Kerry,
It's good and bad to know that these bedroom wars happen.
What I believe happened in my case, is that my little Cricket matured to
adulthood, and felt the need to assert herself.

And I gave you the short version of the bedroom saga.  The way things came
to a head, all three cats fought in a flurry of teeth and claws. The male
cat got in on the fight just because it upset him.  Miss ended up with a
huge abscess from an ugly bite on her abdomen, and she was very, very angry.
I don't know who bit her, because fur was flying.

After Miss healed up, she refused to come out of the bedroom for SIX MONTHS!
I tried everything, kitty Prozac for one and then the other, and at one time
both of them (made them both sleepy and zombie cats), Amitriptyline,
Feliway, nothing worked.  I even considered contacting Sonya Fitzpatrick,
the pet psychic.  I was so desperate to right things.

Miss had her food and litter in there, and she stayed put.  I could tell she
missed being with her people, because she would walk us to the door whenever
we left the bedroom, but she would run and hide if she saw one of the other
cats.
She could see us in the den from the bedroom window.  And it just broke my
heart to see her looking at us, I could see her meowing for us to come and
see her.  But she would absolutely not be moved from the safety of the
bedroom.

I spent as much time with her as possible, but then I was neglecting
everyone else.  But then slowly, she'd allowed me to carry her out for short
periods of time before she'd panic.  And then we worked up to other rooms of
the house for a quick look around before she got upset.

My persistance paid off.  One day, she crept out of the bedroom cautiously.
She stayed out longer and longer, hiding under a chair, and dashing off to
hide under the bed less.  Finally she decided it was time to join the rest
of the family, as if it had been 6 hours, not six months.  That was three
years ago.

Now she and Cricket have this mutual understanding and tolerance.  Miss
steps aside if Cricket is around.  Cricket doesn't even have to flex a
whisker.  Cricket might be the smallest, but she managed to overturn the
position of alpha female.
Sorry that was so long.  But I thought it was worth telling.  I hope if
anyone else ever has a situation like this, they give it a LOT of time to
resolve.
Sandy




Reply via email to