This morning I was greeted by Puffers and Little Blue. It seems the days of 6 or 7 cats showing up together in the morning are gone. And the main reason seems to be that obnoxious Puffers.
Pesky Puffers
Don’t get me wrong, I like Puffers well enough. He’s one of the only outdoor cats that lets me actually pet him. But he doesn’t play well with the other cats. He constantly bullies the others taking food from every other cat’s plate. He hisses at other cats and has this ridiculous meow that sounds more like a a guttural grunt than a melodic meow.
The first cat to get into a scrape with Puffers was Tuxedo. This prompted her to stop coming in the morning. She now spends most of her time across the street in the neighbor’s yard. She will still come and get food if I feed her in the front of my house, but she mostly avoids the backyard where Puffers resides.
Tiny Tux has also been intimidated by Puffers and has taken to living on my front porch. She’s just like the original Porch Kitty!
Benitoo and the Heat Miser tolerate Puffers but even they are intimidated by him when the food comes out. They both prefer to avoid conflict so they steer clear to avoid fights. Although yesterday I did see all three of them lounging together in the backyard, so they are a little friendly.
Little Blue doesn’t mind Puffers and will still visit for the morning feeding time. PK Clone also isn’t vexed by Puffers and mostly maintains her standard routine although she is showing up to morning breakfast less and less.
Finally, Stu has been avoiding the morning feeding. She doesn’t like Puffers either.
Front Porch Kitties
To avoid conflicts and ensure that Puffers doesn’t eat all the food, I’ve taken to feeding some of the cats in the front of my house (Tuxedo, Tiny Tux, PK Clone, and sometimes Benitoo). I’ve also try to feed some of the cats on the porch while Puffers is distracted under the back porch.
It’s a lot of work to ensure that every cat gets enough to eat!
Before Puffers arrived, all the cats got along and would respectfully eat from their own designated plates. But Puffers creates chaos. The other cats are intimidated and scatter when he’s around. Today, I was able to lock him in my laundry room to give the other cats some time to eat in peace. I may have to do that more often.