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*
Showing posts with label TGCRP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TGCRP. Show all posts
Friday, November 19, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A New Wrinkle
Remember the baby gate I've mentioned? And how it worked well for keeping Electric Mayhem and Big Acoustic Kitty apart back in the day, but how Big Yellow Hallway Monster hurdles it quite nicely? Well, now Little Grey Kitty can hurdle it quite nicely, too.
For the longest time, LGK would go tearing through the house and just come to a screeching halt when he hit the gate. We think he did try to jump it once, way back when, but he came down wrong and injured one of his legs. Until recently, he hadn't tried it again. But lately he's been getting more and more frustrated with his space limitations and he apparently decided it was worth trying to hurdle the gate one more time. We've had 3 successful escapes in the past two days.
One the one hand ... Oy! This, I do not need. On the other hand, while there has been hissing and growling and much puffing of tails and back fur, there has been no actual contact between cats or bloodshed. Not that we're willing to just let LGK roam around down there and let the chips fall where they may, but at least he's not instantly attacking the first cat he sees.
Did I mention the screen door previously? And how the plan is to use it as a replacement for the baby gate? Originally it was so that BYHM would stop invading the upstairs, but now it will be just as much so that LGK won't invade the downstairs.
Frustrating.
For the longest time, LGK would go tearing through the house and just come to a screeching halt when he hit the gate. We think he did try to jump it once, way back when, but he came down wrong and injured one of his legs. Until recently, he hadn't tried it again. But lately he's been getting more and more frustrated with his space limitations and he apparently decided it was worth trying to hurdle the gate one more time. We've had 3 successful escapes in the past two days.
One the one hand ... Oy! This, I do not need. On the other hand, while there has been hissing and growling and much puffing of tails and back fur, there has been no actual contact between cats or bloodshed. Not that we're willing to just let LGK roam around down there and let the chips fall where they may, but at least he's not instantly attacking the first cat he sees.
Did I mention the screen door previously? And how the plan is to use it as a replacement for the baby gate? Originally it was so that BYHM would stop invading the upstairs, but now it will be just as much so that LGK won't invade the downstairs.
Frustrating.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Problem(s) & The Players
Even though I've mentioned the problems we're having in other posts, I've had it on my to-do list to write up a post specifically about said problems, so here it is. And I may as well combine the problems with some gratuitous kitty photos as well.
#1 - The Big Yellow Hallway Monster - a.k.a. BYHM, Monster, Poldark:
This boy is a problem all by himself. About 4 years old, 16.5+ lbs., neutered male, FIV-positive, the sorta-kinda alpha cat in the house. He is a big, friendly mess of a cat, but he does have some issues with his inter-cat relationships. He is (IMO) a fairly "weak" alpha, and this is (also IMO) part of the problem. He has to make sure - repeatedly - that all the other cats know that he is the one in charge. He guards the food and water, he guards the litter boxes ... it's like he's constantly worried that one of the other cats will usurp him. And, he has hard-core redirected aggression issues. Any sign of a strange cat outside and he will attack any and all of his companion cats. He also seems to have (and I haven't found a good term for it yet) problems with that line between playing and fighting with the other cats. There have been times when I would swear he's just trying to play (and maybe do a little bit of his alpha act at the same time), and if the other cat doesn't behave in the way he seems to think they should, then it turns into an attack situation.
(Edited to add: However, having taken him to the vet last week for very extensive dental work, I will say that some of his attitude problems might have been attributed to multiple toothaches ... he's recovering from having 7 rotten teeth pulled and while he hasn't turned into an angel, there are signs that he's a bit happier kitty in general now.)
Let me make one thing perfectly, abundantly clear: BYHM is a total and complete lovebug - when it comes to people. There has never, ever, ever been any aggression towards me or the Amazing Husbandini, even when BYHM has really been torqued hard about something. His aggression issues are exclusively limited to the other cats in the house. If he were in a single-cat household, he would morph into the world's largest feline couch potato. The problem is ... he's only 25% of our total feline biomass.
#2 - The Electric Mayhem - a.k.a. EM, Princess, Evil, Beelzekitty (you get the idea):
She's Papa's Little Girl. (And she knows it!) She is about 11 years old, spayed female, dilute calico, formerly the alpha-by-default when it was just her and Big Acoustic Kitty, now much, much further down on the status ladder.
