Born Bullies

By Valerie X Armstrong

In trying to be a nice person, I have found myself in the position of feeding several stray cats, and when I can catch one, and I have the funds, I have it spayed or neutered.  I have a spayed female dog and two neutered male cats of my own, who stay inside. There are eight other cats who show up to eat twice a day. So far, I've had three females spayed.  I  still have to get one more female spayed and four males neutered.

 All the cats outside get along with each other except the black male who is a big bully. I've had other black cats over the years that were friendly and lovable, so this isn't about his color. 

He will pick a fight with any of the other cats, male or female, it doesn't matter.  He eats along with the others and he has his own bowl, but he always wants to push someone else out of their bowl even though the bowls are identical to his. 

 He'll sneak up on a sleeping cat and atttack it for no reason.  I try to show him love, but he glares and hisses at me.  All the others were feral cats too, but now they purr and let me pet them.

 I'm afraid if I touched him he'd shred me to pieces.   He walks around just looking for some cat who is minding their own business with the sole intention of beating them up. 

 I don't understand this cat's problem, unless he's a born bully.  Some of the other male cats are bigger than he is and sometimes they win the fights, but that doesn't stop him.  He's always got to be starting trouble. He doesn't have to intimidate anyone, they could all peacefully coexist. They don't need him to be the boss.

I think some people are like that, born trouble makers.  I don't think it was how they were raised or how they were treated by society.  I just think there are some bad apples and this cat is one of them.  I felt sorry for him in the beginning, but he is so mean, I'm rapidly getting over it...Now I feel sorry for the other cats that are having to live in fear of this big bully.  Maybe if I can trap him and neuter him, it will mellow him out somewhat.  My yard is a peaceful spot where the cats and my dog and I could really relax and enjoy life, but this big bully is ruining it for all of us.  Bullies really are a big pain, whether they be the human or the feline variety.