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My mom had a cat fall into her life yesterday. A few days back, a friend of ours was walking their dogs when they found a black trash bag...with a black cat inside of it. $450 in vet bills later, he's living in their garage. My mom saw him yesterday when going to walk their dogs, and fell in love with Mr. Kitty. She worried about him for the rest of the day, living in the garage like that (they can't let him in because the dogs would terrorize him like their previous cat [that I own now], we're in the northeast so it gets cold in the winter, what if he wanders off again, etc). So when checking to see if she had to "weenie walk" tomorrow, my mom brought the concerns up to her friend...and the lady is letting my mom take the cat so he can be indoors. Aptly his name (right now) is Lucky. He's 3 to 4 years old, not neutered, and weighs less than 5 pounds  Once he gains weight he'll be getting the snip, but until then, what can be expected in terms of marking/spraying? Her previous two cats were neutered at the usual time. Also, I don't believe the vet gave him any special food and they're just feeding him Fancy Feast, etc. right now, so what's a good food for him to pack some pounds on with?I'm visiting this weekend, so I'll attempt to get pictures. Until then, meet Hanako, the other cat I adopted from the same people a few months ago: 
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Aug 20, 2014 12:20
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KariOhki posted:My mom had a cat fall into her life yesterday. Blue Buffalo is the easy recommendation for food, and you can check the pet nutrition thread for more suggestions.
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Aug 20, 2014 12:35
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Quick question: My kitty sleeps in my room with me overnight, and I've kept a litter box under my bed for her. It's beginning to get a little smelly now, and so I was wondering whether she could last the night without it - does anyone have any relevant experience with this? I'm cool with keeping the box in my room if need be; I just thought I'd ask.
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Aug 20, 2014 12:36
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So in the last few days my cat has become fascinated by my saltwater fishtank. Oddly he's not very interested in my freshwater tank which is on a lower stand and has a foot long Oscar fish in it. He keeps trying to jump at the fish in there and since he's only 12 weeks old he can only get as far the top of the stand/base of the tank. There's nothing for him to stand on there so he just does a pull up and falls back down. Is there anyway to discourage this or is it just a matter of time before he can jump on the top of it and I find a smashed tank cover and drowned cat/dead fish?
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Aug 20, 2014 14:08
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bubblelubble posted:Quick question: My kitty sleeps in my room with me overnight, and I've kept a litter box under my bed for her. It's beginning to get a little smelly now, and so I was wondering whether she could last the night without it - does anyone have any relevant experience with this? I'm cool with keeping the box in my room if need be; I just thought I'd ask. You need to move the litter box out from your bedroom permanently, not deprive her of access for 8+ hours. If you take away her litter box and she's not trained to wait, she will either go elsewhere or develop bladder problems.
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Aug 20, 2014 17:14
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bubblelubble posted:Quick question: My kitty sleeps in my room with me overnight, and I've kept a litter box under my bed for her. It's beginning to get a little smelly now, and so I was wondering whether she could last the night without it - does anyone have any relevant experience with this? I'm cool with keeping the box in my room if need be; I just thought I'd ask. I can't think of a worse place to keep a poo poo box than under the bed. How often are you scooping it and swapping out the litter?
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Aug 20, 2014 19:42
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Dienes posted:I can't think of a worse place to keep a poo poo box than under the bed. I know, that's what I thought. I'm hoping their bed is lofted or something because god drat. Bubblelubble, do you shut the cat in your room? Is there a particular reason you do this? I leave my door ajar and my cats come and go at night as they please - it keeps me from dealing with their cries to be let in/out and it means I don't have to keep litter where I sleep. I'd work on, at the very least, slowly inching the box out from under your bed and if possible into another room over the course of a week or so (moving it suddenly might confuse her and have her resort to just making GBS threads on the floor under your bed - if she's as dumb as my cat w/r/t litterbox placement, anyway)
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Aug 20, 2014 19:52
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Huntersoninski posted:I know, that's what I thought. I'm hoping their bed is lofted or something because god drat. Yeah nah I scoop it out every night and change what little litter I put in weekly - she only uses it at night anyway cos she has another bigger one downstairs (this litter is her smaller upstairs box). And yes, I shut her in my room overnight because I have housemates who leave very early in the morning for work and school, and my cat's one to dash out the front door. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of going out in the dark, trying to find a black cat. The smell isn't terrible or anything, and I can deal with it cos like I said she doesn't use that box as often as the other one anyway - I just wanted to know if I could go without it. Is there even a way of training her to hold it, or is it just a skill they either have or not?
