I serve them both in Wylla's "dining room", and though there's no need anymore for anyone to eat from an elevated dish, I still serve on the table. They actually seem to prefer it this way. If given a choice between a dish on the floor and a dish on the table, they always chose the dish on the table first.
After breakfast, both girls always move to the front window to watch the world. This, too, is a part of their morning routine. We live close to a elementary school, so there are always lots of kids walking by in the morning and several school busses rumbling past. Friday is garbage day, and they find that action to be quite interesting.
The majority of the time, Wylla sits the left in the window, and Charlene is on the right. I"m not sure how it was determined that these were their positions, perhaps there was a committee meeting on the subject, but this is the way it is, and I'm guessing is the way it will always be.
They have their positions on the bed and the cat tower, too. It does seem that Charlene usually sits in "first class" while Wylla rides "coach", which make sense because Charlene truly is the queen of our house. Wylla has gotten a little more assertive now that she feels better and has gotten bigger and occasionally pushes the boundaries, but I think Bean will always rule this roost. I don't think Wylla is making a play for the top position, I think she's just pestering her big sister.
Have your cats established their pecking order? Have you ever seen a power shift?
I thought I knew the Pecking Order in my house - Reilly then Sprite. He is older and here first. Gets fed first, gets petted first. But Miss Sprite seems to not tolerate him on my lap....ever. If he is there, he gets his face washed to make him leave and sit on my sister's lap. After all that is his place and not hers. But they share the window sill and share any bed (human or feline) and couch they find.
ReplyDeleteI think there's an order in our house too with our 4yr old guy being the top. However, our kitten is already the same size as him and getting ready to pass him so Im interested if there will be a shift. Although, I have a feeling Louie, though small (8.5lbs), will always be the boss over Spanky!
ReplyDeleteThe power shifts all the time between my three. When I give them wet food I feed big tom Dante first, then Molly, then newest rescue Sansa, who was trapped from the wild. By the time I get to Sansa she has pushed Dante out of the way - and he's literally twice as big as her! She's fearless.
ReplyDeleteThe power struggle continues in the bedroom. Molly ALWAYS sleeps by my feet, and sometimes Sansa will join her, but if our big ole tomcat comes along for a group snuggle he'll just drape himself over Molly. Occassionally he'll wrestle with the girls to remind then he's bigger and stronger but Sansa used to hunt to survive so she can get quite fierce.
So Dante thinks he's king until Sansa comes along, but Molly won't let Sansa be the queen of queens, so it's kind of like rock paper scissors!
Pecking order moves around. Poor little Meg is usually on the bottom below the two boys, but not when it comes to food. When I return from business travel, Lincoln, as beta below my alpha, feels the necessity to re-establish dominance. Hubs is definitely the epsilon!
ReplyDeleteThere is order around our home also. First, our bed is Casper's domain at night. He has a routine with us where he paces back and forth on the bed bunting our heads, until he flumps over for pets. If Cocoabean happens to come between this ritual, he will immediately jump off the bed in a huff. That happens rarely as she knows her place. It's are they both will share the bed together when we're in it although we find them napping there sometimes together. Then there's feeding time. Casper's bowl gets put down first no matter what. Cocoa patiently waits a few seconds until hers is down. If we forget, havoc ensues - they both get confused.
ReplyDeleteCasper was here first by a few years and is quite a bit older than she is. She was very timid and laid back when she first arrived to their pecking order got established by default. Now, I think it's just habit as she, being a typical Tortie, has become a very outgoing and bossy princess lol. But, she still bows down to his Highness :D
Def hierarchy in my house. My older large, goofy, laid back black boy, Salem, is always top cat. My younger all gray female Molly is a ball of energy but always defers to Salem.
ReplyDeleteSince I have so many kitties, they are split into two groups. The "day shift" pretty much has a hierarchy. But that group contains some that flat out dislike one another, and they continuously argue and ambush one another. Then there are a couple of the males that are the alphas, and one of the girls that is the alpha female. In the "night shift" group, its more defined. The males have a hierarchy, but it is more like they are all alphas and they tolerate one another. The girls in that group just sort of stay out of one another's way. The reason they are split into two groups is because some from the day shift are very aggressive towards some from the night shift. And they can all spread out a little more and find a nice quiet corner if there are fewer roaming around at any given time.
ReplyDeleteIs it my imagination, or has Wylla almost caught up to Charlene in size?? Maybe it's just the camera angle...?
ReplyDeleteCharlene still has a few pounds on her and her frame is larger, too. But the gap has closed a bit!
DeleteEating off a table totally makes sense. Who wants to crouch down when they can sit up and have a nice civilized meal? They look very comfortable. And I cannot get over Wylla's suddenly being nearly as big as Charlene!
ReplyDeleteA power shift only came with the passing of the ruling monarch. Our 21 year old Siamese reigned until the day she died. Now the new younger Siamese would like to take up the crown but is being kept in check by our 10 year old rescue kitty who isn't about to take any guff off of a wet-behind-the-ears kitten...
ReplyDeleteI love that they like eating off the little table.... so ladylike! And cute! :)
ReplyDeleteBessie, the younger of my two cats, asserted herself as the alpha shortly after moving in. Gregory, her older adopted brother, seems perfectly content to be ordered around, do all the talking and generally live to serve Queen Bessie. Bessie also gets the honored place on the bed next to my head and Gregory is left to sleep in a box on the floor (although this may just be his preference...)
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