Advice Please? Cat Behaviour.

You'll have a fighting ring for life then Shiney :(
By not neutering them you're not helping them, they're very highly sexed animals and they're sole purpose is to have s e x , it's wrong to humanise them and feel sorry for a male to be nuetered.
A neutered male is a content and social one because they're not constantly hyped up.

 

I so "done" many years ago and look at me now..........

 

I think Oscar and Monty are just taking it in turns to be incharge...as you say Shiney the picture where they are laying opposite each other to me shows no signs of aggression...i'd have thought if one was seriously more dominant than the other they wouldn't do that and by now there would have been an almighty fight with nasty injuries....if Oscar is an 'entire' male i personally wouldn't get him neutered being the age he is...he looks a lovely contented little man...bless his heart...long may he reign.

 

The 'Old Tom' i referred to was 12 when he was neutered, that was 4 years ago now.
If the vets see no reason to neuter, well .... okay !
By the way, if you ever get the chance to buy a book on cat psychology get one because they are very, very good reading, owners of feral or nervous cats especially should read them !

 

laying with belly up indicates submistion when any cats offer their belly to you it indicates that they trust you, so i would guess they had a hormonal moment then decided oh hell we are too old for this

 

Hi Shiney,

If Monty has come from a rescue home then he would defientley have been neutered as they will not let any cat Tom or Queen go to new homes until they are incapable of either having kittens as in the case of Queens{Female}or getting Queens pregnant in the case of the Toms{Male}.

You can tell if a Tom has been done because from the rear end when the tail is lifted upor he lifts up his tail you can see the marks{well we can with our blue tom}where his bits used to be if he has been done or he will still have them intact if he hasn't been done.Male unnutered cats will aslo go round spraying everywhere,in the shed or greenhouse if the door was left open and would most certainly spray up any plant pots that you have in the garden plus they will spray up doors and car tyres etc...

Queen cats often are of a quieter nature and usually have a small bib of excess fur that hangs down under their tummy near the back legs.:D

I was having a conversation this morning with an overweight cat owner and the vet told her that wet food from pouches can make cats put on weight so if you don't want Oscar to get too plump even though he doesn't eat that much you could always just give him the dried food as long as he has fresh drinking water to have whenever he wants

When cats are not happy with each other they will walk very slowly and all their movements seem to be in slow motion as they eye each other up and will often have a sideways posture as well as they move,and will also mkae some very strange growling noises,plus hissing and spitting {Toms especially:D}

We had to have an elderly cat put under Anisethetic at 19 when she had to have some teeth removed but luckily she survived whereas other cats might not be so lucky at that age and will curl there toes up and die...

I am sure that Oscar,Monty and all the other cats will get themselves sorted out between them and you will find they will all tolerate each other until they are all so old they can't be bothered any more:D

 

I'm surprised the vet said that wet food is calorific, it's usual that the dried is and the wet isn't. Strange


I went in to 'see to' a neighbours cat for 5 days recently and was horrified to see that she didn't leave water down for it
It eats mainly dried food too so i immediaately put some down.

On the owners return she explained that she didn't put water down anymore because the cat wasn't drinking it ........... honest to god, what are these people thinking ? ? ?

:gaagh::gaagh::gaagh::gaagh:

 

I wouldn't worry about it, shiney. It's a natural cat power game - all posturing and noise and little else. (Typical blokes in fact! )

When Monty was trying to get out of the greenhouse, Oscar was clearly controlling him by sitting in his way. That's obvious. What's not obvious is that it was a calculated action on Oscar's part! Alpha cats do that to show others who's boss by simply place themselves in the other one's path and then sit down apparently all calm and passive. But they are nothing of the kind - they are actively seeking to control the other cat. Body language and facial expression are everything, just like an open mouth with fangs bared. It's a statement of intent; on the Alpha cat it's saying 'I'm boss here - watch out or else'; from the under-cat it's saying 'I see you are boss and I won't attack you unless you attack me'.

Catawalling is the same. Mostly they will stand shoulder to shoulder or head to tail, maybe arch their backs a little as they wail. Your picture is a beautiful example of this. If it gets intense, they might fluff their tails up too but all of this is expressly to avoid physical contact. Very often if it escalates, the worst it will be is a brief bout of sparing with front paws which can look a lot worse than it is - lots of fur flying and screams, but little actual brawling. It has to be very serious for that.

As for rolling onto his back, this can be gestures both of submission and dominance. A under-cat will do it to say he accepts the other is boss but a Alpha cat will do it to say he's soooo in charge he's totally 'not bovvered' by the other cat! You can tell the difference in their ears and other actions. The first one will have a cautious look on his face and maybe ears down a little. He certainly won't look relaxed. While the Alpha will probably start licking his paws to show just how 'not bovvered' he is - it's all show!

I think your two have reached a state of being cautious allies but from time to time Oscar still feels the need to remind Monty whose territory he's on. Maybe sometimes Monty objects to being corrected or doesn't submit as quickly as Oscar would like and hence the squiring up to one another gets played out all over again.




Kandy, I'm surprised to hear you say that (or rather your vet say that) about the pouches. My two neutered toms have been fed on little else for years and I'm actually thinking they are losing weight as I can see their spines!

TomTom on the left weighs in at 14½lbs and Oscar weighs 7lbs.

 

Any room for a little one (Eddie- not allowed out until he's a little bigger mind) and a big one (Sabre)

Such an interesting topic, and I love those photos The black and whites seem to like your garden :yess:

 

Lovely pictures everyone and Shiney, Oscar is so laid back really he is really lovely. I think the two old boys are just postulating. Oscar saying just you remember Monty this is my demain and you use it only with my blessing.