Ramblings

Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time cowering
at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle wouldn't let her
use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at the front door,
ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not get
it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the day
(and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a door
and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of scares,
he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But the
improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother with
newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to go on
paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she goes,
but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to clean
than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in the
hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows the
hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of them. I
now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he tries to come
in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some weight. Its rather
nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl* rather than randomly
coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some, and bolting away to eat
it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug. She's
no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and will do
the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes to kill
anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My hands have
been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the mark of a
catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom me -
my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad she
reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and grateful
that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling hellion of an
abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her claws in my
shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the pain and the
horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair, I let her do it
until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment class. I was
groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go. Oh, catslave I
am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There was
no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable, moppable,
non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight how shabby
the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all on the lino
since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if Pickle
would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever reasons Pickle
has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it only if he hasn't
been outside that day) then things would be peacable between all three cats.
I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. But as long as Pickle
can have the Out as his terriritory as well, then things remain, well, they
are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed Joel,
the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then occasionally
I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet shop window or
the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. Whats teh difference between
having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five, well, may as well
have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady, here I come.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time
cowering at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle
wouldn't let her use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at
the front door, ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not
get it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the
day (and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by
anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a
door and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of
scares, he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But
the improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother
with newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to
go on paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she
goes, but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to
clean than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in
the hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows
the hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of
them. I now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he
tries to come in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some
weight. Its rather nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl*
rather than randomly coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some,
and bolting away to eat it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug.
She's no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and
will do the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes
to kill anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My
hands have been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the
mark of a catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom
me - my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad
she reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and
grateful that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling
hellion of an abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her
claws in my shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the
pain and the horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair,
I let her do it until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment
class. I was groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go.
Oh, catslave I am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There
was no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable,
moppable, non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight
how shabby the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all
on the lino since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if
Pickle would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever
reasons Pickle has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it
only if he hasn't been outside that day) then things would be peacable
between all three cats. I don't think that is going to happen any time
soon. But as long as Pickle can have the Out as his terriritory as well,
then things remain, well, they are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed
Joel, the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then
occasionally I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet
shop window or the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. Whats teh
difference between having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five,
well, may as well have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady,
here I come.

Yowie

I know what you mean about three cats. It's a heckova lot more than one
cat, isn't it? Lindy still mostly has Pickles and Waffles buffaloed, but
they're getting bolder every day. They still spend most of the day in their
room, but they come out periodically, either together or one at a time. I
think the fact that I let Lindy go out, while the other two have to stay in,
helps. Of course I have to remember to check periodically to see if she
wants back in. I haven't yet figured out a way for her to let me know she
wants in when I'm at the computer. Still, progress is being made. I think
Pickles and Waffles know they live here now, and they both get quite
affectionate at times. The other day they both followed me into the
bathroom, and I had to pet them both at once.

Joy

quality of life, rahther than quantity is so very important, having just
lost an aunt to cancer, this has been a major topic in my family, and i hope
this doesn't offend, but quality is better, and all parties to the life must
be considered, you did great in my book, Lee
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time
cowering at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle
wouldn't let her use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at
the front door, ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not
get it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the
day (and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by
anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a
door and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of
scares, he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But
the improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother
with newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to
go on paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she
goes, but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to
clean than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in
the hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows
the hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of
them. I now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he
tries to come in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some
weight. Its rather nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl*
rather than randomly coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some,
and bolting away to eat it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug.
She's no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and
will do the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes
to kill anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My
hands have been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the
mark of a catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom
me - my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad
she reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and
grateful that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling
hellion of an abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her
claws in my shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the
pain and the horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair,
I let her do it until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment
class. I was groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go.
Oh, catslave I am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There
was no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable,
moppable, non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight
how shabby the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all
on the lino since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if
Pickle would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever
reasons Pickle has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it
only if he hasn't been outside that day) then things would be peacable
between all three cats. I don't think that is going to happen any time
soon. But as long as Pickle can have the Out as his terriritory as well,
then things remain, well, they are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed
Joel, the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then
occasionally I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet
shop window or the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. Whats teh
difference between having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five,
well, may as well have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady,
here I come.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Yowie wrote:
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time cowering
at the end of the hallway, at the front door.
snippetty

I'm so glad to hear Pickle and Shadow are slowly coming to some sort of
truce. It's lovely that Shadow groomed you. Caliban sometimes does me
the honour of grooming my face (aargh, it hurts when that raspy tongue
licks the thin skin under your eyes!).

