Friday, 4 April 2008

Feline Shrinking

Rainee and Kiki have been at odds for a few months now. The last few days have been the worst, however. The two cannot even be in the same room anymore without going at each other. At one point Kiki even chased after me, paws upraised and ears flat. I’ve taken to keeping her in my room with the door shut. She has plenty of food, water and of course the litter box. Behind closed doors, she becomes sweet and docile, very loving and calm.

I contacted the veterinarian about the problem, and he gave me a photocopied handout from what appears to be page 466 from a textbook that includes the heading Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals. He said Kiki’s issues sound “hormonal.” He also suggested that some cats, once they are very comfortable in their surroundings, tend to become territorial in the extreme and also like to dominate those around them, including humans.

Every time the aggressor sees the housemate, it experiences the same full-blown set of behaviors as when the initial event occurred.

By the way, Kiki is the “aggressor” while Rainee is the “housemate” or “victim.”

The "event" would be the following, which I think started the entire whirlwind. It also happened after Foofer died.

Rainee and Kiki have a tussle now and then, such as the other night when a noise startled them both and they went to fist-cuffs (as much as a dog and a cat can do). To see an eight-pound cat try to take on a fifty-four pound dog was quite a sight although Kiki’s demonic caterwauling was enough to scare the be-Jesus from the calmest of souls. Neither were injured in the fray, but in her panic Kiki nailed me on the thumb with one of her sharp claws. I think I have a scar brewing as a result. (01/31/08).

Another violent scuffle was documented here.

More from the handout:

Particularly for cats, redirected aggression is so horrific that the [cat] may require anti-anxiety medications.

Lovely. My feline fur-ball is borderline psychotic.

I know one thing for certain. Kiki would not be pulling these stunts if Foofer was still around. One annoyed look from him would have put an end to the matter, without question.

*Cat image copyright Johnny Automatic/Open Clip Art Library