One good thing about EM is that she's mellowed quite a bit with age. If she were still in her younger years, this house would be a bloody battle zone. But, she's accepted her fall in status, and she's good at not drawing attention to herself - and as long as she is left alone, she manages pretty well. She and BYHM probably have the best relationship, in that they tend to ignore one another, or, she scuttles off in avoidance whenever BYHM starts getting bossy. And since what he wants is to vanquish all potential opponents, that works out pretty well.
On her own, EM is not much of a problem. She's mellowed enough that I think she and BAK could probably co-exist pretty well if it were just the two of them again.
Over the ten years that we've had EM, Amazing Husbandini and I have repeatedly wondered if part of her problem (aside from being a calico - you know what they say about them) is that she was taken away from her mama and siblings too early. She would have been an absolutely stunning kitten, so it's very possibly that she went off to a new home too soon. She has a lot of socialization problems that could easily be chalked up to not spending enough of her kitten days with a mama to tell her what's what and siblings to teach her how to behave around other cats. She has no idea at all how to play with other cats ... but, after living with Ziggy and now BYHM, it looks for all the world like she's trying to figure it out.
#3 - Little Grey Kitteh - a.k.a. LGK:
Right about 2 years old, 8.5 lbs, neutered male, grey shorthair, adopted just over a year ago along with BYHM. In addition to "redirected aggression", the other feline behavioral term we've learned in all this is "social maturity". While I think LGK has a bit of a redirected aggression issue, I don't think his is as big as BYHM's. However, I do think that we tripped over the social maturity issue with LGK. Social maturity (as I understand it) is a little like a human's teen years. There can be some shuffling around of the feline social ladder and cats who were previously lower in status can suddenly start jostling for a better position. I have no idea exactly what happened or what happened in what order, but I think that LGK started coming into his own, started to assert himself over EM and then either started to assert himself with BYHM or just was in the wrong frame of mind to have BYHM start getting aggressive with him.
LGK has been living in a room by himself for about 3 months now, after things came to head as described in one of the "Background" posts. We come and spend time with him and have been trying to re-introduce him to the other cats (admittedly, it's been kind of haphazard). Some days the relationships seem to be okay (or at least not hostile) and some days they don't. I suspect LGK was just completely overwhelmed by the problems when he was still downstairs, and now that he's got a place of his own, it's going to take a whole lot of very strong persuasion to convince him that other kitties can be okay.
#4 - Big Acoustic Kitty - a.k.a. BAK, Mr. Boo, Cranky Kitty, Super Explorer Cat:
Our cranky old man kitty. Somewhere in the 15 - 18 years old range, neutered male, blind, arthritic, diabetic (in remission until recently, now back in full force - along with all the inappropriate peeing that comes with uncontrolled diabetes), about 9 lbs., orange tuxedo Maine Coon Mix, polydactyl. BAK has been with us for 12 years next month, and he is our senior cat in not only age but in seniority. He's become more and more feeble as time has gone by, and we suspect he will be the next one we have to say goodbye to. However, he has a special place in our hearts (if not in the hearts of the other kitties) and we're pretty focused on making sure he has it as easy as possible in his twilight years.
But don't let any of that fool you ... for all we adore him, he's also a pushy, demanding, pain-in-the-ass of a cat. He also doesn't really approve of us bringing home all these other cats. On good days, he will ignore them, but on bad days he hisses and waves his paw around at them (somewhat ineffectually ... he is blind, after all) and runs away from them (kinda ... arthritis, blind.) So managing his relationships with the other cats can be very problematic, especially since he can't really defend himself if one of the others decides to go after him (usually BYHM or LGK, since EM has mellowed enough that she doesn't do that any more.) For many years, we divided our living space in half - BAK lived upstairs and EM lived downstairs with a tall baby gate playing the role of the Berlin Wall. However, in the new house, not only does BYHM jump the gate with very little effort, but LGK is closeted upstairs and BAK himself has recently decided that he can go downstairs after all. And trust me, when he is standing at the top of the stairs, bitching to be let out in that horrid rusty-gate sounding howl of his, we rush to do his bidding. So he's made his own contributions to the weird territory issues that we have around here.
I think that about sums it up for the "problem overview" and introductions. The only other ones I could include photos of would be me and Amazing Husbandini, but that's not going to happen. :-)
#1 - The Big Yellow Hallway Monster - a.k.a. BYHM, Monster, Poldark:
This boy is a problem all by himself. About 4 years old, 16.5+ lbs., neutered male, FIV-positive, the sorta-kinda alpha cat in the house. He is a big, friendly mess of a cat, but he does have some issues with his inter-cat relationships. He is (IMO) a fairly "weak" alpha, and this is (also IMO) part of the problem. He has to make sure - repeatedly - that all the other cats know that he is the one in charge. He guards the food and water, he guards the litter boxes ... it's like he's constantly worried that one of the other cats will usurp him. And, he has hard-core redirected aggression issues. Any sign of a strange cat outside and he will attack any and all of his companion cats. He also seems to have (and I haven't found a good term for it yet) problems with that line between playing and fighting with the other cats. There have been times when I would swear he's just trying to play (and maybe do a little bit of his alpha act at the same time), and if the other cat doesn't behave in the way he seems to think they should, then it turns into an attack situation.
(Edited to add: However, having taken him to the vet last week for very extensive dental work, I will say that some of his attitude problems might have been attributed to multiple toothaches ... he's recovering from having 7 rotten teeth pulled and while he hasn't turned into an angel, there are signs that he's a bit happier kitty in general now.)
Let me make one thing perfectly, abundantly clear: BYHM is a total and complete lovebug - when it comes to people. There has never, ever, ever been any aggression towards me or the Amazing Husbandini, even when BYHM has really been torqued hard about something. His aggression issues are exclusively limited to the other cats in the house. If he were in a single-cat household, he would morph into the world's largest feline couch potato. The problem is ... he's only 25% of our total feline biomass.
#2 - The Electric Mayhem - a.k.a. EM, Princess, Evil, Beelzekitty (you get the idea):
She's Papa's Little Girl. (And she knows it!) She is about 11 years old, spayed female, dilute calico, formerly the alpha-by-default when it was just her and Big Acoustic Kitty, now much, much further down on the status ladder.
One good thing about EM is that she's mellowed quite a bit with age. If she were still in her younger years, this house would be a bloody battle zone. But, she's accepted her fall in status, and she's good at not drawing attention to herself - and as long as she is left alone, she manages pretty well. She and BYHM probably have the best relationship, in that they tend to ignore one another, or, she scuttles off in avoidance whenever BYHM starts getting bossy. And since what he wants is to vanquish all potential opponents, that works out pretty well.
On her own, EM is not much of a problem. She's mellowed enough that I think she and BAK could probably co-exist pretty well if it were just the two of them again.
Over the ten years that we've had EM, Amazing Husbandini and I have repeatedly wondered if part of her problem (aside from being a calico - you know what they say about them) is that she was taken away from her mama and siblings too early. She would have been an absolutely stunning kitten, so it's very possibly that she went off to a new home too soon. She has a lot of socialization problems that could easily be chalked up to not spending enough of her kitten days with a mama to tell her what's what and siblings to teach her how to behave around other cats. She has no idea at all how to play with other cats ... but, after living with Ziggy and now BYHM, it looks for all the world like she's trying to figure it out.
#3 - Little Grey Kitteh - a.k.a. LGK:
Right about 2 years old, 8.5 lbs, neutered male, grey shorthair, adopted just over a year ago along with BYHM. In addition to "redirected aggression", the other feline behavioral term we've learned in all this is "social maturity". While I think LGK has a bit of a redirected aggression issue, I don't think his is as big as BYHM's. However, I do think that we tripped over the social maturity issue with LGK. Social maturity (as I understand it) is a little like a human's teen years. There can be some shuffling around of the feline social ladder and cats who were previously lower in status can suddenly start jostling for a better position. I have no idea exactly what happened or what happened in what order, but I think that LGK started coming into his own, started to assert himself over EM and then either started to assert himself with BYHM or just was in the wrong frame of mind to have BYHM start getting aggressive with him.
LGK has been living in a room by himself for about 3 months now, after things came to head as described in one of the "Background" posts. We come and spend time with him and have been trying to re-introduce him to the other cats (admittedly, it's been kind of haphazard). Some days the relationships seem to be okay (or at least not hostile) and some days they don't. I suspect LGK was just completely overwhelmed by the problems when he was still downstairs, and now that he's got a place of his own, it's going to take a whole lot of very strong persuasion to convince him that other kitties can be okay.
