Ow.

We had another escape today. It was my fault ... Little Grey Kitty had been wandering around upstairs for a little while and hadn't tried to jump the gate, so I took my eyes off of him for about 4.5 seconds.

By the time I got downstairs, LGK and Electric Mayhem were in full fur-puff and exchanging war growls and Big Yellow Hallway Monster was heading in from the sunroom* to see what was going on. Against my better judgement, but with no real alternative, I scooped LGK up and tried to take him upstairs. There was much wiggling and yelling, but no real damage other than a minor scratch across one wrist. (Mine, that is.) The only problem was that BYHM was trying to back up the staircase in front of us, and I could tell he was getting more and more agitated, so I didn't think the odds were good for me getting LGK back into his room without some cat-vs.-cat action. So I reversed course and went to shut LGK in the downstairs bathroom for a minute until I could get the other two under control.

The next couple of minutes are a blur ... I did manage to get LGK into the bathroom, but at some point I also ended up with seven or eight scalpels embedded in my right leg. Okay, so it was four sets of claws and one set of teeth ... trust me, it all feels the same. Electric Mayhem decided that my leg looked like a good target for her frustration, so she really let me have it. Thank goodness for heavy denim, is all I can say. After LGK was in the bathroom and EM had disengaged from my flesh and was snarling at everyone from under the dining room table, then I had to defuse the agitation brewing between BYHM and EM before they decided to get into it. BYHM was ignoring the toy I waved in his face, so I grabbed the broom and shooed him into the basement and slammed the door on him. Then I lured EM (with difficulty) out into the sunroom for some treats and shut her out there. Finally, I managed to get LGK out of the bathroom and back upstairs to his room. (In case you're wondering, Big Acoustic Kitty was safely shut in the master bedroom during this whole adventure.)

Eventually everyone got calmed back down and EM and BYHM and I had an extended feather toy/kitty treat session ... long enough for me to feel like they had worked out their aggression and weren't going to start in on each other. LGK I just left alone for the rest of the day. I didn't hear him howling or jumping at the doorknob, so I think he needed that alone time. I did let BAK come down later in the afternoon, and nobody seemed any more interested in him then usual, so I think we're okay.

Suffice it to say, getting that screen door up is tomorrow's #1 priority.

I'd post a photo of my war wounds, but I don't think anyone's really interested in looking at my pasty white leg. But let me tell you, it's a really good thing that shorts weather is several months off. Not only do I have large, bloody holes in my leg (one might even have been a candidate for a couple of stitches, but I'm too cheap to pay the $150 emergency room co-pay, so screw it) but EM nailed me with enough force that I'm already forming some extremely impressive bruises.

*Oh, yes ... I think I've failed to mention that the sunroom (location of some of the earliest aggression incidents) is back to being a cat-friendly zone. I went with the white-trash option of painting the glass at kitty eye level so that any visiting kitties will go unseen by our bunch. It looks pretty tacky, but as far as the intended results - so far, so good. *Knock wood*