#alpha cat

'Alpha Cat'

December, 2022. Mixed Media On File Card; Please DM if interested. Thank you for any support.

I miss you with all my heart.....

I see it a lot, many times when it comes to adopting cats.

“Well the girl cat is an alpha so I can’t adopt another cat.” 

Or

“My one cat is the alpha so they beat up the other cats.”

And I just wanted to say,

I understand what you mean, but please stop using the term alpha.

That term came from a dated canine training theory, so I’ll link y’all a few articles, since I’m not actually a canine behaviorist. 

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/debunking-the-alpha-dog-theory/

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2007250,00.html

https://www.animalhealthfoundation.net/blog/2017/10/the-myth-of-the-alpha-dog/

Essentially this theory cropped up as a behavior modification “technique” (heavy use of the quotation marks there), when some wolves were observed in what was assumed to be a pack exhibiting pack behavior. The observation and theory was later debunked in wolves, for several reasons (lack of sample size, relation of wolves to each other), but also the very important addition that dogs are not wolves.

So I’m gonna kinda drop a truth load on y’all.

If dogs are not wolves, cats are definitely not wolves.

I know. It’s shocking. But I’ve checked. Trust me. 

That is to say, felines behaving in an aggressive manner towards other cats is absolutely still -a thing-, but identifying it as “alpha” behavior is 1) incorrect and 2) allowing you to let a behavioral problem slide by simply by dismissing the behavior as something that just exists, when in reality it shouldn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, cats get upset at other cats. Anxiety and tension can get high for various reasons, from fighting over food resources when cats lack options of feeding, to literally “I saw a bird out the window and I can’t get it so now I’m HECKIN’ U P S E T and I WANT TO KILL IT but I CAN’T. So I guess I’ll give the other cat in the house a mean right-hook.”

There are a MILLION and a half reasons for your cats to fight, or not get along, but literally none of them are because your cat is an alpha.

In the “wild” (heavy quotes here considering Felis catus is an invasive species literally almost everywhere), cats do a LOT of stuff together. They will share food, they will communally raise kittens, they will protect what they deem as their territory, but it’s more akin to cats living in a communal building with some shared living space, but with a ton of extra rooms so you and your fellow housemates only HAVE to interact when you WANT to (like communal din-din). You know your roommate likes to read from 12-4 PM, so you stay out of the reading room during that time, because you have like three other rooms to choose from to do the thing you wanted to do. You can go use that room later when your roommate isn’t there.

So yeah, cat “territory” functions more as a time-share instead of like a hard black-and-white concept.

What happens when a new roommate comes into the house, though? Maybe that roommate doesn’t know the 12-4 reading room rule, so they barge in with something that roommate REALLY doesn’t want to deal with.

“What’s up, dude? I was thinking we could listen to some heavy metal! You like Dimmu Borgir?” “Hey, I’m reading right now. It’s my reading time. I always use the room at this time.” “Pfft, that’s boring. I want you to listen to Progenies of the Great Apocalypse. It’s my favorite.”

You can see why Reading Room Cat would be upset, right? Reading Room Cat might decide to lay down the law with a “Hey, you’re new here, you don’t make the rules for the reading room, take your heavy metal into the music room where it belongs”.

And yeah, cats can be pretty compartmental about what they allow in what area. Like play time should not happen near where they go to the bathroom, for instance. That’s weird. Cats don’t like the idea of getting through this level of Angry Birds while relieving themselves. The fact that they don’t like eating where they go is a little more obvious, but even playtime should be separate. 

This is just a single example, though. Like I said, there are MANY reasons why cats may not get along with another cat.

-They may not have the option to avoid the other cat in the house for whatever reason. They don’t have the choice to get up and away from them, they don’t have the choice to hide from them due to lack of ways around a room. Only so much we can do about that aside from knocking holes in the wall, but there is a lot we can do to help. Shelving, hides, tunnels, things like that. -One cat may want to play when the other one REALLY WOULD RATHER NOT, THANKS. -Cats may be fighting for a resource, such as food, water, or a litter box. Not having the option to get to choose where they can pee when all of the litter boxes are being used can definitely cause some inter-cat aggression. -Cats may be introduced too quickly to each other, or may be experiencing just a general issue sharing their space. It’s why I advocate for INCREDIBLY long socialization periods, and even re-introducing cats that have known each other for years should their relationships start to come into question. -One cat may be getting increased anxiety from an external source and may not have the adequate blow-off tool required. This is when increased play, puzzle feeders, and monitoring window-watching is important.

Those are only a few things, though. Things like illness, injury, sudden changes, a specific occurrence, and more can change how a cat interacts with another cat.

And yes, there are aggressive cats. There are cats that become aggressive more easily than others, and yes, those cats may live a happier and more fulfilling life without other cats in the home, or with limited interaction with other cats. They may need medication to help you figure out the best way to get them to live their best lives. There are definitely things you need to consider with cats, and some cats may just be more aggressive by nature, or by upbringing.

But it’s not because they’re an alpha.

So chose your words wisely! Try not to perpetuate a debunked theory for a different species by also tacking it onto feline-kind.

Another message from bestie!

It's very seriously sad how few notifications on my PHONE are an IRL person trying to connect with me.

And before anyone asks, yes here is the full photo of Jo, full name Josephine Grace Wunderbar, Alpha of the Felines of the Flaming Juniper (what we call our house). She has the densest, plushest coat and it gives her these tremendously large round cheeks we refer to as dumples. She has incredible dumples and she loves to have them brushed. She is solely motivated by food, she just loves it more than anything, and her sweet bulk just makes her wee legs even more adorable.

And her boundaries? Shit, this girl is my hero. She has been teaching the kitten some really invaluable lessons in this regard. She hates to be held and she is not into cuddling. She is happiest being socially adjacent. She has started to sit on blanketed laps more in the last year or so? She turned 8 in October.

Anyway, I just cannot handle how much personality there is in this dense bundle of feline. I love her so much so here are a bunch of photos of Jojo lounging around her kingdom.

Oh and I rediscovered the little video I took of Jo experiencing the aforementioned stair runners for the first time. To this day, she tries to stand on them as little as possible.