A poodle with a blue helmet
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In a multi-animal household, peacemakers come in different shapes and sizes
IN MY household, disagreements and disputes happen every day. Territory, unacceptable eye contact, threatening body language, even simple dislike may result in screaming, yelling and – in worst cases – clawing and slashing.
At least all the guys are neutered, and we don’t face any sexual problems.
Flattened ears, moaning and bushy tails are always warning signs that a fight’s about to start, or when one of the cats starts to stiffen his (or her) body and “dance” towards the cat and/or dog who’s about to be attacked.
Even best friends have these fights. Soi cats Thep and Thong are extremely close, but they sometimes attack each other, especially when they’re out on the soi. My guess is that they don’t really recognise each other until they move closer, but even in the house, they sometimes growl at each other.
Thep, being a true soi cat, needs to be outside, but I do try to keep Thong inside, just to ensure he’s safe. He’d rather be with Thep, though, and when he realises I’m not opening the door for him, his solution is to attack any other cat he can, until I let him out.
And then there’s Manohra. The wild child is aggressive with everyone, especially eight-kilo Phantom, a really stupid move on her part since she weighs only three kilos herself.
Using proper animal management, I can reduce the number and intensity of most of these fights. With Manohra, usually a firm “Shush!” can divert her. A cat toy on a string is also useful. She’s still a child, after all, and can’t resist the chance to play.
At meal times, all the animals are most active and most likely to start quarrelling, but a half-hour later, when digestion becomes necessary, they all relax, taking the first of their many daily naps.
Then, I can release from their cages the cats who have been the most quarrelsome at breakfast – everyone is too busy sleeping to start any fight.
The only one who doesn’t respect naptimes is Manohra. From a deep sleep, she can leap into an attack in less than a second. She just likes to fight, I think.
None of the other cats like the child. She has, in fact, only one friend (apart from me) – Wan-Wan, my tiny poodle.
They play with each other, eat Wan’s treats together, and in general enjoy each other’s company.
Yet even Wan has come under attack. I’ve seen Manohra approach her with that sideways “dance”, her tail bushed out, her growl menacing, but the little dog, who’s about the same size she is, doesn’t seem to understand cat language.
Instead, Wan, acting as if Manohra is play-fighting, dances happily towards her. Unable to deal with such good nature, the wild child’s aggressiveness melts away.
I’ve seen Wan angry only two times in her life. The first time occurred when Manohra began yelling at Phantom one morning. The big boy couldn’t stand the noise and, moving towards the child, got ready to jump on her.
With a growl, Wan jumped between him and Manohra and went for his face. Phantom could have easily destroyed the tiny dog, who is half his size, but he didn’t seem to know what to do. When Wan attacked again, Phantom turned and walked slowly away.
The second time, another fight that Manohra also started, Phantom was ready for Wan. When the angry little dog attacked, he raised a paw, but gently. He still didn’t want to fight the dog.
Instead, he turned away again, leaving Wan and her friend Manohra alone.
Animal management is common sense, but a doggie peace-keeper is also very helpful.
