Tom Cat Pecking order

[Banjo]

Hi, I'm Banjo I joined today.

I live in a developing country, it's also one of the places in the world cats originated.
About three years back a boy kitty appeared on our doorstep, sorted the dog out and established himself in the household.
About six months later a girl kitty did the same thing, she was about four or five months old so when she grew a bit I took her to the vet and was told she was still too young to be desexed.
Not long after I got seriously ill, cat needs were overlooked and they made more cats, we now have four, the two foundlings and two kitties, a boy and a girl, now about 18 months old.
All is well, we can't have four "inside only cats", we live on a small farm near a village so they come and go as they please happily keeping the rats and mice down, the girls are desexed, the boys intact... I reluctantly accepted that if they were going to spend time outside that being fat and lazy desexed toms could place them at a disadvantage among the local wild life.

Lately the older tom has started bullying the younger, even though the younger is considerably larger than him.
Do you think this will sort itself out?
I'd hate one to get run off, we've made a safe healthy place for them here with all the food they need to keep them around.

Banjo

and

e-Moggy, Mamacat (formerly e-Kitty), Bigboy and Pookums Moggy. ,

[Ruth B]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on taking in and taking care of first two and now four cats.

While I don't know where you are and what the wildlife around there is like, my personal opinion would be to get the male cats neutered as well. Many neutered males don't turn into 'fat and lazy toms', they remain just as active as before. They do have less drive to fight so you would likely have less injuries to deal with, and they normally have a smaller territory so less chance of them wandering off and getting into trouble of some type. Un neutered toms will travel miles to find a female in heat. Should they run into trouble they already know where their safe place is and are just likely to retreat back home. It would also likely reduce any bullying between the two males.

In the end if you still prefer to keep them un neutered then they will likely settle down a bit once they have decided on a pecking order, however as they are in competition with each other for any female in the area on heat problems are likely to crop up every so often, also when the underdog feels he can have a go at rising in the ranks you might have real fights to deal with.

Others will hopefully be one, possibly with other opinions and ideas.

[Mollycat]

Welcome. I love your story telling style, you write beautifully.

It might help to have the boys fixed too and as Ruth says they may tend to stay nearer home but outdoor cats certainly shouldn't become fat and lazy. Both my boys were late neutered, one at 3 years old the other aged 8. they were the most loving, caring, gentle, sweet souls you could imagine. Boo learned to play at 8 years old and Henry continued just as he always had and stayed lean, handsome and active to the end at 14 years old.

Usually cats who live together well don't have dominant and submissive relationships. Unless one is a bully they usually have roles - for example one might have the job of waking people up to be fed while the other might be the one who greets visitors and investigates now things in the house, or be the protector who first warns off intruders. This might be why even if cats do not get on well together, when one leaves or dies the other can find it very hard to adjust. Cat relationships, or kitty politics as I call it, are complex.

[Banjo]

Thanks for the welcome and your helpful advice.
I've got something to think on anyway, not sure about neutering but I'll play it by ear.

e-Moggy on returning late from a big night out to find that the morning tinned food ration had already been eaten by cats who stayed home.

(Never fear, dried food is available all day).