Bossy cats.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Hi I don't normally post in this forum but seems like the right place.

There's a cat in the apartment where I live who seems to be a "protector" of other cats. When people approach one of his/her (didn't check) gang the "protector" will hiss and snarl at the human.

I found this odd, thinking that cats were loners and didn't form packs as such. Anyone else experience this kind of thing?

The cats don't seem to be related. The "protector" seemed like a street cat while one of the others had a collar.

[Asta Kask]

Could be a misfiring of the maternal instinct - i.e., the "boss" cat thinks the other cats are her kittens. But it could just as easily be confirmation bias; humans are very good at seeing what we expect and disregarding other evidence. So if you got it into your mind that the cat is protecting other cats, you see that, and not all the times the cat just doesn't care. Does that make sense?

[Haruspex_Pariah]

True, I didn't actually observe the cats for a long period of time (they tend to disappear and reappear as cats do).

So in your experience cats don't form packs or develop hierarchies?

[Asta Kask]

I don't have much experience with feral cats, but they apparently form packs. Not much of a social hierarchy, just living together.

The only social hierarchy domesticated cats form is the one where humans are at the bottom, serving all their needs. :smallbiggrin:

[Heksefatter]

Cats do form colonies, so the do have some kind of group instinct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat#Colonies

Can't say that I know enough about the matter to say anything really qualified to explain the matter, though.

[Spiryt]

The easiest answer IMHO would be male cat acting aggressive towards anything that approaches females he's... interested in.

[Lillith]

I've seen cat form colonies personally. While I was on vacation in Turkey there was a giant cat colony near some ruins. They seemed to hang out with each other as well. Also in Italy and Greece I heard there are cat temples where cats get fed and they tend to live in rivalry groups.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

The easiest answer IMHO would be male cat acting aggressive towards anything that approaches females he's... interested in.

I can't believe I missed that possibility. Sounds plausible enough.

[MonkeyBusiness]

Not many cats bother to read textbooks on animal behavior. Thus, the majority of cats are unaware of how they "ought" to be behaving.

Those cats that do read these books probably do only because they like to laugh at humans' silly ideas about cats.

My guess is that in an environment where cats are overpopulated, cats will adapt to be social because it will help them survive. A cat that has to constantly defend its territory in an overpopulated area will quickly exhaust its resources. Cats that can tolerate the presence of other cats - or even cooperate - will be more likely to survive. Add to this the fact that we humans have bred cats for social traits (because that makes them better pets) and suddenly cats in social groups doesn't seem so unlikely.

<cue cat laughter>

[Ricky S]

A collection of cats is called a "clowder".

So lots of cats will band together and form a family unit. The fact that it is trying to protect the other cats shows it is the leader of the group.

[Fri]

I believe eventhough cat doesn't work in pact like dog or wolves, feral cats do have groups and boss. Hey, even assassins form groups.

[grimbold]

True, I didn't actually observe the cats for a long period of time (they tend to disappear and reappear as cats do).

So in your experience cats don't form packs or develop hierarchies?

cats will have one pack leader, the alpha male

[Mina Kobold]

cats will have one pack leader, the alpha male

Which is usually the cat itself. :smalltongue:

Just kidding, we have a group of feral cats at our summer home and with the exception of the big one that scares the others away they are a group. :smallsmile:

Though, they are siblings.

[TinselCat]

cats will have one pack leader, the alpha male

Not always true. We adopted a small family of feral kittens who now are well-socialized adult housecats, two females and a male. The boss is very clearly the big female, who always eats first, eats the most, grooms the others and demands the most attention of the humans. But the entire family (plus one non-related older cat) are a tight-knit unit.

[Amador]

Also, Domestic cats tend to be far more social than wild cats. Often they form into packs with a communal "den" of sorts.

[Traab]

My dog was the pack leader for a group of cats. Oddest thing youve ever seen. Two cats came to use as fully grown strays or otherwise abandoned, one we got from a friend as a kitten and the fourth was a kitten we claimed from an abandoned building. My dog ruled over them. We would tell her to fetch and carry them around, and they would put up with it. When my dog would lie down, if they were tired at the same time, they would all sleep in a big pile. They would play with my dog, doing the whole hunting thing, generally with her tail as the target, though the kitten would often clamp onto her muzzle with all four paws and hang on tight. lol And the dog would put up with it.