Cats: Bewildering, As Usual
Yes, cats are grounds for constant bewilderment. I have nothing particularly specific to support this statement this week, but they’re all unique with special personalities and different interactions.
Lady and Rossie don’t like one another, but if I hear Rossie screaming, it isn’t necessarily Lady beating up on her anymore. Floyd and Tarzan have taken to causing her to yell as well. Nobody is hurting anyone, but they aren’t respecting Rossie’s space and desire to be left alone. Mr. L informed me that Tarzan jumped Rossie this morning, and Lady stood by and watched. Part of me would like one of the others to defend the one being jumped, but then I realize it’s a good thing the other cats don’t get involved in squabbles, or we’d have a constant ball of screaming fur in this house, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
With the Reconcile, Lady is much better at minding her own business.
Floyd is still getting his medicine, but I think we still have a problem with him. About once a week, I find a marking on the front door. That’s probably a statement about Moose or another outside cat. I cleaned it up this morning and sprayed the area with Felliway. I don’t know if that will help or not. His other “favorite” spot is the coffee maker. We rarely use it, and I’m beginning to suspect I may never want to use it again anyway. (I mean, ewwww.) Mostly, I cannot fathom what he finds so attractive about that spot. I cleaned it up and sprayed that area with Felliway. At least, I think it’s Floyd, but there are no guarantees.
Rossie hasn’t come down in the evening this week like she did last week, but I’ve seen her in the kitchen eating in the afternoon, and she’s been more receptive to attention from Mr. L. He was petting her with one hand this morning, and his other hand was nearby, and she asked him to use both hands. He got a chuckle out of that.
I’ll be taking Lady, Tarzan, Floyd, Natasha, and Delta to San Antonio with me this week. Everybody should be happier with fewer cats per area.
Delta is the morning kitty. She wants her petting in the morning and is less receptive throughout the day. Ruby is visible throughout the day but not approachable. The funny thing is, they all like to be petted, but it’s as if they forget they have to let the human approach them if they want that experience.
Natasha, Ajax, Lady, and Tarzan have no such concerns. Daphne, mostly, doesn’t either. Floyd and Delta are reasonably approachable — Floyd is nervous about being caught to get his medicine, and Delta has her moments. Bringing us down to Ruby and Rossie who keep forgetting they no longer have feral concerns. Sneaky is more approachable than either of them, even though she has her own rules we must follow. Moose, of course, is still his own cat — willing to eat our food and hang out on our porch and in our yard, but not willing to be touched.
LOL, I will warn you. Separation may help, but when you return it may be like starting from the beginning again.
We have two cats who have been raised together, but we had to take one to the vet. When we brought her back home, only after about 3 hours of absence, the other started having hissy fits, growling, hissing and slapping. The sick kitty is a tabby, and the other a calico. It took four weeks for them to settle down, and stop the craziness.
She stayed under the bed for the first four days after arriving home. I could not even get out to give her medicine, because of the craziness. Nor would she come out for food.
When I finally did manage to coach her out. I had to shut the door, when I feed the sick cat, or the other would chase her under the bed, and eat her food, which did not work, because it had medicine in it.
Even after the cat was well, I had to feed them seperate for about 2 months. I am happy to report they are back to normal, and are cuddling and eating together again.
Anyway just wanted to say, I enjoy your cat stories.
We do the back and forth like this quite often, so they adjust reasonably quickly. I think the new troubles with Floyd and Tarzan is more a male pecking order thing than anything. Unfortunately, Rossie seems to be on the bottom of the kitty pecking order, not sure if it’s because she’s aloof, or whether she’s aloof because she’s at the bottom of the pecking order. To us, she’s a beautiful gentle kitty, but progress in socializing her has been so incremental. Lots baby steps forward and larger steps backward.
I’m really surprised you had such a dramatic impact from such a brief separation (as I’m sure you were, too!).
It surprised us to the extreme reaction. We had not seen that, since we made the big move from Texas to Florida. That is when we discover our sweet, loving calico could be a little witch, and for several weeks. I do not think she likes change.
However, in this instance, we think maybe it was the smell of the other animals from the clinic, and the medicine the Doc rubbed on Sarah our tabby.
The calico does not like it when the outside neighbor cat comes to her door either. If we pet him sometimes, she acts hissy for an hour or two. He is very friendly, and likes us. He would come in the house if we would let him, but cannot because of Harley the calico.
Aww, I love hearing cat stories! It’s so intriguing how they all have different ways of interacting. Our two will get along fine for days, maybe play fight a little, and then one day go bonkers fighting and making outlandish noises – and then ten minutes later they’re all settled down again 🙂