[uhhleesha]

Actually, I never thought about the fact of him being intact could be because of his aggressiveness. When my mother talked to our family vet, she never mentioned anything to me about it could be because of his lack of surgery.

I do want mittens, and I'm sure that was very clear in my other posts. You don't know much about me, so I doubt you can claim that I consider animals to be disposable with a logical reason. Thank you for your concern though.

[Wondergirl]

I'm sorry, uhhleesha. I didn't mean to be judgmental. Your eagerness to get a puppy (to replace an ornery cat, I wondered? ) just hit me wrong. Again, I apologize.

[simoneaugie]

I have 5 kitties aged 1 through 9 years old. After all kinds of hissing and territorial behavior they have all found their niche in my house. Two will play with the dog. Those two and one other will all sleep together and groom one another. One only cares to interact with humans, she sleeps on my bed and follows me every time I go into the bathroom. One was peeing on the stairs until I isolated her to the garage. Now she stays shyly in the basement and shares the catbox with the other four. They know one thing, that they are cats. Your kitty Pixel will learn to get along with Mittens if you supervise and give them time to work out their individual pecking order.

[uhhleesha]

Wondergirl: I wouldn't get rid of mittens for a puppy. I have enough space in the house for all of them. My thoughts of giving away Mittens is for Pixel and Mittens. I shouldn't have to keep Pixel locked in the bonus room because Mittens keeps attacking him. Nor should Pixel have to be roaming around the house in fear of being attacked. Pixel shouldn't be living like that. However, after reading up on cat behavior, I see that it could be because he isn't neutered. My eagerness to get a puppy is from where I have the means to support the baby with out relying on my mom to pay for the vet, take me to the vet, I can buy anything and everything she might ever need, and I can drive myself to get it.

I'm going to reconsider my decision until he's neutered. He should calm down after that, according to my vet.

Simoneaugie: Pixel is very submissive to Mittens, but it seems as if Mittens wants to make sure Pixel is no longer in our household. It just seems as if he needs to be in a house where he can be the only cat to get all the attention. When I'm giving attention to something else, like being on the computer, he'll jump in my lap and swat at my hands. Maybe it's because when I first got him, he was so little. My vet suggested I got some kitten milk and hand fed him. He was getting my exclusive attention for awhile. Could this be the case?

[Clough]

I'm going to reconsider my decision until he's neutered. He should calm down after that, according to my vet.

I'm glad that you are going to do that. I know how difficult these kinds of decisions can be.

[froggy7]

Simoneaugie: Pixel is very submissive to Mittens, but it seems as if Mittens wants to make sure Pixel is no longer in our household. It just seems as if he needs to be in a house where he can be the only cat to get all the attention. When I'm giving attention to something else, like being on the computer, he'll jump in my lap and swat at my hands. Maybe it's because when I first got him, he was so little. My vet suggested I got some kitten milk and hand fed him. He was getting my exclusive attention for awhile. Could this be the case?

From what I understand, bottle-fed cats can be much more people-oriented than cat-oriented. So it's possible that this contributed to the problem. However, there are some cats that just don't like other cats. And then there are some where you can manage the situation. For example, my more-dominant cat will sometimes get along perfectly fine with the other cat, snuggle up together, do mutual grooming, etc. And sometimes she will growl, hiss, swat, and charge her. The deciding factor seems to be, oddly enough, how much outdoor time the dominant cat gets. When she can spend time outside, she's much calmer indoors. So we tend to cycle from happy summers to tenser winters, because the days get shorter and the cats stay in at night.

It may be that your cat will calm down after being neutered. Another thing to consider is how Pixel actually reacts. Like I said, my less-dominant cat gets hissed and charged at, but she just hunkers down and the dominant one generally wanders off. So it may be that they will work out something themselves that you can live with.

[Wondergirl]

Like froggy's cats, mine usually get along, and even the most emotionally volatile of the group, Rasputin, will occasionally snuggle up to his hated rival, Thomas Jefferson, and groom him or allow Thomas to groom. All of mine are indoor cats, so froggy's outdoor-cat thing doesn't apply to my gang. I still haven't figured out why Rasputin goes into his occasional nice-housecat mode.

I volunteer at a free-range cat shelter (only new additions are caged until they have been seen by a vet). There are spats and spitting and hissing now and then, but usually it's just all smoke and mirrors, and nothing serious. The spitting and hissing seem to result from sleeping or eating or meditating space being invaded. These "enemies" can later be seen snuggled up together sleeping.

[simoneaugie]

True, some cats, like some people are just fun to pick on. In the past I had a tom who was not fixed. He was an awful bully. I used to sit with the more submissive one while I held a squirt bottle. The mean one learned to leave the little one alone. Later, if meany got hissy, all I had to do was pick up the squirt bottle and give him a look!

[bushg]

Wondergirl Does this free range cat rescue have a link I would like to read about them.

[Wondergirl]

Here it is, bushg --

Cat Guardians, Inc.

[bushg]

Wondergirl, so all those cats inner act with each other, how nice. I have been to several rescues where they have so many per room, but never all together. We have places where the cats have access to outdoor caged areas and they love it. He, Our local aspca has an outdoor area which I think is great. You know it is a good rescue that accepts them back at anytime. Thanks for the link, I enjoyed reading about it. I also saw a quite a few cute cats.