It's been fascinating to observe the way our three cats behave with each other.
Caruso has staked out the living room as 'his' space. It's taken time, but he now feels comfortable enough to curl up and nap on the couch during the day, and I'm pretty sure he sleeps there at night as well. Sam roams the living room, doing a route around the back of the couch and under 'Caruso's' table, but the two of them seem to have reached a point where they tolerate each other.
Caruso is very careful when he leaves the safety of the living room to use the litter box or to munch on wheat grass from the planter in dining room bay window, since he knows there's always a chance he'll encounter Harley.
Harley does NOT like Caruso. They've only tangled a few times, but the result has been a house filled with blood-curdling yowls (Harley) and a very frightened Caruso high-tailing it behind the couch.
Last night, they got into it again, and Sam came charging out from wherever he'd been sleeping to come to Harley's defense. He's done that a few times (like when she went nuts because we were putting Advantage on the back of her neck - go figure); he's very protective of her. She, on the other hand, claws him whenever he bothers her; as far as I'm concerned, she hasn't really earned his obvious devotion to her.
More than likely, Caruso will avoid our bedroom and the office, which are definitely Harley's places, and stick to the other end of the house.
Sam, like Switzerland, will remain neutral most of the time, but will always, I assume, come to Harley's defense if it seems necessary.
And so, they dance.
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4 comments:
It really is quite a dance. If I'd had to bet, I would have guessed that Sam would be the aggressor. But no. I guess this is Harley's chance to play Alpha Cat. Still, Caruso seems to've staked out some prime home turf.
Our three cats, all female, are all alphas. Not surprisingly, so is the dog...so it's an extreme alpha dance. Not that it wasn't without the dog, it was. The dynamic is greatly enhanced with the addition of the dog. I wonder how it would be if she were a Great Dane, or Golden Retriever...instead of the cat sized Cavalier?
I actually expected this to turn out exactly as it has, because Sam is something of a pushover despite being huge. Harley has always been able to push him around ever since she decided she was a princess (sometime after the first earplug fiasco)
The thought of a Great Dane in your household is scary, Char!
And Zack nails it perfectly. Sam is big, and you'd think he'd be the agressor, but he's a big, ol' scardy cat. Go figure!
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