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

On Feb 21, 6:49*pm, "Yowie" wrote:
*Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time cowering
at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle wouldn't let her
use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at the front door,
ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not get
it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the day
(and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a door
and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of scares,
he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But the
improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother with
newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to go on
paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she goes,
but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to clean
than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in the
hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows the
hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of them.. I
now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he tries to come
in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some weight. Its rather
nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl* rather than randomly
coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some, and bolting away to eat
it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug. She's
no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and will do
the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes to kill
anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My hands have
been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the mark of a
catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom me -
my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad she
reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and grateful
that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling hellion of an
abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her claws in my
shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the pain and the
horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair, I let her do it
until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment class. I was
groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go. Oh, catslave I
am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There was
no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable, moppable,
non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight how shabby
the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all on the lino
since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if Pickle
would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever reasons Pickle
has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it only if he hasn't
been outside that day) then things would be peacable between all three cats.
I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. But as long as Pickle
can have the Out as his terriritory as well, then things remain, well, they
are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed Joel,
the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then occasionally
I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet shop window or
the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. *Whats teh difference between
having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five, well, may as well
have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady, here I come.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Multi-cat households are a challenge, for sure. It's a fine balance.
Let things
get out of whack, or two that aren't getting along, and not only is it
upsetting
for the one who's getting terrorized, but there's the inappropriate
elimination
for the hoomin to deal with.
We've got pretty much the same thing going with Biskit/Boots. It's
improved
greatly over time. Biskit still
avoids Boots at all costs, but the fur doesn't fly anymore between the
two. And yes,
flare-ups always happen when Boots can't go outside. If skin cancer
is your
only concern, I wonder if there's a sunblocker that could be used on
her ears.
Wouldn't work for her nose, obviously, but I've heard the ears also
are very susceptible
to cancer.
Sherry

On Feb 22, 8:46�am, Sherry wrote:
On Feb 21, 6:49�pm, "Yowie" wrote:





�Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time cowering
at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle wouldn't let her
use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at the front door,
ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not get
it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the day
(and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a door
and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of scares,
he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But the
improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother with
newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to go on
paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she goes,
but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to clean
than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in the
hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows the
hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of them. I
now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he tries to come
in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some weight. Its rather
nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl* rather than randomly
coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some, and bolting away to eat
it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug. She's
no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and will do
the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes to kill
anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My hands have
been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the mark of a
catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom me -
my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad she
reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and grateful
that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling hellion of an
abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her claws in my
shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the pain and the
horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair, I let her do it
until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment class. I was
groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go. Oh, catslave I
am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There was
no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable, moppable,
non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight how shabby
the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all on the lino
since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if Pickle
would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever reasons Pickle
has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it only if he hasn't
been outside that day) then things would be peacable between all three cats.
I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. But as long as Pickle
can have the Out as his terriritory as well, then things remain, well, they
are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed Joel,
the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then occasionally
I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet shop window or
the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. �Whats teh difference between
having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five, well, may as well
have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady, here I come.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Multi-cat households are a challenge, for sure. It's a fine balance.
Let things
get out of whack, or two that aren't getting along, and not only is it
upsetting
for the one who's getting terrorized, but there's the inappropriate
elimination
for the hoomin to deal with.
We've got pretty much the same thing going with Biskit/Boots. It's
improved
greatly over time. Biskit still
avoids Boots at all costs, but the fur doesn't fly anymore between the
two. And yes,
�flare-ups always happen when Boots can't go outside. If skin cancer
is your
only concern, I wonder if there's a sunblocker that could be used on
her ears.
Wouldn't work for her nose, obviously, but I've heard the ears also
are very susceptible
to cancer.
Sherry- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

================================================== =====
Yowie: I'm glad things are improving. Sunblock is a good idea Sherry.

Suz&Spicey

Yowie, does this mean that you did NOT have to give up one of the cats you
had before Pickle arrived? If it does, then, mazal tov! What a great thing
to happen. God bless.

Lily & her mama



"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time
cowering at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle
wouldn't let her use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at
the front door, ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. This is a
quality of life issue for not just pickle, but for Shadow. If he does get
skin cancer, it will be quite a few years down the track. And he may not
get it at all, as I don't let him out during the 'high' UV periods of the
day (and he tend to just sit in the shade and watch the world go by
anyway)

The outcome of allowing Pickle into the Out is twofold: Pickle no longer
picks on Shadow so much - particularly when he's in the Out. He no longer
goes diving any time a door is opened, but now gets to sit quietly by a
door and wait if he wants to be there, and we obilige. After a couple of
scares, he now comes in willingly at 10pm, just in time for dinner. But
the improvement in Shadow's demeanor has been the greater acheivement.

First of all, she now uses a box. It has to be lined with *newspaper*. Not
shredded or pellitised, but jsut plain flat paper. Pickle won't bother
with newspaper but Shadow was obviously trained some time in her past to
go on paper, and she does so. I have to add a sheet of paper each time she
goes, but we get plenty of junk mail and thats not an issue. Its easier to
clean than litter thats become glued to the bottom of the box in truth.

Shadow now spends most of the day in my bedroom rather than cowering in
the hallway. Whilst she won't go past Pickle voluntarily, she also knows
the hidey spots in my room far better than Pickle and takes advantage of
them. I now feed her in there as well, and will shoo away Pickle if he
tries to come in whilst she's eating. SHe's *finally* putting on some
weight. Its rather nice to hear her demanding to be fed at *her bowl*
rather than randomly coming across a full bowl of kibble, stealing some,
and bolting away to eat it in a safe place as she used to.