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Aug 21, 2014 02:25
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bubblelubble posted:Yeah nah I scoop it out every night and change what little litter I put in weekly - she only uses it at night anyway cos she has another bigger one downstairs (this litter is her smaller upstairs box). And yes, I shut her in my room overnight because I have housemates who leave very early in the morning for work and school, and my cat's one to dash out the front door. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of going out in the dark, trying to find a black cat.
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Aug 21, 2014 05:57
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Poor little Hope seems to still have the "cat cold" I was told last Friday to expect from bringing her to a new environment. Sniffly, sneezy, but no actual snot or tears or anything. Can I expect her to be like that for a week or two?
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Aug 21, 2014 06:27
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My cat was sneezing for two weeks when I first brought her in.
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Aug 21, 2014 13:10
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Couldn't help myself and ended up visiting Lucky last night  He really is one of the sweetest cats I've met, especially for a malnourished unneutered guy.  Of course I brought presents. Better foods than the Iams stuff my mom had, a scratching pad, and a feather toy so mom can teach him not to play with hands (especially with her thin skin). When I left he was pretty much melted into liquid cat on mom's lap, so he's a keeper.
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Aug 21, 2014 13:46
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Kino and Dana had their first cat fight last night.  Kino is a neutered-as-of-a-week-ago tuxedo male (about 1 year old) who has lived with me for about 3 weeks now, and Dana is the old queen of the house, a 10 year old spayed calico who is very cuddly and friendly when it comes to anyone other than another cat, I guess. Kino's been living in the bathroom while I've been at work, he's got a litter box, food/water, scratching tree, some toys, and a kitty bed in there, while Dana gets the run of the apartment like she's used to having. Every day after work I let Kino out to run around while I make dinner and watch the news, and he's been exploring and running back to the bathroom to take a few gulps of food between jaunts. I usually wait until I put him back up to feed Dana, because he'll snarf down her food too. Last night Kino decided he was gonna chase Dana around and they got into a drop-down drag-out screaming catfight. It seemed to go on forever but probably only lasted about 30 seconds. After they split, I lured Kino out from behind the couch with some hamburger and back into the bathroom he went. Nobody was hurt, and I was probably the most traumatized, heh. I've had these guys together on this routine for about 3 weeks now and I was hoping to never see a cat fight, but there it was. Previously they'd walk up to each other and touch noses and sniff and sometimes Dana would hiss, other times she'd just ignore him. I can imagine this set back their bonding quite a bit, or should I do the same thing I normally do tonight as if nothing happened? A cat friend of mine is recommending that I stop keeping Kino separated at this point by default and eventually Dana will assert herself as the Boss Bitch and they'll start getting along. A cat's not gonna die if I just leave the bathroom door open tomorrow when I go to work and leave them to figure each other out for 8 hours, right? [Kino the Blur] Hiiii? [Dana] gently caress you. 
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Aug 21, 2014 15:49
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xov posted:A cat friend of mine is recommending that I stop keeping Kino separated at this point by default and eventually Dana will assert herself as the Boss Bitch and they'll start getting along. A cat's not gonna die if I just leave the bathroom door open tomorrow when I go to work and leave them to figure each other out for 8 hours, right? Yeah, rule is no blood no foul. However, I wouldn't just crack a door and leave for 8 hours - let them both out together tonight and you'll see if they're fighting with intent by the time you leave for work tomorrow.
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Aug 21, 2014 16:04
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Drythe posted:My cat was sneezing for two weeks when I first brought her in. Alright, I won't worry too much about it yet, then. I am worried about how little she seems to be eating, though. I put one cup of fresh dry food in her bowl every night, and she'll have eaten none of it by morning, and less than a quarter of it by the next feeding time. That seems like way too little for an almost-ten-pound cat 
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Aug 21, 2014 16:38
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Engineer Lenk posted:Yeah, rule is no blood no foul. However, I wouldn't just crack a door and leave for 8 hours - let them both out together tonight and you'll see if they're fighting with intent by the time you leave for work tomorrow. Yeah, that was the intent last night, but the fight scared me off. So, if it happens again, just don't intervene and see what happens and only get involved if it's really clear that one's trying to kill the other? Hopefully the neighbors aren't alarmed by cat screaming. I am.  I guess this old robot has a heart if I am feeling empathy for my anxious kitties.
