The Problem(s) & The Players

Even though I've mentioned the problems we're having in other posts, I've had it on my to-do list to write up a post specifically about said problems, so here it is. And I may as well combine the problems with some gratuitous kitty photos as well.

#1 - The Big Yellow Hallway Monster - a.k.a. BYHM, Monster, Poldark:


This boy is a problem all by himself. About 4 years old, 16.5+ lbs., neutered male, FIV-positive, the sorta-kinda alpha cat in the house. He is a big, friendly mess of a cat, but he does have some issues with his inter-cat relationships. He is (IMO) a fairly "weak" alpha, and this is (also IMO) part of the problem. He has to make sure - repeatedly - that all the other cats know that he is the one in charge. He guards the food and water, he guards the litter boxes ... it's like he's constantly worried that one of the other cats will usurp him. And, he has hard-core redirected aggression issues. Any sign of a strange cat outside and he will attack any and all of his companion cats. He also seems to have (and I haven't found a good term for it yet) problems with that line between playing and fighting with the other cats. There have been times when I would swear he's just trying to play (and maybe do a little bit of his alpha act at the same time), and if the other cat doesn't behave in the way he seems to think they should, then it turns into an attack situation.

(Edited to add: However, having taken him to the vet last week for very extensive dental work, I will say that some of his attitude problems might have been attributed to multiple toothaches ... he's recovering from having 7 rotten teeth pulled and while he hasn't turned into an angel, there are signs that he's a bit happier kitty in general now.)

Let me make one thing perfectly, abundantly clear: BYHM is a total and complete lovebug - when it comes to people. There has never, ever, ever been any aggression towards me or the Amazing Husbandini, even when BYHM has really been torqued hard about something. His aggression issues are exclusively limited to the other cats in the house. If he were in a single-cat household, he would morph into the world's largest feline couch potato. The problem is ... he's only 25% of our total feline biomass.


#2 - The Electric Mayhem - a.k.a. EM, Princess, Evil, Beelzekitty (you get the idea):


She's Papa's Little Girl. (And she knows it!) She is about 11 years old, spayed female, dilute calico, formerly the alpha-by-default when it was just her and Big Acoustic Kitty, now much, much further down on the status ladder.

One good thing about EM is that she's mellowed quite a bit with age. If she were still in her younger years, this house would be a bloody battle zone. But, she's accepted her fall in status, and she's good at not drawing attention to herself - and as long as she is left alone, she manages pretty well. She and BYHM probably have the best relationship, in that they tend to ignore one another, or, she scuttles off in avoidance whenever BYHM starts getting bossy. And since what he wants is to vanquish all potential opponents, that works out pretty well.

On her own, EM is not much of a problem. She's mellowed enough that I think she and BAK could probably co-exist pretty well if it were just the two of them again.

Over the ten years that we've had EM, Amazing Husbandini and I have repeatedly wondered if part of her problem (aside from being a calico - you know what they say about them) is that she was taken away from her mama and siblings too early. She would have been an absolutely stunning kitten, so it's very possibly that she went off to a new home too soon. She has a lot of socialization problems that could easily be chalked up to not spending enough of her kitten days with a mama to tell her what's what and siblings to teach her how to behave around other cats. She has no idea at all how to play with other cats ... but, after living with Ziggy and now BYHM, it looks for all the world like she's trying to figure it out.


#3 - Little Grey Kitteh - a.k.a. LGK:


Right about 2 years old, 8.5 lbs, neutered male, grey shorthair, adopted just over a year ago along with BYHM. In addition to "redirected aggression", the other feline behavioral term we've learned in all this is "social maturity". While I think LGK has a bit of a redirected aggression issue, I don't think his is as big as BYHM's. However, I do think that we tripped over the social maturity issue with LGK. Social maturity (as I understand it) is a little like a human's teen years. There can be some shuffling around of the feline social ladder and cats who were previously lower in status can suddenly start jostling for a better position. I have no idea exactly what happened or what happened in what order, but I think that LGK started coming into his own, started to assert himself over EM and then either started to assert himself with BYHM or just was in the wrong frame of mind to have BYHM start getting aggressive with him.

LGK has been living in a room by himself for about 3 months now, after things came to head as described in one of the "Background" posts. We come and spend time with him and have been trying to re-introduce him to the other cats (admittedly, it's been kind of haphazard). Some days the relationships seem to be okay (or at least not hostile) and some days they don't. I suspect LGK was just completely overwhelmed by the problems when he was still downstairs, and now that he's got a place of his own, it's going to take a whole lot of very strong persuasion to convince him that other kitties can be okay.


#4 - Big Acoustic Kitty - a.k.a. BAK, Mr. Boo, Cranky Kitty, Super Explorer Cat:


Our cranky old man kitty. Somewhere in the 15 - 18 years old range, neutered male, blind, arthritic, diabetic (in remission until recently, now back in full force - along with all the inappropriate peeing that comes with uncontrolled diabetes), about 9 lbs., orange tuxedo Maine Coon Mix, polydactyl. BAK has been with us for 12 years next month, and he is our senior cat in not only age but in seniority. He's become more and more feeble as time has gone by, and we suspect he will be the next one we have to say goodbye to. However, he has a special place in our hearts (if not in the hearts of the other kitties) and we're pretty focused on making sure he has it as easy as possible in his twilight years.

But don't let any of that fool you ... for all we adore him, he's also a pushy, demanding, pain-in-the-ass of a cat. He also doesn't really approve of us bringing home all these other cats. On good days, he will ignore them, but on bad days he hisses and waves his paw around at them (somewhat ineffectually ... he is blind, after all) and runs away from them (kinda ... arthritis, blind.) So managing his relationships with the other cats can be very problematic, especially since he can't really defend himself if one of the others decides to go after him (usually BYHM or LGK, since EM has mellowed enough that she doesn't do that any more.) For many years, we divided our living space in half - BAK lived upstairs and EM lived downstairs with a tall baby gate playing the role of the Berlin Wall. However, in the new house, not only does BYHM jump the gate with very little effort, but LGK is closeted upstairs and BAK himself has recently decided that he can go downstairs after all. And trust me, when he is standing at the top of the stairs, bitching to be let out in that horrid rusty-gate sounding howl of his, we rush to do his bidding. So he's made his own contributions to the weird territory issues that we have around here.

I think that about sums it up for the "problem overview" and introductions. The only other ones I could include photos of would be me and Amazing Husbandini, but that's not going to happen. :-)