Correcting a bully (not for namby-pamby types)
This is about how I am dealing with a bully that made my other cats'
lives miserable... Cats need to play. But whenever the another wanted to play, the bully would attack and stop them. That's just one example of how it was making their lives miserable. As any longtime cat manager knows, cats can develop serious behavioral problems when they are stressed. My Calico began exhibiting such a problem. I can see related problems in my other two cats, too. I tried keeping the bully cat outside. But this bully is an inside-only cat. Unlike my neutered street Kitty, it would not last very long in the not-so-great outdoors. Besides, naturally the bully chased away the street Kitty, and I didn't want that. It's not just a bully, it's tough as nails. It even fights with the neighborhood tomcats. For that, it gets respect, but that doesn't help the other cats. So, to give my other cats some breathing room during the day, enter packaging tape. I put the bully cat's leg in a sling for an hour, maybe twice a day. Alternating legs, to help prevent strain at first. The tape goes around the back of its head and around one or the other leg, as loosely as possible but not so loose that it can get out of it. Also, I fold the tape over at the end so it is easy to remove. So far it's going well. The other cats have a chance to play and it's so much easier to be nice to the bully when I know it's not constantly terrorizing them. The bully is learning to walk on three legs. Can't wait to see if it learns to be a bully on three legs, but I doubt it. If you are in a similar situation but are squeamish about that method, you can probably accomplish the same by separating the bully cat from your other cats for the same time periods. Or you could put it in a cage. Depending on how this goes in the long run, I will consider doing something else. But the cage is more restrictive, and a separate room doesn't allow the bully to at least see what's going on. Another thing that must be observed when doing that is whether the packaging tape is removing too much hair. Also, it shouldn't be done without supervision, in case another cat (like my hard-core feral) decides to take advantage of the situation. The bully hangs out very close to me during its timeouts, maybe for pets and scratches and/or maybe for protection. I don't think accidental hanging is a possibility, not when the cat has its leg inside of the loop. The bully would be a great cat if I had no other pets, or maybe just a pitbull or a Doberman, or maybe a bear. It meticulously tortures and kills any pests that enter my domain, even little flying bugs. It's extremely friendly to people. I realize that method might be bashed by the holier-than-thou, so I might not read or reply to anything. And I might change to using a different method without notice. Will see how it goes in the long run. |
Correcting a bully (not for namby-pamby types)
"John Doe" wrote in message
... This is about how I am dealing with a bully that made my other cats' lives miserable... Cats need to play. But whenever the another wanted to play, the bully would attack and stop them. That's just one example of how it was making their lives miserable. As any longtime cat manager knows, cats can develop serious behavioral problems when they are stressed. My Calico began exhibiting such a problem. I can see related problems in my other two cats, too. I tried keeping the bully cat outside. But this bully is an inside-only cat. Unlike my neutered street Kitty, it would not last very long in the not-so-great outdoors. Besides, naturally the bully chased away the street Kitty, and I didn't want that. It's not just a bully, it's tough as nails. It even fights with the neighborhood tomcats. For that, it gets respect, but that doesn't help the other cats. So, to give my other cats some breathing room during the day, enter packaging tape. I put the bully cat's leg in a sling for an hour, maybe twice a day. Alternating legs, to help prevent strain at first. The tape goes around the back of its head and around one or the other leg, as loosely as possible but not so loose that it can get out of it. Also, I fold the tape over at the end so it is easy to remove. So far it's going well. The other cats have a chance to play and it's so much easier to be nice to the bully when I know it's not constantly terrorizing them. The bully is learning to walk on three legs. Can't wait to see if it learns to be a bully on three legs, but I doubt it. If you are in a similar situation but are squeamish about that method, you can probably accomplish the same by separating the bully cat from your other cats for the same time periods. Or you could put it in a cage. Depending on how this goes in the long run, I will consider doing something else. But the cage is more restrictive, and a separate room doesn't allow the bully to at least see what's going on. Another thing that must be observed when doing that is whether the packaging tape is removing too much hair. Also, it shouldn't be done without supervision, in case another cat (like my hard-core feral) decides to take advantage of the situation. The bully hangs out very close to me during its timeouts, maybe for pets and scratches and/or maybe for protection. I don't think accidental hanging is a possibility, not when the cat has its leg inside of the loop. The bully would be a great cat if I had no other pets, or maybe just a pitbull or a Doberman, or maybe a bear. It meticulously tortures and kills any pests that enter my domain, even little flying bugs. It's extremely friendly to people. I realize that method might be bashed by the holier-than-thou, so I might not read or reply to anything. And I might change to using a different method without notice. Will see how it goes in the long run. -- Lets not go there again. |
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