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Aug 21, 2014 17:03
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xov posted:Yeah, that was the intent last night, but the fight scared me off. So, if it happens again, just don't intervene and see what happens and only get involved if it's really clear that one's trying to kill the other? Hopefully the neighbors aren't alarmed by cat screaming. I would feel free to verbally break it up (with a quick 'hey' or something), but I wouldn't physically separate them into different rooms and start over with scent swapping, etc. unless either there was injury or it's clear that a pattern of bullying has set in (like if one of your cats stops using the litterbox or huddles in one corner of your house).
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Aug 21, 2014 17:23
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Engineer Lenk posted:I would feel free to verbally break it up (with a quick 'hey' or something), but I wouldn't physically separate them into different rooms and start over with scent swapping, etc. unless either there was injury or it's clear that a pattern of bullying has set in (like if one of your cats stops using the litterbox or huddles in one corner of your house). Yeah, even after they learn to like/tolerate each other they'll still have fights with each other over poo poo. They're just working out their issues and as long as it's not causing actual harm it's best to let them be. It has to happen and it won't just not happen.
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Aug 21, 2014 17:25
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Engineer Lenk posted:I would feel free to verbally break it up (with a quick 'hey' or something), but I wouldn't physically separate them into different rooms and start over with scent swapping, etc. unless either there was injury or it's clear that a pattern of bullying has set in (like if one of your cats stops using the litterbox or huddles in one corner of your house). Okay. I'll be back in tomorrow to let you know how it went. It's also likely that it'll be several more weeks before Kino starts to mellow out more; he probably still has some testosterone swirling around since he was neutered only a week ago. I think he needs more time and more Kino-space in the main apartment to feel safe. There's a cardboard box on the floor that Dana likes to lounge in, and they were taking turns bogarting it last night... need more boxes. I'll also move more of the stuff that Smells Like Kino into the living room so Dana can  - right now there's just his carrier that he'd sleep in sometimes, and she investigates it from time to time but largely ignores everything else.I'm probably just not being patient enough here.
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Aug 21, 2014 17:31
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Break out the cat toys and see if you can entice them both into playing with you. It'll go a long way towards making them more at ease with the other cat being nearby.
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Aug 21, 2014 17:32
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Last night went really well. I think Kino has claimed a spot on top of a huge pillow on my couch, and Dana is content to just lounge in one of her usual spots and watch him. A couple of times Kino went up to her and seemed like he was testing her limits, coming super close, reaching out a paw to see when Dana would growl or hiss ("I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!") but no fighting last night. I left them free when I went to bed and all seemed to go well. They are currently sharing space while I'm at work. I made sure specifically to tell them "no loud parties while I'm gone, okay?" and hopefully that's the case. I did take the play suggestion to heart and had a nice good mouse-on-a-stick session with both of them at the same time, though they were separated by 10 feet or so. I'm hopeful because Kino doesn't seem to make it a point to stalk/harass Dana even 10% of the time they're in the same room. He does seem to get into little antagonistic moods, and I hope that'll die down as they spend more time together and as his remaining testosterone fades.
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Aug 22, 2014 18:28
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The stray adoption project didn't exactly go to plan. My roommate's cat (a 15 year old female named Xena) got territorial real quick and basically kicked the little guy out. Which is okay, he's an outdoor cat who hangs around the neighborhood still. New problem: Xena loves my bedroom. She came up here a lot last fall when it started getting cold, and she's doing it again now. My girlfriend is pretty allergic, and the fur that this cat sheds is driving her insane. On top of that, Xena has this habit of puking on my roommate's futon. If she pukes on my bed, I'll loving kill her, and then I'll have to move out. Is there anything I can spray at the threshold of my room to keep her out? I don't know anything about Cat Repellant.
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Aug 22, 2014 19:36
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Captain Trips posted:Is there anything I can spray at the threshold of my room to keep her out? I don't know anything about Cat Repellant. A door. Maybe one of those hissing sssscat things, but if the cat is used to and loves your room, it'll probably just power through that.
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Aug 22, 2014 19:44
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Huntersoninski posted:A door. Maybe one of those hissing sssscat things, but if the cat is used to and loves your room, it'll probably just power through that. Old house, doors aren't square and don't close right.
