10
Zoes secret dreams made public
cat behaviorist help for Zach...seriously no jokeNovember 30th 2011 5:19 pm[ View A Comments (31) ]
Any advice will be appreciated. Mom just doesn't know what to do.
Maybees yous can write to Mr Galaxy??? only problem wees has, is if somefur bees in mys sleepin spot on da bed!! Blizz, that might be an idea. I couldn't imagine anybody trying to take your space. Your such a big boy to pick a fight with. I have to say that since Fearless has come in the house, Samhain and I have both been on edge, too, and occasionally we turn on each other. We haven't done that in a long time. Plus about the same time as Fearless being added to the household, the pawrents started taking us for walks on the leashes on a weekly basis, and we have both become REALLY insistent about wanting out the door again - also something we'd pretty much stopped doing some time back. Relating it to Zach's problem, it may be that Zach just takes out his frustration on Diamond because Diamond is the "safest" one to attack. I don't know if he and Zoe are on an equal footing, or if Zach is more dominant, but she is his "comfort zone". Gris, however, is still an unknown status and that leaves Diamond, who is amiable and apparently doesn't try to retaliate. Well we have had some crazy stuff going on here too Ivey is agressive with me and I talked about it so much I am sick of hearing myself complain. MOL I think Sleeper might be right cause Little Boy and I are the only cats that do not fight back with Ivey we , RUN so when she wants to get tough she comes after one of us cause she knows the others will smackey paw her! Everytime she does stuff like that and mom sees it she locks her up alone for a little while now she just says Ivey go to your room! and she goes No food or luvin, mom time or play time for her, she has calmed down a lot. When we were kittens and little boy got rough with us, mom locked him up for a while too (just 10-15 minutes worked for him) and he was calmed down afterward and finally he stopped attacking. We read Pam Johnson(think that is correct way to spell it) feline behaviorist and she recommended the alone time, like a human child getting put in the cornor. Kitty learns to associate bad/unwanted behavior with lock down time and so stops unwanted behavior. Good luck, it sure was nice when we all got alone with no stress..... We see that happen once in a while in our house. We jokingly call Skylar "the Sheriff" because he will come when there is tiff or even a playful wrestling match and he will give Rusty a Smacky Paw. Doesn't matter if Rusty is involved or not, he gets the smack. We think it is because he (Rusty) does not fight back, probably similar to your Diamond. We immediately tell Skylar either "No" if he is about to smack or "Enough" if he does smack and then we remove him from the room. I think in your case, Zach is asserting him self as the Alpha of your pack and trying to keep the next highest member of the pack in order. I'm not quite sure how you can fix it and I am curious to see what everyone else has to say. I would squirt him with water every time he attacks Diamond. I have a water pistol for Snow, so I can reach him across the room. It's the easiest way to teach them that it's not about yelling "NO" constantly, it's about consequences for bad behavior. Snow can really be a terror, then suddenly turn all lovey-dovey. Oh yea the book we read by Pam was Cat vs Cat. its gives good info for multicat households now we know Diamond is not a kitty but Zach might see himself as top cat to Diamond and not to Zoe or Gris, some times the new comer kitten or cat is very intimidating. Hi Tink our Ivey does that too, just tonight we touched noses like real buddies and I was so chilled, 10 minutes she chased me from the room! Me, Zoe will put Zach in his place and Diamond will hide behind Mom from Zach. He's always been protective. He helped train Diamond, cause when Mom we say NO DIAMOND! he would come running. He's just wasn't so fast with the smacky paws back then. I'll tell you Sleeper, Mom just started noticing this odd behavior when she gets home this week. Some of it might be left over from us getting spoiled with Mom being home for the holidays. I just don't know how to make Zach understand that it is okay and he doesn't have to protect me. You know he got in between me and David when we were fighting. Ears sideways, tail a swooshing, he was actually telling David to back off. You could see it in his mannerisms...David and I just started to laugh. Maybe, that's just who Zach is. The Papa just agreed with the Time-out concept. He's done this now and again with Fearless and has had some success. She's still a kitten, but the wild hyper-ness can be very irritating and unsettling to all of us. A little toning down is not too much to ask! Oh one more thing and we will get off your diary, but for Ivey the water bottle made her hissy and mad so she ran and then she would attack HARDER the next time. After lock up she is much more chilled. We also use timeouts. Often.... I think all of these ideas are excellent ones and you'll just have to try each one to see what works for you guys. Also, Feliway and a calming collar! The spray bottle works with Sleeper and me, but Fearless just shakes her head and keeps going! Doesn't seem to have any impression at all! 