Expert: Norman Auspitz - 6/11/2009

Question
QUESTION: Help!  For about a year and a half now, Monster (age 8) has been chasing Rocky (age 3) almost every time he sees him.  Sometimes he waits around the corner, and the chase is on.  Rocky flees under a bed and Monster never goes after him under there, but he stands and watches, flicking his tail.  They have lived together for almost 4 years with no problems, until this started. I read that it may be because Rocky has reached maturity and Monster needs to establish his dominance.  But on the flip side, they can lay on the bed 5 inches apart for hours and nothing happens.  Rocky can walk past Monster and as long as he doesn't run or make eye contact, Monster doesn't chase.  Rocky used to be the chaser of my other cat Cookie when he was younger, but after awhile she stopped running and he then ignored her.  Sometimes fur flies but Monster never seems to actually catch him.  I go after the fleeing duo and tell Monster to get down and he lays on the ground on his side in a submission pose and I grab around his neck like his mother would do and stays that way until I tell him he can get up.  I thought he might outgrow this behavior as I saw Rocky do with Cookie.  I tell Rocky it's karma for chasing Cookie, but I really want them to get along.  Squirting Monster with a squirt bottle does not help.  Monster sometimes chases Sassy (age 4), not often, and she runs but then lays down so he stops chasing. All 4 are rescues and were bottle fed so none have had a mother to punish them as would have normally been done, so sometimes I think he doesn't know better or know right from wrong.  About a year ago, Monster lost 3 of his 4 canine teeth.  He was checked out thoroughly by a vet and a medical problem was ruled out.  All 4 cats are inside cats, but are allowed to go out in the backyard during the day only.  Sorry to be rambling, but I hope if I give enough information about their lives, you can shed some light on why this is happening.  Thank you so much for your time.

ANSWER: Wanda,

I have two rules when dealing with cat interactions: (1) All human interference is counter productive and (2) We mere humans never understand the rules of cat inter-relationships.

So, were it me, I would ignore their chases, etc. and not worry about it.  Monster is not really going hurt Rocky or Sassy, so I would leave them be and ignore any discussions they may have.

We tend to attribute human motives and emotions to what cats do, but they do not think like we do, so we really have no idea whether they are having some weird game or what.

You have discovered that cats do not react well to discipline or negative reinforcement.  The only way to modify cat behavior is using positive reinforcement, i.e., when they behave as you want them to,m give them a treat.  In the case of the chasing, I do not believe there is anything you can really do.

So, in summary, I would ignore the behavior and let them work out how they want to relate to each other. Anything can trigger a change, e.g., a new cat hanging around your the outside of your house, a medical condition with Rocky where he may feel a bit puny, or what have you.

I know this really does not help a whole lot, but if everyone is eating OK and using the litter pan OK, things cannot really be as bad as you think.

Best regards... Norm.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice.  I didn't mention that Rocky does not use the litter box all the time, he likes to urinate anywhere down a 10 ft. stretch of carpet in the dining room, but I have never seen feces.  This behavior started a short time before the chasing.  I replaced the carpet last week with laminate flooring and he hasn't urinated in that area since then, and I thought maybe that was the reason why he was being chased, but the chase continues. Also, Monster waits for Rocky outside the bathroom door so I know Rocky must feel threatened like he can't use the box without some kind of scuffle. We are now not going to punish Monster as you suggested, and I always thought that if they actually just fought it out once, it would be over and maybe Rocky would win, but Monster can't catch Rocky, or he doesn't want to. So I am going to let them play their game and not interfere and see what happens.  Thank you so much for your time.

Answer
Wanda,

The urination on the carpet may have been due to Monster not letting Rocky in the litter pan.  If the behavior starts up again, have Rocky checked out by your vet for a urinary tract infection.  If there is none, it might be wise to have another litter pan in another part of the house.  A popular "game" amongst multiple cat households is to wait until someone comes out of the litter pan and then pounce on them.

It sounds as if things are settling down a bit.

Bets regards... Norm.