Hello all! I'm so happy I found this forum! I've been on GardenWeb a while and wondered why they didn't have a pet forum...and here it is!

Anyhoo, I have a question for you all. I can't figure out which of my cats is "dominant". I have two. One is a Maine Coone, his name is "Fatty". The other is a regular american short hair named "Baloney". Don't laugh TOO hard, I didn't pick the names, the PO did :).

I always thought Fatty was the dominant one, he seemed to have first choice of all the good sitting spots. Baloney always has first dibs at the soft food, but the PO said it's always been like that, even though Baloney was the least dominant one of her 3 cats.

Lately, Baloney has been getting on Fatty's back when he's laying down and standing there. Eventually Fatty has enough, rolls over, and swats him in the face. Fatty then either walks away in aggravation or moves over, continues to lay down, with his tail swatting around in aggravation.

What does this mean? Does this mean Baloney is the dominant one and is reinforcing it? Or that Baloney is trying to become the dominant one?

At night while we're sleeping, fatty sits at the bottom of the stairs and scans the main level and waits for me to come down so he can pretend to attack. Baloney sits at the top and sleeps.

They rough-house sometimes (chase each other around, play, sometimes I will find fur tufts) but nothing out of the ordinary.

Fatty is much more outgoing and tolerant of our three dogs (two beagles and a foxhound) than Baloney. Fatty sometimes joins the dogs during dinner time and cuddles with the foxhound. Baloney wants nothing to do with the dogs.

Any thoughts?

Here's a couple pics of my sweet babies.

p.s. I hate to admit it but I kinda like Fatty better than Baloney. Fatty is just such a crazy character with his Maine Coon ways. I love them both though. My Partner prefers Baloney, as Fatty is finicky about who he will love, and he doesn't love my Partner, just tolerates him! Baloney cuddles all the time with my Partner, though. It's funny how if cats prefer not to associate with humans, that's just how it is...they don't think much of them and move right along! As I type, Fatty has decided to insert himself into a paper grocery bag as a prime sitting spot.

This is Fatty (maine coone) with my lovely, lazy foxhound Lola:

This is both of them enjoying a day looking out onto my deck garden (Baloney on the left). We have replaced the window since then, don't want ya guys thinkin I'm a bad homeowner! :):