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Aug 22, 2014 19:57
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Ciaphas posted:Poor little Hope seems to still have the "cat cold" I was told last Friday to expect from bringing her to a new environment. Sniffly, sneezy, but no actual snot or tears or anything. Can I expect her to be like that for a week or two? Cats react to dust and can get asthma too (one of my two coughs regularly which I am assured is asthma). If there's no wheezing or discharge she should be ok but take her in to be checked over for your own peace of mind if keeps on for long.
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Aug 23, 2014 09:53
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Captain Trips posted:The stray adoption project didn't exactly go to plan. My roommate's cat (a 15 year old female named Xena) got territorial real quick and basically kicked the little guy out. Which is okay, he's an outdoor cat who hangs around the neighborhood still. Did you get him neutered before that happened? That should increase his chances because he won't go wandering as much.
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Aug 23, 2014 10:06
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We were adopted by a kitten. Her name is Little Bitch, or LB II, after my dad's old tomcat. She's a tortie tabby with a white belly. No pictures because I'm phone posting. Somewhere between 6-12 weeks, she walked into the apartment and never left, so we figured we ought to buy a litter box and some cat food. I feel bad for not feeding her good food, but I'm broke and a roof and meow mix is better than homeless in the streets with fleas. Problem is, our roommate doesn't know how to take care of a cat. She yells at the cat and pops her when she bites or tries to much on litter. Today she gave Little Bitch a completely unnecessary bath. But she's also the one that feeds her, mostly because she gets up first in the mornings. How do I tell her that the way she's treating the cat is completely unacceptable without being an abrasive, offensive bitch about it?
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Aug 23, 2014 20:12
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GabrielAisling posted:Problem is, our roommate doesn't know how to take care of a cat. She yells at the cat and pops her when she bites or tries to much on litter. Today she gave Little Bitch a completely unnecessary bath. But she's also the one that feeds her, mostly because she gets up first in the mornings. How do I tell her that the way she's treating the cat is completely unacceptable without being an abrasive, offensive bitch about it?
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Aug 23, 2014 21:18
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Having just recently moved, my girlfriend and I have been at a new apartment about a month and the cats love it. Way more room to run around and play, and we are on the ground floor now so they can look out the sliding door instead of a high up window. I like to leave the door open with the bug screen closed so they can get plenty of fresh air. There have been some neighbor cats that come around and until recently it wasn't a problem. They do very submissive body language like rolling onto their back and showing their belly when they get close to the door, and only do it one at a time, but one of our cats hisses and gets very agitated while the other one does long meows at the outdoor cats. As of last night, they start getting into huge fights when the neighbor cat comes around. I was able to break up the fight last night and separate them, as one was being far more aggressive than the other. Tonight my girlfriend picked up the one being more aggressive and got some quite nasty scratches from doing so. Obviously she should have grabbed a towel or blanket before grabbing a cat that was in a foul mood, but she's never been scratched by them before so she didn't think it was a problem. Anyway, how can I either curb this behavior or make this cat go away? Right now I have some paper grocery bags taped up at the bottom half of the windows so they can't see out, but I'd hope there is a better way. I want them to be able to look out the windows and have fun getting fresh air. I read a little bit on what to do and I read that I should just let them fight it out and spray the outdoor cat with water to make it go away. I feel kind of bad for doing that because the outdoor cat clearly just wants to make friends with my kitties. Are there plants I can put outside on my patio that will deter the other cat from coming around? Should I just let them fight it out or should I get some blocking film for my sliding doors and windows to keep them from seeing outside unless I have the door open?
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Aug 24, 2014 06:54
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So I'm starting to get a little concerned about my two cats. One's a male maincoon and the other is a female. The problem is that the male easily outweighs the female by an easy two or three pounds and LOVES to play. ALL. THE. TIME. Meanwhile, the female would rather lick and clean him, instead of fighting. I adopted them about a year ago as kittens, hoping that they'd bond together and keep each other company while I was at work (~10 hours a day). They're alone most of the day, but I've noticed that when I come home, the big cat starts to beat up on the little one. I think he's trying to play, but he's rough and the female has an extremely low tolerance for pain (I can scratch her just a little rough and she reflexively bites). The weird thing is that after they're done fighting, she goes right back to licking him, cleaning him, etc. I feel a little bad for both of them. Any suggestions?
