Am I the Alpha Cat?
 

In rec.pets.cats.anecdotes Marina wrote:

Nikki doesn't like it if I bring my face too close to hers, or in fact if I
bring my face anywhere near her body, so I don't. Sometimes I can't resist
her cute little tummy if she is lying on her back, and then I have to rub my
face in it. Nikki just freezes in place, looking completely shocked. Frank,
OTOH, rubs his face all over mine and doesn't mind at all that I stick my
face close to his.

Betsy always likes to lie on or next to me and be petted, but she *has* to
have her tail towards my face. If I turn her around, she'll turn back, and
if she gets disturbed too often, either by me rearranging her or by me
turning over or something, she's off. Mandy likes sitting near (not on)
me, facing me, and getting unending skritches on her face, ears and neck.
She'll push at my arm or hand with her face if I'm so selfish as to be
doing something else when she's ready for petting. But she does NOT like
her belly rubbed, and never turns tail-end towards me.


I just thought they had different personalities.

Cheryl

Hopitus2 wrote:
Your persona, to him, is his MotherCat. He wants you to wash his butt for
him. If you get to thinking like he does, it makes perfect sense.......

Hmmm... Issa and Basho both do this... should I get a moist paper towel and
clean their butts then? ;-)

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

LOL, Victor! Much as we love them, we can't take care of them like their
mamas did! Would MamaCat use a paper towel to clean her baby's butt? No, I
believe we are looked at by our cats as the present-day substitute for their
MamaCat, who snuggled, licked them clean all over, nursed them, kept them
warm with her larger body, etc. but since we really *are* giant-size to the
cats and are furless though loving entities, they have to settle for what
they get from us in nurturing care. I think my theory makes more sense than
say, "alpha-dog" outlook. My cats would probably be highly insulted at the
very notion that they would have thoughts on the order of what runs through
d-pet brains!



"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
: Hopitus2 wrote:
: Your persona, to him, is his MotherCat. He wants you to wash his butt
for
: him. If you get to thinking like he does, it makes perfect sense.......
:
: Hmmm... Issa and Basho both do this... should I get a moist paper towel
and
: clean their butts then? ;-)
:
: --
: Victor M. Martinez
:
: http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
:

In rec.pets.cats.anecdotes Orchid wrote:

Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a
signal of friendship, as it is in humans.

Actually, I'm not sure this is true. Maybe eye contact isn't a dominance
signal in cats, but it can often be a signal of *aggression*. I know that
my cats get alarmed if I stare at them with my eyes wide open, and they
relax if I blink slowly or close my eyes.

In fact, one theory about why cats always head for the cat hater in the
room is that when people like something, they tend to widen their eyes,
and when they dislike something, they lower their lids at it. But cats
are more at ease with beings (cats or humans) whose eyes are at least
partially closed. So they'll tend to avoid the person who's exclaiming,
"Oh, look at the cute kitty cat!" with big, wide eyes, and they'll go
straight for the narrow-eyed cat hater.

I don't know how scientific that theory is - for all I know, it's just
a joke. But it makes sense to me!

Joyce

Victor M. Martinez wrote:
Hopitus2 wrote:
Your persona, to him, is his MotherCat. He wants you to wash his
butt for him. If you get to thinking like he does, it makes perfect
sense.......

Hmmm... Issa and Basho both do this... should I get a moist paper
towel and clean their butts then? ;-)

No, you must use your tounge;-)
--
Adrian
A House Is Not A Home, Without A Cat.

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
Victor M. Martinez wrote:
Hopitus2 wrote:
Your persona, to him, is his MotherCat. He wants you to wash his
butt for him. If you get to thinking like he does, it makes perfect
sense.......

Hmmm... Issa and Basho both do this... should I get a moist paper
towel and clean their butts then? ;-)

No, you must use your tounge;-)
--
Adrian
A House Is Not A Home, Without A Cat.

ROFLOL

When we got Rosie, she was constantly climbing up in my face and turning around with
her butt about an inch from my nose. I kept telling her, "I'm not your mother, and
from here on out your butt is your own responsibility". She finally got the message.

Jo

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 14:24:44 -0700, bewtifulfreak wrote
(in message ):

"Orchid" wrote in message
. com...
On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 20:16:52 -0400, "Jenny" wrote:

Heh. Grooming another cat is often a dominance signal -- the
biggest, toughest cat grooms the others (like a parent would). Now,
this isn't *always* the case but much of the time it is, especially
when it's not part of an already-occuring mutual grooming session.

That makes sense, as, like I said, this really does sound like something my
Greebo might pull!


I would seriously doubt that non-dominant cats suffer from
self-esteem issues. :) After all, you are dominant to some people
you know and submissive to others -- a good example is that you are
socially submissive to your boss. Some cats are pushier than others,
and the less-pushy cats don't seem to be bothered by it.

Or if they are, it might not necessarily affect their self-esteem, but they
probably just get a bit peeved with it (like you would when your boss lords
it over you). ;) It sure seems like Crowley feels that way sometimes,
anyway! Every now and then, he'll be grooming Greebo, and then just start
biting him, or sometimes they just get into a big tussle that I know is more
serious than playfighting, because there's a lot of noise (screaming and
yelling) involved. I suppose that's good, in a way; at least when he gets
really fed up, he let's Greebo know about it.... :)

A cat with low self esteem? I am having trouble grasping that concept.
I don't think I ever met one who didn't think the sun came up in the
morning just to warm him through his window.

"John Biltz" wrote in message
thlink.net...

A cat with low self esteem? I am having trouble grasping that concept.
I don't think I ever met one who didn't think the sun came up in the
morning just to warm him through his window.

LOL....exactly! That's why I said, Greebo's dominance may annoy Crowley,
but I don't think he lets it affect his self-image any.... :) And, I know
this may sound funny to say about cats, but I don't think they have enough
ego to have a low self-esteem; they don't really worry enough about what
anyone thinks of them to let anything affect their self-concept!

Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak

Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a
signal of friendship, as it is in humans.

Orchid


Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. If you star
at a cat you are deliberately intimidating it. In the wild, a dominant
cat will stare at a rival, and what will then usually happen is that the
subordinate will drop eye contact and turn away. That's why cats are
attracted to people who don't like cats - the lack od eye contact
signals a lack of threat and the cat then feels it is safe to approach.
If you are trying to make friends with a cat, you should always look
away or to one side. Eye contact is threatening.

Just my £0.02

Helen M



--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Helen Miles wrote:
Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a
signal of friendship, as it is in humans.

Orchid


Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. If you
star at a cat you are deliberately intimidating it. In the wild, a
dominant cat will stare at a rival, and what will then usually happen
is that the subordinate will drop eye contact and turn away. That's
why cats are attracted to people who don't like cats - the lack od
eye contact signals a lack of threat and the cat then feels it is
safe to approach. If you are trying to make friends with a cat, you
should always look away or to one side. Eye contact is threatening.

Just my £0.02

How funny, I just now posted about this in another group! I was confused by
what Orchid said, because I knew cats generally don't like prolonged eye
contact, but I just read something which clarified what she said for me.
Slow, blinking eye contact is a signal of friendship between cats, and can
be very calming and a sign of affection when done by a human, whereas a
continuous stare from humans or other cats is threatening (as per
catsinternational.org). So it's the type of eye contact they don't like,
rather than not liking any at all.

Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak