Yes, I suppose you could say I've been on vacation from this blog for quite a while now, but now I'm just making it official - No more updates between now and the New Year unless something really spectacular happens.
The screen door has been a great success, even though Little Grey Kitteh did figure out how to jump up on the screen section after about a week. A couple of shots from the squirt bottle seemed to clear that up, though. He's been enjoying having the run of the upstairs - whenever Big Acoustic Kitty is either behind closed doors or downstairs - and has reclaimed the guest room. He's always looked on that room as "his" room (it was the sanctuary room when we first brought LGK and Monster home) and hasn't ever been thrilled at being moved out of it.
LGK also had his yearly checkup a few days ago, and passed with flying colors. Well, there were a couple of comments about kitty pudge, but that was to be expected. The vet also commented on what an expressive face LGK has ... especially his "worried" look. She said if he kept that up, he'd be a kitty botox candidate pretty soon.
Big Yellow Hallway Monster and Electric Mayhem continue to get along pretty well, and they seem to have adjusted to BAK's increased presence downstairs. The sunroom continues to be neutral territory (knock wood) and the Christmas decorations have been met with some minor nibbling, but no peeing.
That about sums things up ... we'll hope things continue on this well.
So from all the kitties here, best wishes for a very Merry Christmas, and we'll be back with you in 2011!
Showing posts with label BYHM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BYHM. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Door
Oh, the door. The wonderful, wonderful door.
The screen door has been installed at the top of the stairs for almost a full 48 hours now, and the improvement is noticeable. (Okay, so, aesthetically it's not an improvement at all ...) Since it's all screen with only some lightweight bracing at the bottom, we were a little concerned with how we would prevent kittehs from trying to climb the screen. After much discussion, we ended up pulling some 12 mil clear vinyl across the bottom and stapling it in place. So far, that half-assed solution seems to be working. ("Remember, this solution is only temporary - unless it works." --Red Green)
Our other concern was the roughly one-foot high gap between the top of the door/frame and the ceiling. However, so far nobody has seemed interested in scaling the screen door from either side. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
The Amazing Husbandini gets all the credit for managing the project and installing the door. I was next to no help at all. (I did carry the door through Lowe's, out into the parking lot and into the house, however. Just call me Schleppel.**)
Except for a couple of hours when I had to re-locate everyone while I was out of the house this morning, Little Grey Kitteh has been enjoying his increased territory and spending a lot of time sleeping on the foot of our bed. He seems considerably calmer as well. Big Yellow Hallway Monster has been very vocal in his confusion over why he can't let himself upstairs any more, but other than that, things have been going pretty well.
I have photos, but no USB cable for the camera. I think somebody ate it. As soon as I get my hands on another one, I'll share our newest home project.
**That's a Terry Pratchett/Discworld joke. If you're not a fan, you'll have to go look it up.
The screen door has been installed at the top of the stairs for almost a full 48 hours now, and the improvement is noticeable. (Okay, so, aesthetically it's not an improvement at all ...) Since it's all screen with only some lightweight bracing at the bottom, we were a little concerned with how we would prevent kittehs from trying to climb the screen. After much discussion, we ended up pulling some 12 mil clear vinyl across the bottom and stapling it in place. So far, that half-assed solution seems to be working. ("Remember, this solution is only temporary - unless it works." --Red Green)
Our other concern was the roughly one-foot high gap between the top of the door/frame and the ceiling. However, so far nobody has seemed interested in scaling the screen door from either side. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
The Amazing Husbandini gets all the credit for managing the project and installing the door. I was next to no help at all. (I did carry the door through Lowe's, out into the parking lot and into the house, however. Just call me Schleppel.**)
Except for a couple of hours when I had to re-locate everyone while I was out of the house this morning, Little Grey Kitteh has been enjoying his increased territory and spending a lot of time sleeping on the foot of our bed. He seems considerably calmer as well. Big Yellow Hallway Monster has been very vocal in his confusion over why he can't let himself upstairs any more, but other than that, things have been going pretty well.
I have photos, but no USB cable for the camera. I think somebody ate it. As soon as I get my hands on another one, I'll share our newest home project.
**That's a Terry Pratchett/Discworld joke. If you're not a fan, you'll have to go look it up.
Friday, November 19, 2010
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*
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*
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