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Aug 24, 2014 07:11
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I've spent the entire night so far agonizing over how little Hope seems to eat, no matter what I feed her, and how lethargic she seems to be. Reading articles with scary medical words like hepatic lipidosis in them isn't helping. Guess I'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow, if I can (having never been to one, dunno if I need to set an appointment or something). Which means scaring the crap out of the poor cat with The Carrier again, too. I got a cat as a source of companionship on lonely weekends, not as a source of anxiety-attack nightmares. I should have seen this coming
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Aug 24, 2014 08:37
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Ciaphas posted:I've spent the entire night so far agonizing over how little Hope seems to eat, no matter what I feed her, and how lethargic she seems to be. Reading articles with scary medical words like hepatic lipidosis in them isn't helping. Guess I'll be taking her to the vet tomorrow, if I can (having never been to one, dunno if I need to set an appointment or something). Which means scaring the crap out of the poor cat with The Carrier again, too. Take her in as soon as you get a chance. If she's been eating little for several days and is lethargic, something is up. We have a 9-10 year old male, Shade, who had similar symptoms. We're currently dealing with an on and off battle with pancreatitis, which caused issues with diabetes. The resulting diet disruption also caused problems with the liver and hepatatic lipidosis. I'm not a vet but it is a real thing to be concerned about. The good news is that if you hit it early and get food in her it's not that difficult to deal with. However with all the issues our buddy has been having, we have him on an esophogeal feeding tube right now. It's not so terrible but it is time consuming and a bit invasive. However, it seems to be working. If we had started the tube earlier we may have avoided a bunch of stress and pain on his part and ours, not to mention thousands of dollars in hospitalization fees. EDIT: I just read back a bit and saw that you just adopted her and brought her home. Hopefully it's just a stress/new food thing on your end.  EDIT: And we're just feeding him now so I'll add another couple images for the curious:  Linking this one as it shows the tube insertion. Not really gross at all, just being careful. I was surprised it was so minor. He hardly seems to know it's there: http://i.imgur.com/fEBSnUq.jpg LogisticEarth fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Aug 24, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 13:08
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Lucky is a complete fiend for food, he chewed a bag of treats open last night to help himself, and the night before he knocked the cans of food to the floor trying to open them. Teaching mom to put things away, her last cat wasn't a jumper so she left stuff out wherever. Question is food related: how much is too much? He's eating about 3 small cans of food a day, plus whatever he grazes on with the dry food that's left out. He's had some pretty stinky and loose poop bombs, we weren't sure if it's from eating too much or that his system isn't used to having access to real food.
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Aug 24, 2014 14:45
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PringleCreamEgg posted:They do very submissive body language like rolling onto their back and showing their belly when they get close to the door, and only do it one at a time, but one of our cats hisses and gets very agitated while the other one does long meows at the outdoor cats. As of last night, they start getting into huge fights when the neighbor cat comes around. Rolling onto their back is likely not a submissive thing like it is for dogs. Cats fight on their backs, grasping with their front paws and kicking with their back. When my cats roll over like that to me, its an invitation for petting. When they do for each other, though, it's an invitation to fight. It's not so much about showing off their belly as it is freeing up all their pointy ends if the challenger makes a move. Can't scratch the poo poo out of someone if you're standing. As for the fights, I'd say keep an eye out and if they start to show signs of aggravation, distract them away from the door with a toy or something before it escalates, then spray a hose at the yard cat to make it leave. McDeth posted:So I'm starting to get a little concerned about my two cats. One's a male maincoon and the other is a female. The problem is that the male easily outweighs the female by an easy two or three pounds and LOVES to play. ALL. THE. TIME. Meanwhile, the female would rather lick and clean him, instead of fighting. Sounds like you got some cats. If there's no lasting damage and they get along okay afterwards, I'd just leave them be. Try not to feel bad: cats don't have a sense of justice and aren't concerned with fair or unfair. If she is still okay with it, you can be. KariOhki posted:Question is food related: how much is too much? He's eating about 3 small cans of food a day, plus whatever he grazes on with the dry food that's left out. He's had some pretty stinky and loose poop bombs, we weren't sure if it's from eating too much or that his system isn't used to having access to real food. Switching foods will mess with a cat's poops. It may take some days to level out. As for how much: go by the feeding instructions on the can, minus a bit if the cat's not very active. If you notice too much weight gain, cut it back. Some cats just act like they're starving even when they're well fed. Feeding instructions on the container are estimates and almost always suggest too much. The right amount depends on the cat. Rat Patrol fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Aug 24, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 15:38