#4 - Big Acoustic Kitty - a.k.a. BAK, Mr. Boo, Cranky Kitty, Super Explorer Cat:
Our cranky old man kitty. Somewhere in the 15 - 18 years old range, neutered male, blind, arthritic, diabetic (in remission until recently, now back in full force - along with all the inappropriate peeing that comes with uncontrolled diabetes), about 9 lbs., orange tuxedo Maine Coon Mix, polydactyl. BAK has been with us for 12 years next month, and he is our senior cat in not only age but in seniority. He's become more and more feeble as time has gone by, and we suspect he will be the next one we have to say goodbye to. However, he has a special place in our hearts (if not in the hearts of the other kitties) and we're pretty focused on making sure he has it as easy as possible in his twilight years.
But don't let any of that fool you ... for all we adore him, he's also a pushy, demanding, pain-in-the-ass of a cat. He also doesn't really approve of us bringing home all these other cats. On good days, he will ignore them, but on bad days he hisses and waves his paw around at them (somewhat ineffectually ... he is blind, after all) and runs away from them (kinda ... arthritis, blind.) So managing his relationships with the other cats can be very problematic, especially since he can't really defend himself if one of the others decides to go after him (usually BYHM or LGK, since EM has mellowed enough that she doesn't do that any more.) For many years, we divided our living space in half - BAK lived upstairs and EM lived downstairs with a tall baby gate playing the role of the Berlin Wall. However, in the new house, not only does BYHM jump the gate with very little effort, but LGK is closeted upstairs and BAK himself has recently decided that he can go downstairs after all. And trust me, when he is standing at the top of the stairs, bitching to be let out in that horrid rusty-gate sounding howl of his, we rush to do his bidding. So he's made his own contributions to the weird territory issues that we have around here.
I think that about sums it up for the "problem overview" and introductions. The only other ones I could include photos of would be me and Amazing Husbandini, but that's not going to happen. :-)
Friday, October 22, 2010
More Frustration.
Today is Bagel Day (aka "payday"), so the Amazing Husbandini and I left the house early to go out for breakfast. After breakfast I lingered at the library and then wandered around Hobby Lobby for a while going, "I know I came in here for something, now what the hell was it?!" (An eraser for my design class, turned out.) Finally I headed home, unloaded all my stuff and went inside to see the kitties and indulge in a chapter or two of one of my new books before I had to get cracking on homework.
I sat down on the couch and got through about half a paragraph before I said to myself, "Self, why is our butt wet?"
Oh, joy ... somebody peed on the couch! (As an aside, I've had many reasons to regret buying this particular couch over the past 3 years, but I now have another one - the oft-touted non-absorbency of microfiber is a load of hooey.)
Who did it? Well, there's no way to know for sure. I strongly suspect Big Acoustic Kitty, since the couch has been his perch of choice since his recent re-discovery of the downstairs. However, it could have been either Big Yellow Hallway Monster or Electric Mayhem. (But my money is on BAK.)
Why did they do it? Again, there's no way to know for sure. In the past, inappropriate peeing of this nature has been due to BAK getting a little too much insulin. However, since he's currently off insulin, that can't be the case. Old age? Possible. BYHM or EM keeping him from the litter box? Possible ... and considering how much of an alpha pain in the ass BYHM has been lately, that's pretty much my guess.
So now what? I can't leave the house unless everyone is separated? Well, I guess so ... or at least I can't leave for more than a quick trip to the store unless BAK is upstairs.
And don't get me started about the couch. I've wiped it down with water and sprayed the beejeezus out of it with Nature's Miracle, but it's one of those poofy, over-stuffed recliner couches - I don't know how well it's going to clean up. Which means we'll be shopping for some new furniture, I guess. You know, we had come to the realization that the furniture in the family room is too big for the room, but this is not the way we wanted to fix the situation.
I'm starting to think seriously about running away from home.
