D.O.P.-T.

[weofodthignen]

I totally do not understand cat politics. Mama Violet haunted the driveway all day. She was there when I took out food and retrieved the newspaper. She was there when I brought out and refilled the cleaned dry food dish later that morning, and when I changed the water in the water bowls in the afternoon, and when I came back from walking, and when I raked the grass in front, and when I checked after dinner for any sign of Monty and Prudence, who I hadn't seen yesterday, when Mama Violet had also been hanging around. She hissed at me a lot. But she didn't eat much.

Then as the sun was going down, I saw Prudence sitting outside the side door. I put out food for her and Monty, then checked the back yard; and there was Monty sitting behind the garage. I'd been starting to wonder whether their mom had run them off. Glad to see she hasn't; or that they come back. But apparently they aren't hanging out together. I do not understand cat politics.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

Cats will 'time share' territory, avoiding conflict by avoiding being in the same area with each other at the same time. They'll often use environmental cues, like the sun's angle, to decide when to move out so the other cat can move in.

[weofodthignen]

That's what it looks like, but Monty and Prudence previously hung out together a lot—with signs that he was looking after her.

I suppose it's possible that whoever was providing Mama Violet with her main place to hang out has stopped doing so, maybe moved away. Or just that feral thing of not having a predictable routine.

But since Grey One did chase away his siblings in the past, and one never came back, I worry.