As I have mentioned, we have four cats in our household. Kitkat who is the oldest at 17 and is a gray tabby, Skeeter, my Russian Blue (and my constant companion) who is now 12, Charley..another large gray tabby who adopted us back in 2009 and I guess him to be 10 years of age and our newest addition Bob who just turned 1 year old on September 10th.
Bob and Skeeter share the same birthday. (Bob is my featured photo. Doesn’t he look like a sweet, innocent kitty cat?) Don’t let his photo fool you! Bob is a Main Coon and full of energy and mischief! Out of all the felines I have had over the years, Bob is by far the most inquisitive (and naughty) cat I have had. Gotta love him!
He is always the one on the table, counter…everywhere our other cats know they are not allowed. Bob does what he pleases but is learning…he knows what is in the squirt bottle when you point it at him! His latest discovery was finding out that if he splashed water out of the automatic water dish it would make bubbles and a delightful glub-glub noise. After flooding the kitchen floor one too many times I decided a bowl of water would suffice from now on.
He can strip a toilet paper roll faster than any toddler and I caught him perched on top of my flat screen tv one day. This was no easy feat, as we all know how thin the top of these televisions are these days. If it moves it’s fair game. He also enjoys rearranging the rugs in the kitchen.
Now that I have summed up Bob’s personality, I will move on to the main topic : when your cats don’t get along. I brought Bob home at around 10 weeks of age. Such a cute little ball of orange fur. He settled himself in nicely right from the start, though the other kids in the house were of course unhappy with a new addition. I decided to sequester Bob in my sanctuary (bedroom) until the other cats grew acquainted with him.
I would let the others come and go as they pleased, approach the sleeping baby and have a sniff (and hiss) or two then retreat to other parts of the house. As I mentioned, Skeeter is very attached to me and for the first week she refused to enter the domicile and was not happy with mom at all! What is THIS doing in HER room??
A month went by and she was reclaiming her spot with mom on the bed, yet if Bob came in she was gone in a flash. Skeeter has never accepted Bob into our family and at this point, a year later, she tolerates but otherwise wants nothing to do with him. This is largely due to his constant “picking” on her. He singles her out and will not leave her alone. Yes, Bob is a bully.
With his destructive nature Bob is no longer allowed into my domicile. (This involved houseplants and cherished collectibles). The bedroom has become Skeeters safe haven and I have since placed her own litter box, food dish and the automatic water dish in there for her. It was the best solution to this problem. She gets the opportunity to leave her domicile (and rarely does for more than a few minutes, as Bob is on the attack as soon as he spots her.) He isn’t attacking in a mean way mind you, but he just will not leave poor Skeeter alone.
Russian Blues are loving cats who are very childlike in nature. She will not go on the defense but tries to run from Bob and as I said, anything that moves Bob will chase. Skeeters stress level is way down. Less shedding, no worries about using the litter box now either. This is healthier for her than holding it in all day or not being left in peace to finish her duty.
My advice to anyone who plans on having a multiple cat household is this: do some research on cat breeds and learn each ones temperament and choose accordingly. I have never had this type of issue before. If you ever have a situation like this, my solution is working very well. I adopted Bob and would never consider giving him away. Never a dull moment with Bob around! He is a snuggler too-when HE wants attention.
The other two cats have no problem with putting Bob in his place. Charley taught Bobcat how to “body slam” and that’s one of his favorite moves now.
I hope this post has entertained as well as educated in a small way. 🙂 Until next time, make each and every day count for something!
Lisa