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LogisticEarth posted:Take her in as soon as you get a chance. If she's been eating little for several days and is lethargic, something is up. We have a 9-10 year old male, Shade, who had similar symptoms. We're currently dealing with an on and off battle with pancreatitis, which caused issues with diabetes. The resulting diet disruption also caused problems with the liver and hepatatic lipidosis. I'm not a vet but it is a real thing to be concerned about. The good news is that if you hit it early and get food in her it's not that difficult to deal with. She's at the vet now, staying for a few days to get hydrated, fed, and medicated while she recovers. No fever or anything, but she was really congested, the poor little thing, according to the doctor
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Aug 24, 2014 17:14
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Araenna posted:What do you mean by pop her? Like, a bop on the nose, or a punch? And tries too much on litter? Like, strains to go? Bop on the nose, and that should have said munch, not much. She was chewing on her litter last week. We got different litter, no more chewing, but we all hate this litter. Now to find one that the cat won't try to eat and that doesn't smell like winter mint death. EDIT: LB is fascinated by nail files. They're the best toys ever, apparently. GabrielAisling fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Aug 24, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 18:51
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So i got a cat, had it for about 2-3 months now, i got her as an adult cat and i got a couple of questions: 1: She's pregnant and i'm pretty sure she's chose under my bed as her place to give birth in a week or two. This is kinda problematic cause i might not find her there, notice she's in labor or be able to help if that's needed. Can i change her mind somehow? I have strewn the flat with good potential places to hide away and pop out kittens, but the bed was teh coolest i guess. 2: I'm trying to make her a indoor cat cause that's the only thing that will work where i live, but it's proving to be kinda difficult because she's uninterested in playing. According to the previous owner she was pretty diligently raised to be a mouse catcher and nothing else for some reason (she's not interested in playing "catch the mouse" either, probably has to be alive). So i'm struggling with convincing her the inside is a cool place. Any ideas? 3: When can you start to pay more attention to her kittens? I googled and got 3 weeks, but i'll throw this one in here also to get a experienced answer maybe. 4: Can she live with one of her kittens when it starts to grow up? According to various sources the cat mother will want to send her kittens out into the world and chase it away, but i'd like to fill the "have two cats" advice.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:13
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Dongattack posted:So i got a cat, had it for about 2-3 months now, i got her as an adult cat and i got a couple of questions: Honestly the best course of action is to get her spayed, and if you still want the second cat, adopt a kitten from a shelter. As for indoor enrichment, keep trying different toys. Cat shelves or a window perch are also awesome (especially if you have a bird feeder of some type). If she can't go outside, she'll find other alternatives indoors.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:34
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GabrielAisling posted:Bop on the nose, and that should have said munch, not much. She was chewing on her litter last week. We got different litter, no more chewing, but we all hate this litter. Now to find one that the cat won't try to eat and that doesn't smell like winter mint death. Bop on the nose, in and of itself, isn't a problem. It's what mother cats do to discipline their kittens. If your roommate is bopping hard enough to cause pain, or if the cat isn't responding appropriately to it, then it is a problem and roommate should knock it off.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:39
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Huntersoninski posted:Rolling onto their back is likely not a submissive thing like it is for dogs. Cats fight on their backs, grasping with their front paws and kicking with their back. When my cats roll over like that to me, its an invitation for petting. When they do for each other, though, it's an invitation to fight. It's not so much about showing off their belly as it is freeing up all their pointy ends if the challenger makes a move. Can't scratch the poo poo out of someone if you're standing. Back in the 90s someone did a study of rolling behavior in a semi-feral cat community and found that non-mating-oriented rolling indicates passive submission. In their study it was typically younger males deferring to older males, but I can imagine in a household setting where everyone's fixed it would involve any lower-hierarchy cat rolling for an upper-hierarchy cat. The article suggests it's probably similar when cats roll for their owners, and also says that kittens use it for play initiation. Anecdotally, the very submissive stray cat I take care of always rolls for my cat when I take her outside, and the stray clearly wants to make friends and not fight with my cat. Link to news article Link to journal article
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Aug 24, 2014 23:06
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