3:20 p.m. addendum: It's now a couple of hours after the fact, and I've thought about it some more. This morning when I came downstairs, I noticed a distinct urine odor at the bottom of the stairs. I grabbed the StinkMaster 5000 and flashed it around, but nothing "came to light", as it were. I finally decided that someone had recently used the litterbox downstairs and that was the smell. However, I didn't sit on or otherwise examine the couch. It's possible that the couch-puddle occurred sometime after we took BAK up to bed last night. (I was sitting in that spot right before we took him up to bed ... and I know I'm not the one who did it.) So I'm not ruling out EM and BYHM after all.
And, I've found some super-cute 1930's-era armchairs on Craigslist that just need a little reupholstering ...
I sat down on the couch and got through about half a paragraph before I said to myself, "Self, why is our butt wet?"
Oh, joy ... somebody peed on the couch! (As an aside, I've had many reasons to regret buying this particular couch over the past 3 years, but I now have another one - the oft-touted non-absorbency of microfiber is a load of hooey.)
Who did it? Well, there's no way to know for sure. I strongly suspect Big Acoustic Kitty, since the couch has been his perch of choice since his recent re-discovery of the downstairs. However, it could have been either Big Yellow Hallway Monster or Electric Mayhem. (But my money is on BAK.)
Why did they do it? Again, there's no way to know for sure. In the past, inappropriate peeing of this nature has been due to BAK getting a little too much insulin. However, since he's currently off insulin, that can't be the case. Old age? Possible. BYHM or EM keeping him from the litter box? Possible ... and considering how much of an alpha pain in the ass BYHM has been lately, that's pretty much my guess.
So now what? I can't leave the house unless everyone is separated? Well, I guess so ... or at least I can't leave for more than a quick trip to the store unless BAK is upstairs.
And don't get me started about the couch. I've wiped it down with water and sprayed the beejeezus out of it with Nature's Miracle, but it's one of those poofy, over-stuffed recliner couches - I don't know how well it's going to clean up. Which means we'll be shopping for some new furniture, I guess. You know, we had come to the realization that the furniture in the family room is too big for the room, but this is not the way we wanted to fix the situation.
I'm starting to think seriously about running away from home.
3:20 p.m. addendum: It's now a couple of hours after the fact, and I've thought about it some more. This morning when I came downstairs, I noticed a distinct urine odor at the bottom of the stairs. I grabbed the StinkMaster 5000 and flashed it around, but nothing "came to light", as it were. I finally decided that someone had recently used the litterbox downstairs and that was the smell. However, I didn't sit on or otherwise examine the couch. It's possible that the couch-puddle occurred sometime after we took BAK up to bed last night. (I was sitting in that spot right before we took him up to bed ... and I know I'm not the one who did it.) So I'm not ruling out EM and BYHM after all.
And, I've found some super-cute 1930's-era armchairs on Craigslist that just need a little reupholstering ...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Frustration
Maybe I should not be quite as upset about this as I am, but ... well, I am.
Yesterday (or maybe it was the day before - things have been busy here lately) I discovered that Little Grey Kitteh had peed all over a pile of papers in the studio. This morning, I discovered that the corner behind the door where he likes to hang out also smells of urine. Now granted, both of these spots were discovered well after the event in question ... both spots were long dry and the smell was only evident after I happened to move some things around and got closer to the source. The spot by the door was actually underneath some other stuff, so I know it's been there for a while. And the spot by the door I could sort of understand - all the pee was at the base of this bookcase that had come up from the basement. If some of the basement smells had come with it, that would explain some of the peeing.
I've cleaned up both places really well and will be keeping a better eye on LGK from now on. I just wish I knew what had triggered it. Did Big Yellow Hallway Monster hang out on the other side of the door and make LGK upset? Was LGK not feeling well one day? Was he just annoyed that I'd left him or shut him back up in the room one day? Did it happen during nicer weather when the windows were open and something outside upset him?
And honestly, I can't be 100% sure that LGK was the one who did it. (Though that's my guess.) The bookcase was there before the studio became LGK's home, so it could have been BYHM. The paper I'm pretty sure was LGK's mess, though.
So ... Amitriptylene (usually prescribed by vets for the treatment of "inappropriate urination") for everybody this morning. I'd been slacking off in giving it to LGK, but that was obviously a mistake. Luckily, LGK and BYHM are much better about taking their medicine than Big Acoustic Kitty is about taking his. They don't like it, but there's none of this "run and hide and pee on people and then run around foaming at the mouth and drooling all over everything" like BAK does.
