More stories from "Wild Kingdom: The Home Edition"

[xiphias]

So, since I took the two cats to the vet today, to make sure they were both up on their shots and were reasonably healthy, and to have the vet trim their claws, we've now decided that it's time to just let the cats fight it out and figure out how to deal with one another.

This is nowhere near as straightforward as it might sound.

Okay, let's start with the simple question of "who would win in a fight".

On one side, we've got Boopsie. Twelve pounds, which is now mostly muscle, since she's been on a diet for years. When she was fat, she was sixteen pounds. She's lost a lot of weight, and has gained a lot of energy over that time. She's thirteen years old, but she's more active and healthy than when she was ten. She's crotchety, and hates other cats. She's a pretty good hunter, actually, even though we rarely have wildlife get into this place.

On the other side, we've got Persephone. She's five pounds, looks like a particularly bedraggled kitten, or maybe a sewer rat with a slight glandular condition. She was beat up repeatedly as a kitten by all the other cats around her, has chronic balance problems probably from severe ear mite infestation as a kitten, has a twisted hip which makes her limp and be generally clumsy. She's small, weak, clumsy, timid.

So far, Persephone seems to be winning.

See, Seph, like I said, was beat constantly by other cats when she was growing up. She's used to it. Someone takes a swipe at her, it doesn't really phase her much.

And Boop, well, Boop's never spent much time around other cats, and doesn't quite get them. So she'll charge at Seph, and, if Seph runs, that's all well and good. But Seph, every once in a while will NOT run. It's no so much that she's standing her ground as much as it's just she forgets to run away.

And this baffles Boopsie.

Like, okay, today. Boopsie was on the bed, Sephie was sleeping on a pile of laundry on the floor. Boopsie hissed and growled at her for a while from across the room, but they eventually both fell asleep. Then Boopsie woke up, saw Sephie, and started stalking her. She came almost within pouncing distance, when Seph woke up, stuck her head up and stretched.

Boopsie freaked and ran away.

Seph never even NOTICED Boopsie.

Later, Sephie wandered into the room, and wandered over to the side of the bed. Boopsie stalked over to that side of the bed, to get position over her, and get a good vantage and striking point.

While Boopsie was doing this, Sephie wandered away.

Boopsie kept careful watch for the right moment to pounce on Sephie for a good five minutes. I kept pointing out to Boopsie that Seph was no longer next to the bed. In fact, she was on the other side of the room, BEHIND Boopsie, attempting to get into the closet.

So, so far, Seph has mainly come out ahead.

Comments

[mathwhiz78.livejournal.com]

too cute!! reminds me of my own kids constantly duking it out. no hissing (at least, none inside... some on occasion when the cat gets out and the dog tries to grab him by the scruff), but the dog will sometimes not notice the cat stalking him until the cat nips his ankle. Earlier, the dog was standing on the chair when this happened so he turned around and jumped off, flying right OVER the cat, and didn't even notice the cat hiding under the chair. See, Eaton (aka Evil Fat Cat) has figured out all the hiding places where the dog can't get to him or is afraid to try, so he'll swipe or nip then run to these places. Half the time, though, he'll just stalk until the dog runs and then chases. Of course, then there are the times when they don't know who's chasing who, but they're having fun anyway. Sometimes, I could cancel the cable and just watch them play with each other. Then again, other times, they're both asleep doing nothing. Eh, whatever.... yay for rambling about my kids!!! =)

~mike~

[burgundy.livejournal.com]

I love how animals often completely disregard size as a factor in status. It's all about attitude.

It's possible the two of them will never really make peace. My two have been living together for years now - two and a half years as indoor cats, and a while before that outdoors - and in all that time, nothing's changed. Eliza still hisses and bops Shadow on the head when startled, and runs away the rest of the time. It's great fun to watch.

[redbird]

cattitude, who had two cats much like this when he was growing up, says that While Boopsie was doing this, Sephie wandered away.

Boopsie kept careful watch for the right moment to pounce on Sephie for a good five minutes. I kept pointing out to Boopsie that Seph was no longer next to the bed. In fact, she was on the other side of the room, BEHIND Boopsie, attempting to get into the closet. is cat hunting behavior: just because the mouse is no longer visible doesn't mean you stop watching the mousehole. He adds "It's proper hunting technique. It makes you look stupid, but it's proper hunting technique."

[cellio]

*laugh* Well, as long as they don't draw too much blood, it'll probably all work itself out in the end. :-)

pecking order

[wargoddess.livejournal.com]

I laughed through the whole entry. I can just picture the whole thing, Persephone is such stupid cat.

Boopsie is 12 and Persephone is 6 so they probably won't ever be fast friends, but they will fight less as time goes by.There's plenty of room at your place for them to play. The bottom line is that cats like to fight. the four remaining cats at our house still fight with persey gone, they just fight each other instead of her.

>^,^

[marquisedea.livejournal.com]

hah, this is the only thing that has made me happy
very amusing indeed