Potential Alpha Issue......

Question
Hi Ali!
    We have 2 boys that are approximately the same age (5yrs).  Tiger is a portion Maine Coon and Pudge is a portion Nebelung.  Pudge and his brother Scooter were in our home first as 2 month olds. A woman had found their whole litter abandoned on the steps of a funeral home and we fell for the 2 boys. Unfortunately, Scooter had a congenital defect and our Vet put him to sleep when he was about 4 months old leaving Pudge by himself.  We scoured local SPCA sites and found Tiger who we made sure was 5 months old the same as Pudge.  When small they were thick as thieves sharing one litter box and playing and sleeping together and being affectionate with the family.  As they have aged although they don't go at the same time together they do still use the same litter box, they eat together, play together however, Tiger appears to be the Alpha male pretty much dominating all that they do...Pudge is very aware of where Tiger is during his awake time, is preened by Tiger and gets out of our laps when Tiger enters the room.  Tiger will come into our room and socialize and sleep on our bed and Pudge isn't really "allowed" by Tiger.  When Tiger is not around- Pudge does seek loving time and I believe enjoys laying on us, but as soon as he is aware that Tiger enters the room he will immediately get down.  I am wondering what we might do to be able to help facilitate Pudge being able to assert himself so he could enjoy some of the lovey time that Tiger keeps all to himself??  Even though they are not pure breeds, is it a function of the breeds they are? or is something that might be in our behavior??  We would appreciate whatever suggestions you might be able to afford us.  Sincerely, Mary

Answer
Mary,

In any multiple kitty household there will be a certain amount of "sibling" rivalry even if the cats aren't related, regardless of age or breed. Sometimes pheremone based calming collars can help to settle things down. Some pet parents have told me that Thunder Coats work well for cats. I would say that trying the pheremone based collars (I believe Petsmart sells them for roughly $15 each) would be a good start towards helping your boys regain some of their former loving, calm relationship... I've had great success with these collars in the past. It can be kind of tough to make sure that each kitty in a multiple cat household gets adequate (and somewhat equal) snuggle time with their human caregivers so I tend to try and do group play time and group treat times... This way everyone gets to feel special and have their moment in the sun which might also help to settle down some of the discussions between Tiger and Pudge over which kitty is boss. I hope that you found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali