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And another AutoShoujo contest entry is posted!
Sora is having a small identity crisis, I think. The cats, as most cats do, compete in small ways for territory and attention and one of the long-standing Rules is that the bed, and me when I'm in the bed, belongs to Sora. He sleeps on the foot of the bed most nights, while Nefer sleeps in the living room. Nefer and I are not entirely happy with this arrangement, as she used to sleep on the bed before he showed up. But I don't do much beyond patting the bed when Nefer walks by, hoping to tempt her up for some scritching.
However. This morning, I woke up and noticed Sora at the end of the bed, and spent a little time scratching him, then turned and noticed that Nefer was curled up on the bed also, and spent some time scratching her (which, I have to admit, is slightly more satisfying because she'll purr at the slightest provocation, while Sora only purrs when he's in the mood). Sora didn't *seem* unhappy at this turn of events, until she got up to make her way off the bed, walking by him, and surprised him - he turned, didn't expect to see her so close, and jumped about a foot into the air and off the bed. And then spent the next five minutes starting at every tiny little thing: random noises, my jeans, his own tail, etc. Nefer and I looked at each other and shrugged.
Nefer was, by this time, sitting on the corner of the bed that Sora has staked out as His Spot. Oh dear. Sora attempted to sharpen his claws on my box spring at that corner to assert his ownership, until I yelled at him, whereupon he resorted to batting at Nefer. Nefer had the tactical advantage of height, however, and beat him soundly.
And a few minutes later, Nefer headed for the closet with the litterboxes in it. Sora followed her in, and I heard hisses and yowls, then both cats sprinted out. I was Not Happy about this. I tend to stay out of the cats' dominance fights, but one of my Rules is that the litterboxes remain Neutral Territory. So I yelled at both of them, of course. :)
A little bit later on, Nefer snuck back into the litterbox closet. Sora, on top of the bathroom cabinet drinking, thought he might follow her in there, but I distracted him by picking him up and carrying him around until he signaled his displeasure by hissing at me. I've never had a cat that went straight to hissing as the signal to Put Me Down, Dammit! without struggling a little first, but that's Sora's thing (it's happened other times than today). He was disgruntled enough to forget about Nefer, which was my intention. :)
Shortly before I left, I saw Sora sprawl on the bathroom floor directly in front of the entrance to the litterbox closet, which is behavior I am Seriously Not Happy with - one way a dominant cat expresses that is by blocking access to things like food, water, and the litterbox - so I chased him off. Hopefully I won't have to separate the litterboxes, but I'll do that in I need to.
When I put on my shoes in the living room, the cats settled into their usual spots, Nefer in an Amazon box and Sora on the coffee table staring at the television. They both seemed utterly relaxed, but Sora betrayed his jumpiness by getting back up after about thirty seconds, jumping off the table and walking by Nefer, then spooking himself and jumping, which spooked Nefer so she jumped, which spooked Sora even more so he did one of those magnificent and utterly silly scared-cat jumps which involves about two feet of air and a 180° turn in midair. And they they both sat there staring wildly around looking for the Mysterious Enemy who had clearly ambushed them both.
I rather hope that taking myself out of the equation by going to work helps to smooth things over - my attention, or at least proximity, seems to be one of the things they compete for. Sora gets me at night and when I'm on the computer, Nefer gets me right when I'm going to bed (she usually jumps up for a few scritches before heading to the living room), when I'm sitting on the couch in the living room, and right when I get home from work. They were both sitting quietly next to each other, staring at me as I left, so I am optimistic.
The animal behaviorist in me is fascinated by all the ins and outs of the cats' interactions, but the practical part of me that has to live with this is not so amused. :)
Sora is having a small identity crisis, I think. The cats, as most cats do, compete in small ways for territory and attention and one of the long-standing Rules is that the bed, and me when I'm in the bed, belongs to Sora. He sleeps on the foot of the bed most nights, while Nefer sleeps in the living room. Nefer and I are not entirely happy with this arrangement, as she used to sleep on the bed before he showed up. But I don't do much beyond patting the bed when Nefer walks by, hoping to tempt her up for some scritching.
However. This morning, I woke up and noticed Sora at the end of the bed, and spent a little time scratching him, then turned and noticed that Nefer was curled up on the bed also, and spent some time scratching her (which, I have to admit, is slightly more satisfying because she'll purr at the slightest provocation, while Sora only purrs when he's in the mood). Sora didn't *seem* unhappy at this turn of events, until she got up to make her way off the bed, walking by him, and surprised him - he turned, didn't expect to see her so close, and jumped about a foot into the air and off the bed. And then spent the next five minutes starting at every tiny little thing: random noises, my jeans, his own tail, etc. Nefer and I looked at each other and shrugged.
Nefer was, by this time, sitting on the corner of the bed that Sora has staked out as His Spot. Oh dear. Sora attempted to sharpen his claws on my box spring at that corner to assert his ownership, until I yelled at him, whereupon he resorted to batting at Nefer. Nefer had the tactical advantage of height, however, and beat him soundly.
And a few minutes later, Nefer headed for the closet with the litterboxes in it. Sora followed her in, and I heard hisses and yowls, then both cats sprinted out. I was Not Happy about this. I tend to stay out of the cats' dominance fights, but one of my Rules is that the litterboxes remain Neutral Territory. So I yelled at both of them, of course. :)
A little bit later on, Nefer snuck back into the litterbox closet. Sora, on top of the bathroom cabinet drinking, thought he might follow her in there, but I distracted him by picking him up and carrying him around until he signaled his displeasure by hissing at me. I've never had a cat that went straight to hissing as the signal to Put Me Down, Dammit! without struggling a little first, but that's Sora's thing (it's happened other times than today). He was disgruntled enough to forget about Nefer, which was my intention. :)
Shortly before I left, I saw Sora sprawl on the bathroom floor directly in front of the entrance to the litterbox closet, which is behavior I am Seriously Not Happy with - one way a dominant cat expresses that is by blocking access to things like food, water, and the litterbox - so I chased him off. Hopefully I won't have to separate the litterboxes, but I'll do that in I need to.
When I put on my shoes in the living room, the cats settled into their usual spots, Nefer in an Amazon box and Sora on the coffee table staring at the television. They both seemed utterly relaxed, but Sora betrayed his jumpiness by getting back up after about thirty seconds, jumping off the table and walking by Nefer, then spooking himself and jumping, which spooked Nefer so she jumped, which spooked Sora even more so he did one of those magnificent and utterly silly scared-cat jumps which involves about two feet of air and a 180° turn in midair. And they they both sat there staring wildly around looking for the Mysterious Enemy who had clearly ambushed them both.
I rather hope that taking myself out of the equation by going to work helps to smooth things over - my attention, or at least proximity, seems to be one of the things they compete for. Sora gets me at night and when I'm on the computer, Nefer gets me right when I'm going to bed (she usually jumps up for a few scritches before heading to the living room), when I'm sitting on the couch in the living room, and right when I get home from work. They were both sitting quietly next to each other, staring at me as I left, so I am optimistic.
The animal behaviorist in me is fascinated by all the ins and outs of the cats' interactions, but the practical part of me that has to live with this is not so amused. :)
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I'm the alpha bitch, and they know it.