'Course she lived outside for the first 3 months of her life; maybe water in the face is nothing to her. Funny thing is, when we were living with my parents while buying and renovating this house, my Mom had Zach trained "to get to your room" I used to thank of how he would slink down the hall tail dragging on the ground. Maybe, that's it! He had no power there, then we moved in here, he became head of household, even over David, which in return has created a monster. You guys are right, I need to try harder to keep Zach in a line. Time to have a stare down with him. Plus, you remember I was worried about him acting up...well maybe he just needs more alone time with Mom. He's so spoiled, it's not even funny. When Fearless bugs me, I don't like it simply because I'm more a lover than a fighter, I think. But Samhain is the one who really gets bent outta shape 'cause she's been the top cat till now, and here's this little pipsqueak who can stare her down and then jump on her! I have to admire her - reluctantly - she is truly "fearless"! Hey, I'll thank you to keep your opinions to yourself, Miss Big Mouth Sleep! I'm going to bed - hmmmmph! Good night, all! Finn. it's been a while since Mom has used feliway. That might be an option too. This afternoon while Diamond was outside chasing the rabbit and squirrels i had a nice play session with the kits. Everybody got at least three big pounces in. It's kind hard to play with Gris though, he just like a kid in a store. "I want to play with that one, No look at what he has I want to play with that one. No I want to play with what she's got!" Zach just stood back and watched mostly. That's kind of what I do with Lacey sometimes, just sit and watch her until I'm ready to pounce! MOL Good night Samhain. Sleeper, you have the same problem Mom has. Dad says it best..."people are stupid, that mistaken niceness for weakness." Your too nice to care about being top cat, but know this! You are not weak! Love ya! Finn, i don't know if Zach is just letting us play or if he's pouting or if he's waiting for the right time to pounce but he did play some. Gris is doing a toy wishlist every sat. this month, there will be the classic free and cheap toys up to expensive boutique type toys. Even a $3,000. cat tree. Mom was doing research for the list tonight and found the undercover panic mouse! She said she's gotta get that for us. His diary will have links and photos for added fun. oh yea! we had an undercover mouse toy when we were all little it was great! MOL we took that lil mouse down so fast, mom kept putting it back on the there but we took it off and then TIny said his big ole self down on the cover and that or course stopped the little arm that held the mouse on it and he would look at all of us like "what?" I just know Gris will love it for sure. Ever noticed how guys with the nickname Tiny are always huge. Mom had a friend named Tiny and he was one big guy, he was from Woodstock NY. Pretty cool dude. MOL dad said mom mixed up their names, MOeMOe should have been TIny (she is soo little compared to us) and Tiny should have been...well something besides tiny. I bet Tiny from Woodstock was cool. Just seen him do it again! I let Diamond out for her before bed pee and when I let her back in, Gris lounged at her. You know like playing, she backed up giving him that don't hurt me look. Mom thought Diamond needs to stand up for herself a little about that time here comes Zach out from the table stalking Diamond. I told Zach HEY! No! Then stepped between him and Diamond. I usually do but this afternoon I couldn't. This has got to stop or my dog is going to be a complete basket case. People don't know this but Pit Bulls are generally nervous dogs. Now Diamond is only half but she is afraid of a lot of things, storms, trash trucks, cats and us when we start ranting about work stuff. (Remember, owning your own business is the most stressful, aggravating, 24/7 360 days out of the year, tiresome job you'll ever have. That is slowly not becoming worth all the hassle, thanks to all the new laws.) OH yea that has to be stopped you are right or Gris might continue get more agressive as he follows Zach's lead. My MoeMOe was the one that had that "don't hurt me look" before she kinda started "hitting back" I think you are right Diamond has got to stand up for herself probably a sharp Bark just a couple of times would stop it, but how to let her know it? Seriously you might want to seperate them when you are not home IDK . Just so they don't feel stressed for such a long period of time. (?) we still put Ivey up at night just to let everyone get a break from the tenison. Maybe separating them some would help? You could also try Feliway or a calming collar. Just to let you know, Zach is in time out right now! Mom has no idea what happened, as far as she knows nothing could have set him off this time. He came walking up to Diamond with a long deep warning like growl. Mom told Zach to stop, he still had that look of a cat about to pounce so she ran him into his room, telling him to "get in your room!" He ran under the bed. Gris is crying at the door. I thank Zoe is laying on the bed in there but Zach knows I'm mad at him so hopefully that should be enough. He's definitely mad at Diamond for some reason. Mariette thanks he's protecting Gris. She reminded me of Diamond snapping at Gris the other week for biting her tail. Could they have had an all out war while I was at work this week? This is when you wish you had a nanny camera in every room. I remembered last night watching Dog Whisperer, and a few times he would come to the conclusion it was the cat egging the problems on with their body language to the dog. I need to do some research on this. Oh no poor Diamond. :( I am sorry to hear she is getting that kind of treatment still today. Wonder what has triggered the aggressive behavior in Zach? We just don't know but things have been calm tonight. Will update tomorrow. Hey Zoe, Just catching up. Hope things are still calm. Don't have anything new to add. Feliway, calming collar, and definitely "time out" is great. |
Zoe Kona Sunshine DG#2
Family Pets
Subscribe |
November 30th 2011 at 5:21 pm