Who's the boss?

Anyone who has more than one pet will agree that every group has their leader. The alpha male so to speak.

In our house, Gabriel is the alpha and he rules the roost. When he was a kitten, he was the sweetest little boy, but as he grew up he started throwing his weight around.

His “I’m the boss” attitude had very little effect on Mickey. From the very beginning, Mickey took on the role of Gabriel’s big brother, and to this day they remain very close.

Where you see Gabriel, Mickey isn’t very far off, and if Gabriel meows – for one reason or another – Mickey goes running to find him.

Charlotte is an awe of Gabriel. She’ll eat when he’s finished, she’ll vacate a sleeping place for him, and if he approaches her she goes running. Then again, Charlotte is a very nervous cat. The slightest noise scares her, if a strangers enters she hides under the duvet, while a thunderstorm turns her into a basket case.

Chanel is equally afraid of Gabriel. On occasion, they’ve gotten into a cat fight and since Gabriel is bigger and stronger, Chanel is nervous around him. There are days that they are perfectly at ease around each other, and then there are days that they can’t stand the sight of each other. He clearly sends her the message that he is the alpha male and Chanel is all too willing to accept his authority.

As for Holly … she couldn’t give damn about Gabriel’s authority. She’s only a year and a half old, but this girl can take care of herself. The words “alpha male” are not in her dictionary and while Gabriel is about twice her size, she’s not in the least intimidated.

On the contrary, if we come home with a new toy, Holly claims it as her own. Whether it’s a ball, a feather or something with catnip, only when Holly is finished with it do the others get a chance to enjoy it too.

In general, Holly has a rather high opinion of herself. For instance, when I open the balcony door for her, she sits, without moving a muscle. The others will file out, one by one, but Holly will wait.

She will look at me with eyes that say … “Ahem, a little wider please”. Only when I open the door so wide that a fully grown dog would have no trouble passing through, will she venture out.

Expressing herself with her eyes is something Holly specializes in. Tonight, when it was time for dinner, I rounded them all up. Finding Mickey, Charlotte, Chanel and Gabriel was no problem, but Holly was nowhere to be seen.

I stepped on the balcony, called her name, but got no reaction. So I went back inside, closed the balcony door, and went to check elsewhere. When I got back to the living room, I spotted Holly sitting outside the balcony door and her eyes were positively shooting daggers.

She sat there with a look that left no doubt as to what she was thinking … “How dare you? How dare you close the door and leave me out here!”

I quickly opened the door, but if you think that Holly quickly jumped inside, you would be mistaken. Once again I had to open the sliding door wide before she made her entrance.

If Gabriel is the alpha, then perhaps Holly is the omega.