My cats are both just over a year old. I adopted my first kitty, Belle, in July '06. My second cat, Ava, was adopted in November '06.
Naturally, Belle was very dominant right away, always eating first and standing her ground over what she thought was rightfully hers first. Ava is considerably bigger than Belle, but always submitted to Belle without any protest.
Suddenly, Ava seems to have taken over the dominance in their relationship. Ava pushes her way in to eat first, and Belle seems to be submitting to her in a lot of situations.
I am wondering if this is normal and what causes a dominant shift when it comes to cats. There is no pressing issue here, I am just curious :)
2007-09-01 13:46:23 · 3 answers · asked by Kavasa 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
It's completely normal, but what caused the shift between your two is hard to say. Social structure between cats can be pretty complex. It may be that Ava sensed some weakness in Belle or that she was of an age to no longer wish to be dominant and seized her chance to take over. As long as they are still getting along and not fighting about things, I wouldn't worry about it. Cats usually manage to work things out.
You're just lucky your two seem to have dealt so well with each other since it would seem they both have a dominant streak. I have three cats and while one is fortunately happy being the low cat on the totem pole, the other two both seem to want to be in charge. They have worked out an uneasy truce between them in that one goes outside and is the boss of the yard while the other is in charge of all things indoors. They still get a little tense around each other sometimes, but mostly they get along ok. It's just aggravating that my little indoor feline princess fusses a lot while the in/out cat is outside and that cat seems to enjoy taunting her by sitting right outside on the windowsill where she can't be bossed around.
2007-09-01 14:03:55 · answer #1 · answered by Ghost Shrimp Fan 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes; dominance can shift from one cat to another. It can be when the younger cat gets older, or it can be a change in the health of one or both cats, or a half-dozen other things. Pretty standard stuff for cats :-)
2007-09-01 13:53:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Cats can switch at any point in time, so it's totally normal. Age, size and weight aren't a factor, it's the cats themselves that it all hinges on.
2007-09-01 15:01:22 · answer #3 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