two as well. Examples:
-If Nala is laying in a spot Simba wants to lay, he will literally go and just sit on her, she will hiss and move. (Simba is 13lbs, Nala is 6.5lbs)
-If Simba wants Nala's food, he will just go over her and eat it.
-Simba can be lovingly grooming Nala, and she will randomly hiss, smack him and leave. Sometimes she will be loving it for ten minutes then randomly reacts that way.
-When I give Nala and Simba a treat, Nala runs away with hers so Simba won't steal it.
Nala most of the time is submissive and just yells and hisses at Simba. Sometimes though, she gets him back and I find her chasing him down the house and lunging and biting him. I also yell at her.
No cat has ever been injured, usually just a tooth mark and maybe a bruise twice. Never torn skin or anything. At first it seemed like pecking order type play, but this has been going on for so long I am getting sick of it. It's become daily. 90% of the time it is Simba who starts it.
Things I've tried already:
-Yelling at them to stop when I see it (usually works if I yell about three times)
-Taking the one who is doing the chasing and picking them up mid-chase and spraying them with the air can.
-Biting them back lightly right after I witness them bite the other.
-Putting shirts on them both; shirts seem to turn my kitties into chill, sleeping machines. It's like they don't want to move anymore and just give up and sleep. I'm not sure if this is a calming affect or if they don't like shirts. They do run when they see one in my hands.
- I do shirt them both when we are not home to prevent this behavior. I've NEVER had it happen when they are shirted. They won't run, the shirt is too "in the way" I guess.
My problem is, a shirt is a temporary band-aid to my issue. I take their shirts off when I get home, because who wants to be a shirt all day? It also perplexes me because after one of these episodes, they can be licking each other and grooming one another peacefully an hour later.
My latest idea is adding another cat, a kitten. To even the playing field. I fostered a kitten a few weeks ago. Simba and the kitten played well and it distracted Simba from Nala. But when the kitten found its permanent home the behaviors started again. I do not know if I should get a male or female kitten. A male to kind of peck over Simba and play with him to be his equal. OR a female to be Nala's companion and level out the playing field. Nala is far less social then Simba. I've been leaning toward a male for this reason. The kitten we fostered was a male.
I'm really at a loss. Re-homing is out of the question. These two are my babies, and I am determined to fix this. Sorry for the long post, but I really wanted to put out all the information. Here's a photo to put the faces to the names,
Everything had been pretty good except for this one problem I cant seem to shake. I've had Simba now for five years, Nala for four years. All, in all, they get along reasonably well. They chase each other, cuddle, lick each other, share food etc.
I'd say for the past six months or so there has been this weird behavior going on between them two I can't get them to stop. It usually starts with Nala minding her own business; she likes to sleep in various corners. Simba will randomly lunge on top of her and bite her neck, hard. Nala then proceeds to run away, hissing and yelling at him. He chases her, swatting. She hisses and yells more. It usually ends with Dan or I yelling at Simba to stop, or Nala gets away. Lately, he's been doing this about three times a day. I'm starting to worry about Nala, not that Simba would injure her badly, but that her personality will be tainted.
Simba normally is a laid back cat, he loves attention, cuddles and playing fetch. He loves to be center of attention and always by a human. He has never ever shown aggression before, and still only does in this manner only. Simba came from a "backyard breeder" situation, where, it was many many sphynxs and one large bowl of food. They all crawled on top of each other to eat and I have feelings Simba didn't always make it because he was the runt and very small. He was about two and a half months old.
Nala is a more independent type. She likes to sleep in her own areas and come out for love on her terms.She still loves to cuddle at night. She loves to lick and give kisses. Nala came from a good upbringing and breeder, I got her when she was six months old.
I've observed this behavior in smaller mannerisms over the past year or two as well. Examples:
-If Nala is laying in a spot Simba wants to lay, he will literally go and just sit on her, she will hiss and move. (Simba is 13lbs, Nala is 6.5lbs)
-If Simba wants Nala's food, he will just go over her and eat it.
-Simba can be lovingly grooming Nala, and she will randomly hiss, smack him and leave. Sometimes she will be loving it for ten minutes then randomly reacts that way.
-When I give Nala and Simba a treat, Nala runs away with hers so Simba won't steal it.
Nala most of the time is submissive and just yells and hisses at Simba. Sometimes though, she gets him back and I find her chasing him down the house and lunging and biting him. I also yell at her.
No cat has ever been injured, usually just a tooth mark and maybe a bruise twice. Never torn skin or anything. At first it seemed like pecking order type play, but this has been going on for so long I am getting sick of it. It's become daily. 90% of the time it is Simba who starts it.
Things I've tried already:
-Yelling at them to stop when I see it (usually works if I yell about three times)
-Taking the one who is doing the chasing and picking them up mid-chase and spraying them with the air can.
-Biting them back lightly right after I witness them bite the other.
-Putting shirts on them both; shirts seem to turn my kitties into chill, sleeping machines. It's like they don't want to move anymore and just give up and sleep. I'm not sure if this is a calming affect or if they don't like shirts. They do run when they see one in my hands.
- I do shirt them both when we are not home to prevent this behavior. I've NEVER had it happen when they are shirted. They won't run, the shirt is too "in the way" I guess.
My problem is, a shirt is a temporary band-aid to my issue. I take their shirts off when I get home, because who wants to be a shirt all day? It also perplexes me because after one of these episodes, they can be licking each other and grooming one another peacefully an hour later.
My latest idea is adding another cat, a kitten. To even the playing field. I fostered a kitten a few weeks ago. Simba and the kitten played well and it distracted Simba from Nala. But when the kitten found its permanent home the behaviors started again. I do not know if I should get a male or female kitten. A male to kind of peck over Simba and play with him to be his equal. OR a female to be Nala's companion and level out the playing field. Nala is far less social then Simba. I've been leaning toward a male for this reason. The kitten we fostered was a male.
I'm really at a loss. Re-homing is out of the question. These two are my babies, and I am determined to fix this. Sorry for the long post, but I really wanted to put out all the information. Here's a photo to put the faces to the names,