But the best thing of all is that she's turned into a little love bug.
She's no lap fungus (unlike Suki) but she sleeps on my bed at night and
will do the flop and show us her belly if we go past her. She also likes
to kill anyone who touches her belly, but thats Ok, I'm used to it. My
hands have been without scratch marks since October 2007, and they are the
mark of a catlover :-)

But what brought tears to my eyes yesterday was that she began to groom
me - my freshly shampooed hair in particular. I was sitting on my bed, ad
she reached up to give me a darn good cleaning. I was so touched and
grateful that my little hissping spitting scratching biting brawling
hellion of an abandoned waif would honour me in such a way (that and her
claws in my shoulders weren't all that pleasant). However, despite the
pain and the horrible noise of a cat tongue carefully 'grooming' my hair,
I let her do it until she was satisfied I'd pass her grroming & deportment
class. I was groomed for over half an hour before she finally let me go.
Oh, catslave I am!.

We gave up on the severely contaminated carpet at the front door. There
was no way it could be cleaned, there was enough cat**** soaked in, plus a
billion hairballs and even some diarrhea that just couldn't be gotten out,
still sitting up there ad reeking, ready to 'greet' any guest as the door
opened. Even *we* were offended by the great unpleasant whiff of Cat as we
entered the hosue that way. So we ripped it up and layed wipable,
moppable, non-absorbant lino tiles (they look great. Except they highlight
how shabby the rest of the house has gotten). Have had no accidents at all
on the lino since it was laid.

I"d like to say 'problem solved' but its still not entirley fixed: if
Pickle would stop seeking out Shadow and beating her up for wahtever
reasons Pickle has for beating her up (entertainment? he seems to do it
only if he hasn't been outside that day) then things would be peacable
between all three cats. I don't think that is going to happen any time
soon. But as long as Pickle can have the Out as his terriritory as well,
then things remain, well, they are OK.

Sometimes (quite often) I wonder what madness has taken me (and indeed
Joel, the reluctant pet of Suki) that I now have three cats. And then
occasionally I think that I'd also like lovely ginger kitten in the pet
shop window or the fluffy snowshoe on the RPCA's web page. Whats teh
difference between having three or four? Or maybe five. And after five,
well, may as well have.... Ok Ok, Oh, I am so far gone, Crazy Cat Lady,
here I come.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.




--
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

"Irulan" wrote in message
news
Yowie, does this mean that you did NOT have to give up one of the
cats you had before Pickle arrived? If it does, then, mazal tov! What
a great thing to happen. God bless.

Shadow is the 'new' one, although she came only 2 months after Pickle & Suki
and we've had all of them for over a year now.

I probably shouldn't have adopted Shadow, but I have 'sucker' written on my
head in invisible to hoomin script.

Still, she's here and she's made it home.

If I hadn't adopted her, it was teh RSPCA for her. I don't know what her
fate would have been, but considering how neurotic she is, I suspect she
would have been returned to the RSPCA by most adopters. I stronlgy suspect
abuse in her past, although of course can't be sure - its taken her a long
LONG time to not hiss and growl at Joel whilst cowling when he's doing
nothing worse than just walking past. She still goes at him hammer & tongs
if he surprises her. Thankfully he is understanding and doesn't do anything
other than go still and wait till she stops. She's slowly coming around to
the idea that she won't get hurt (well, by the hoomins anyway). Which is why
I really wish Pickle would lay off. I want her to feel safe. I would also
make her litterbox far more pleasant to clean out - she gets diarrhea when
stressed.

We did try Clomicalm but the ordeal of giving her the pill in the first
place seemed to counteract any good the pill actually did (assumign we
actually got it into her) and we stopped.

We didn't bo ther with Feliway because apprantly the diffusers have to be
'where the cats spends most of their time'. This is the whole house. I
cannot afford to Feliway the whole house.

Letting Pickle into the Out seems like a far better situation than trying to
force them (with chemicals) to get along. (I don't know of any sunscreen
that has been designed for cats - I wouldn't put hoomin sunscreen onto them
because they'd just lick it off and surely its not good to digest. If any
one knows of cat sunscreen... In the mean time, I just let him out in the
late afternoon whent he UV index is lower)

Yowie

Yowie wrote:
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time cowering
at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle wouldn't let her
use a litterbox, she was going where she could - right at the front door,
ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great Escape.
Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the risk of skin
cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle had other ideas of
course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. snip
Yowie


Great progress!
Lots of purrs and hugs,
Polonca and Soncek

polonca12000 wrote:
Yowie wrote:
Pickle was really picking on Shadow. Shadow spent most of her time
cowering at the end of the hallway, at the front door. Since Pickle
wouldn't let her use a litterbox, she was going where she could -
right at the front door, ont he carpet. It was utterly gross.

Pickle was also diving towards any open door and making his Great
Escape. Being white (like the other two) we thought that due to the
risk of skin cancer, that allt he cats should be indoor only. Pickle
had other ideas of course.

Eventually, we capitulated. Pickle is now allowed in the Out. snip
Yowie


Great progress!
Lots of purrs and hugs,
Polonca and Soncek

It's good to see you posting again, Polonca. :-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk