Example of Feline Bullying and Dominance
This short video, I think, is an example of feline bullying to achieve dominance. It certainly looks like bullying (if bullying cat exist in cats as it is a term used by people for people). The ginger tabby cat is exerting his authority over the other cat. The food is the same in each bowl. Therefore the ‘bullying’ cat simply wants to prevent the other cat getting to food or feels a need to control the other cat. As mentioned, it looks like bullying to achieve dominance, in a nutshell.
This kind of situation can arise, as all experienced cat owners know, in multi-cat households and where cats can compete for food or the use of the cat litter or indeed any other interesting and utilitarian activity.
As social might tensions arise when unrelated domestic cats live together in a multi-cat household, it may be the case that a dominance hierarchy naturally develops in order to keep the peace. Some scientists have proposed that cat societies are structured according to dominance hierarchies (Dr Bradshaw in Cat Sense). The dominance process takes place when larger, stronger, more experienced and more aggressive cats impose themselves on younger and less experienced and more timid cats.
There is a lot of information on the internet about the need to provide a place to hide for timid cats in multi-cat households. This helps to reduce stress in the timid cat. In one study in a multi-cat household a certain individual cat appeared to be dominant. He controlled who went where and who conceded space to whom. However, there was no hierarchy below the one or two dominant cats.
Apparently, dominant cats sometimes “ostentatiously” scratch their claws in front of subordinate cats. This may be a display of confidence. Dr Bradshaw speculates that when one cat grooms another it may be an alternative to aggression by placing himself in a ‘dominance framework’ as he calls it “whereby one animal controls another’s activities”.
He also speculates that the more aggressive cats appear to do most of the allogrooming (licking another cat). He argues that this might imply that licking another cat may be a form of apology for a ‘recent loss of temper’. The subservient cat allows himself to be groomed because he remembers that he was recently attacked and grooming is better than being bitten.