Cats have a way of figuring out who is dominant in specific situations. They get a routine going. Hissing, spitting, wobbly-gargling, severe fluffing of the tail... these are all signs of posturing in the ritual of deciding dominance. Normally the other cat's head and ears will get low, tail fluffs out, and then he/she will generally slink away.
So goes the almost-daily ritual of many housecat partners. It seems that for periods of time, a cat couple will work out a less note-worthy exchange to decide dominance. Then, one day, seemingly for no reason at all, they'll launch into another stand-off. Funny animals.
Yesterday, my girl kitty, Margene, shot into an attic closet that opens into the eaves of our house. She was up there for at least an hour, running around and exploring before she came out again. Not more than an hour later, my boy kitty, Roger, sneaked past me down the basement steps. Our downstairs roommate brought him upstairs but Roger leaped out of his arms and crashed down the stairs in an unexpected panic.
When I was finally able to get Roger upstairs again, after quite a commotion, he and Margene had a huge face-off. She took the dominant stance, which I had never seen from her. Ever. She yowled, spit, hiss, fluffed, the whole nine yards. He sneaked away. This is quite something considering she is less than a year old and quite petite, and he is a 8-year-old, 14-pound huge orange fluff ball of a cat.
Anyway, the rituals have reemerged and since that face-off, they seem determined to re-assess each situation they encounter: who gets to sit in the open window, who eats first, who uses which litterbox, who gets to sleep in the favorite sleeping spot, and so on.
I suppose they'll work it all out again and eventually we'll have peace in our household once again. Too bad they can't just talk it out...!
