Periodic adjustments in the cat social order in this household are necessary when the reigning top cat’s britches get a little too tight for him.
Such was the case yesterday when Andy, the smaller of the two brothers, straightened out his brother’s tail and took over top cat status.
Not to worry, though! Dougy survived the humiliation by stopping by to get me to give him a pity party. After a little TLC and a few “poor kitties”, he was back to normal, if a little more humble when around Andy.
Dougy (left side) sees Andy has a cattitude on…
Maybe he better move on…! Andy follows!
Dougy doesn’t like where this is headed….
“Peace, brother! Peace!”
Andy has a thing or two to say to Dougy. (It’s all in body Catinese. Uhn oh!)
“Maybe I can stare him down,” Dougy thinks.
“He’s not flinching…!”
“Escape is necessary! “
“Let me through, Andy.’
“Never, you big #&^$%!”
“Let’s talk this through, bro’…”
“Nothing to talk about, unless it’s about you going down!”
Dougy makes a move…! What will Andy do?
Give Dougy the stink eye, that’s what, and move a little closer!
Dougy feels his tail’s in jeopardy now. Andy has that look! Maybe if he can make it to the box, he will be safe, Dougy thinks!
Almost there! But Andy’s getting more bold! Don’t leave your tail unprotected, Dougy! Andy closes in!
“Andy’s on to my plan. Maybe I should try for under the chair!” Dougy makes a run for it!
Andy prepares to pounce! “I see you! You are as good as finished, Douglas James!”
Andy jumps down to take on Dougy from another angle. (See the tip of his toes under the jacket? No!? Andy does!
“Come out here and fight like a big kitty, you dog!” (Hey, hey, hey, Andy! Keep it clean!) Dougy’s cowed.
“I’ll wait till you come out. I know where you live!” Andy is bolder and bolder now!
“Don’t be stupid, brother! Come out!” (Dougy wisely choses not to fall for that line…again!)
With a swish of his tail, Andy leaves. He’s made his point and Dougy will have to live with the new status quo!
“It’s a cruel world,” Dougy thinks, and he cowers under the chair until Andy’s left the room.
Yes, Andy assumed top cat status in the household yesterday, and Dougy had his feelings hurt. As noted, though — and as you saw in the last post — he felt much better after Doug (the human one) gave him a pity party and a few reassurances of “It’s OK. There, there, poor Dougy!”
😐 :\ 🙁
(Sorry for the uneven photo quality. This all happened faster than my little camera could adjust focus or decide whether it wanted flash or not. Oh, and there was an amateur photographer using it!)
😐 :\ 🙁
Don’t worry, folks! Though Dougy lost face yesterday, he truly needed to have his tail twisted. He’s been really full of himself lately, claiming everything as his. Andy just got tired of it, called Dougy’s bluff, then didn’t blink during the face off.
F or such a sweet kitty, those yellow eyes can make Andy look really mean.
For sure! He really is a timid, sweet, little cat, though, and looks are deceiving in his instance.
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Loved watching this through photos and you did great not jumping in to save the day by telling them that you are top cat.
XD
I try to let them resolve their occasional issues in their own way. As noted above, I will step in if they start to get too rough, but that’s not very common. Mostly, they display cattitude and stink eye, and that’s sufficient to clear the air!
Your pictures captured the tension and drama that was going down. I held my breath, wondering if Dougy would be able to sidle safely past Andy. Way to go, little fellow.
Andy made Dougy swallow his pride as the price for keeping his tail attached! LOL! 😉
Both of them are so very interesting
I got Andy the kitten first, then was offered Dougy the kitten next because they played well together. I’m glad I did take both kittens because they entertain each other and are such different personalities!
I think I should have done the same too. We wanted to take Coco’s brother, when we picked her up, but then we had another white cat. But she died a year later. Now Coco is alone.
When possible, it’s a nice thing to do. I can understand not taking Coco’s brother initially, though. One never knows. One can always get a shelter cat for a companion for the remaining cat, but Coco has to agree with the change. One of my neighbors had a cat for 9-10 years, brought in another cat for her companion. The original cat wouldn’t have anything to do with the new cat, and she stayed on top of the refrigerator except for food and potty times till the second cat died. (Unfortunately for the second cat, it died because of abuse from a neighbor who hated cats. The poor original cat still had a couple years as a refrigerator cat.) My neighbor tried all the things you do when trying to introduce new cats into a household with a cat or cats, and the original cat apparently just liked her solitary existence better than one with another cat.
OMG! abusing Cats just because neighbour don’t like cats! How mean can that be.
I have the exact fear that the same would happen to Coco too. She has been a only cat for a long time, and I don’t think we should bring another one.
One doesn’t know until one makes the fatal mistake…! I think you are wise, frankly, though I highly recommend having litter mates you know play well together if you ever add cats to your home. I know a lot of people have excellent luck with unrelated cats, but that’s entirely the decision of the cat, eh!?
Sounds like we should put him with Oli. Oli is doing this kind of stuff to his poor sister XD
Show him a picture of Andy and tell him Andy will twist his tail if he doesn’t cool it with his little sister!
No matter about the pic qualities, the Story!The Recount! The Drama!! I was captivated!! Such beauties!
Thanks! I can tell you that Andy is sleeping on his favorite blue carrier today, something he hasn’t been able to do because Dougy decided he wanted it for his ever-expanding list of “my things”. The little cat did some big good for harmony in the family yesterday, and it’s been very quiet here this morning!
😄
After I wrote that, Andy crawled into the flat box and spent several minutes there making modifications (I heard scratching sounds…) to it. The main thing was he reclaimed HIS box!
You go Andy!
I’ve learned to let the boys settle their issues. They sometimes get a little rough (like when Dougy comes out of the spare bedroom after an encounter with Andy and he has kitten fur in his mouth…!) but rarely does it get too much so. I have broken them up a time or two when one made the other one yelp, but otherwise, I let them do what they have to do!
You caught it perfectly!
…speaking as a cat! 😉
This is a great series of photos, Doug! We have three Alpha Cats here. Have seen this scene play out many times! 🙂
I can’t imagine having that many toughies around at once! As for mine boys, Andy is sleeping on top of his favorite blue carrier, Dougy’s sleeping on the floor by my foot, and I have JS Bach playing while I “work” on the computer. It’s a regular “peaceable kingdom”. Andy’s reign is much less hectic than Dougy’s last one was, where Dougy claimed Andy’s box, carrier perch, my ottoman, and assorted other things in the front room, which, till the power grab, we all shared reasonably equally.
That was wonderful! The intrigue, suspense, action. A masterful performance by all. The cinematography reminded me of the static look of a Fellini film. Definitely an Oscar performance.
If I’d been better prepared for Andy’s surprise challenge to Dougy, I would have done this as a video. Couldn’t get the settings changed fast enough on my little camera, so decided to do it this way instead. Even then, things happened too fast for the camera because of poor lighting. Anyway — whew! — thanks! (I’ve been enjoying your father’s blog! You were right to encourage him to document this family history.)
I like the photograph version. It came out really well.
So you’re learning about my past. I didn’t get a chance to edit the last one, so it was a little dry. But it is fun. Sadly the family lost it’s fortune after two world wars, so no, I don’t live in anything like a Shloss.
😀
No, but you live with a menagerie, in the manner of someone born to the manor! LOL! 🙂
LOL! Instead of servants, I have the swarm! 😀
Less cost and greater pleasure!
AGREED! 😀
Such drama, such cattitude.
Dougy is a bigger kitty than his brother, but Andy can handle his own!
It seems like they take their job seriously. 😀
Yes, they do! 🙂
You had me on the edge of the chair! Such drama!
When I sensed Andy was up to no good, I got my camera out. I was going to make a video of the whole thing, but it happenbed too fast to change settings on my camera to video. I decided I could tell the story this way just as easily, so went for it! The boys gave me a pretty good show, for sure!