In other news, "outings" upstairs have become a daily event for LGK, but I think we need to really rev up the re-introductions. There have been a number of mutual nose sniffing sessions through the baby gate at the top of the stairs, and overall they've gone pretty well, but I'm a little worried that LGK is starting to view the entire upstairs as his territory. And if BAK starts feeling worse again and not spending so much time downstairs, that could become a real problem. But, since the Amazing Husbandini is down with a nasty cold and I'm starting to feel that cold-heralding tickle at the back of my throat, too ... well, we'll just see what happens, I guess.
Yesterday (or maybe it was the day before - things have been busy here lately) I discovered that Little Grey Kitteh had peed all over a pile of papers in the studio. This morning, I discovered that the corner behind the door where he likes to hang out also smells of urine. Now granted, both of these spots were discovered well after the event in question ... both spots were long dry and the smell was only evident after I happened to move some things around and got closer to the source. The spot by the door was actually underneath some other stuff, so I know it's been there for a while. And the spot by the door I could sort of understand - all the pee was at the base of this bookcase that had come up from the basement. If some of the basement smells had come with it, that would explain some of the peeing.
I've cleaned up both places really well and will be keeping a better eye on LGK from now on. I just wish I knew what had triggered it. Did Big Yellow Hallway Monster hang out on the other side of the door and make LGK upset? Was LGK not feeling well one day? Was he just annoyed that I'd left him or shut him back up in the room one day? Did it happen during nicer weather when the windows were open and something outside upset him?
And honestly, I can't be 100% sure that LGK was the one who did it. (Though that's my guess.) The bookcase was there before the studio became LGK's home, so it could have been BYHM. The paper I'm pretty sure was LGK's mess, though.
So ... Amitriptylene (usually prescribed by vets for the treatment of "inappropriate urination") for everybody this morning. I'd been slacking off in giving it to LGK, but that was obviously a mistake. Luckily, LGK and BYHM are much better about taking their medicine than Big Acoustic Kitty is about taking his. They don't like it, but there's none of this "run and hide and pee on people and then run around foaming at the mouth and drooling all over everything" like BAK does.
In other news, "outings" upstairs have become a daily event for LGK, but I think we need to really rev up the re-introductions. There have been a number of mutual nose sniffing sessions through the baby gate at the top of the stairs, and overall they've gone pretty well, but I'm a little worried that LGK is starting to view the entire upstairs as his territory. And if BAK starts feeling worse again and not spending so much time downstairs, that could become a real problem. But, since the Amazing Husbandini is down with a nasty cold and I'm starting to feel that cold-heralding tickle at the back of my throat, too ... well, we'll just see what happens, I guess.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
10.14.10
*knock wood* Yesterday and today have gone pretty well.
Little Grey Kitteh had not one, but two outings yesterday ... he got harnessed up and let out of the studio to wander around the upstairs a bit. The first time went unnoticed by the other three kitties, but the second, pre-bedtime outing did get the attention of Big Yellow Hallway Monster and Electric Mayhem. But, while LGK and EM didn't get nose-to-nose through the baby gate, they didn't show any hostility, either. And BYHM and LGK did get nose-to-nose through the gate, but also showed no hostility. So, good news there.
However, right after LGK wandered off from the mutual-nose sniffing session, he did start to act a little weirded out and went right back into the studio when I called him. Short and positive sessions ... that's what we're after.
BYHM had his first dose of non-ear-goo Amitriptylene this morning ... he wasn't happy. But at least he doesn't drool it all over the house like Big Acoustic Kitty does with his steroid meds.
Little Grey Kitteh had not one, but two outings yesterday ... he got harnessed up and let out of the studio to wander around the upstairs a bit. The first time went unnoticed by the other three kitties, but the second, pre-bedtime outing did get the attention of Big Yellow Hallway Monster and Electric Mayhem. But, while LGK and EM didn't get nose-to-nose through the baby gate, they didn't show any hostility, either. And BYHM and LGK did get nose-to-nose through the gate, but also showed no hostility. So, good news there.
However, right after LGK wandered off from the mutual-nose sniffing session, he did start to act a little weirded out and went right back into the studio when I called him. Short and positive sessions ... that's what we're after.
BYHM had his first dose of non-ear-goo Amitriptylene this morning ... he wasn't happy. But at least he doesn't drool it all over the house like Big Acoustic Kitty does with his steroid meds.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
10.13.10
Rolled out of bed late this morning, so the kitties were all sure we'd been eaten by wolves and they'd never be fed again. BYHM went straight into the bathroom and "let" me shut the door on him, then fussed the whole time. Which is fine. Big Acoustic Kitty then decided that if wanted breakfast, he was apparently going to have to get it himself, so he came downstairs and dined in the family room. Finally I managed to bring a plate up to Little Grey Kitty and he's eating it while I type.
So ... been falling down on the job the past couple of days. Nobody's really been wearing their harnesses or meeting the prisoner. Although LGK did get a little bit of an outing last night while everyone else was downstairs. He really wants out of the studio, but the second he's past the door, you can tell he's somewhat on guard. And he can't be out too long, or he overloads a bit. Slow and steady increasing of territory is the way to go, I guess.
We're considering actually putting some kind of a screen door at the top of the stairs so that he doesn't have to worry about BYHM jumping over the baby gate and getting to him. (Because it's not obvious enough that we're crazy cat people.)
That's it for now. Starting tomorrow, I think the daily posts might come in the evenings, or even go up a day late, so that I have something more to discuss than just breakfast. Fishy pudding can only be so interesting.
So ... been falling down on the job the past couple of days. Nobody's really been wearing their harnesses or meeting the prisoner. Although LGK did get a little bit of an outing last night while everyone else was downstairs. He really wants out of the studio, but the second he's past the door, you can tell he's somewhat on guard. And he can't be out too long, or he overloads a bit. Slow and steady increasing of territory is the way to go, I guess.
We're considering actually putting some kind of a screen door at the top of the stairs so that he doesn't have to worry about BYHM jumping over the baby gate and getting to him. (Because it's not obvious enough that we're crazy cat people.)
That's it for now. Starting tomorrow, I think the daily posts might come in the evenings, or even go up a day late, so that I have something more to discuss than just breakfast. Fishy pudding can only be so interesting.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
STEP 0.1 - Start Here
Good Day to you, landers upon this blog. Some of you may have come from my other blog, and and if so, welcome! Some of you might have found your way here because you're at your wits' end and serendipity brought you here.
Here's the deal: This blog exists because we have four cats who don't get along anymore. They did at one point - sort of - but now that has blown up in our faces and we are trying to repair the damage. All of the good cat resources tell you to take your time in introducing your cats to each other. Fair enough, and there are a lot of resources that will tell you how to do that. However, when it comes to RE-introducing your cats to one another after a problem has occurred, we've found that these same resources fall down on the job a little bit. Oh, sure, they say that reintroducing the cats as though one or more of them are new to the household is probably the way to go, but not many of them go much further than that. We have found that just referring to the introduction instructions isn't sufficient in a reintroduction situation, and finding specific help with a reintroduction situation is a lot harder than it should be.
So ... this blog has been created with a couple of goals in mind. The first is to document our effort at reintroducing one of our kitties into the fold. (More details about the specific situation and the individual cats will come later.) The second is to hopefully provide a little information and personal perspective on feline reintroduction to anyone else out there who might be going through this same situation.
Keep watching this space, as more posts are coming soon!
Here's the deal: This blog exists because we have four cats who don't get along anymore. They did at one point - sort of - but now that has blown up in our faces and we are trying to repair the damage. All of the good cat resources tell you to take your time in introducing your cats to each other. Fair enough, and there are a lot of resources that will tell you how to do that. However, when it comes to RE-introducing your cats to one another after a problem has occurred, we've found that these same resources fall down on the job a little bit. Oh, sure, they say that reintroducing the cats as though one or more of them are new to the household is probably the way to go, but not many of them go much further than that. We have found that just referring to the introduction instructions isn't sufficient in a reintroduction situation, and finding specific help with a reintroduction situation is a lot harder than it should be.
So ... this blog has been created with a couple of goals in mind. The first is to document our effort at reintroducing one of our kitties into the fold. (More details about the specific situation and the individual cats will come later.) The second is to hopefully provide a little information and personal perspective on feline reintroduction to anyone else out there who might be going through this same situation.
Keep watching this space, as more posts are coming soon!
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