Nina,
I've been running interference between these two since last December!
Chief moved in three nights after my Alphie passed... I think part of it
with Rosie is that she wasn't ready for another kitty in the household,
and maybe she views him as taking Alphie from her? I let her see Alphie
before he burried her, but we all took that hard. She didn't eat for a
week afterwords unless I sat with her. Then I started bringing her to
work because she couldn't handle being alone, and she still doesn't like
to be alone.
I have talked to Chief and told him that, and I've talked to her, but
she's just flat out scarred of him. He doesn't have a mean bone in his
body, and if she approaches his dish while he's eating, he leaves and
lets her have it, if he approahes her while she's eating, she doesn't
leave, but won't eat, either. He's being playful, she's scarred, runs,
and he chases her because he wants to play... It's gotten some better
since he and I play (we play tag, when he's through playing he gets on
his safe spot and I pet him), but she's scarred to come out because she
can't defend herself.
Rosie's health is starting to fail, she's got some tumors growing in her
abdomen, but right now she's in good weight, coat looks good, and she's
eating, so my vet and I decided to leave them be and pray they're
benign. I wouldn't put her through surgery if they're cancer, and I
wouldn't treat her any different than I am now. She's old, and I'm not
going to heroics to keep her alive. Her balance has also gotten poor and
she's taken some pretty bad falls off previous perches and she literally
can't get away from him other than this little hole behind the ironing
board. Until her last fall from the top of the kitchen cabinets she had
a few high perches that only she could get on, but now she's unable to
jump more than a foot or so.
So, I'm not just dealing with the social aspect, but the ailing health
of my Rosie... I lost her mom three years ago, she was at least 15, but
probably older, and I lost her sister last year at 13... So, her family
had a good long life, but she's still getting on up in years...
Steph
Steph,
I like Hideyo's idea of the screen door. Could you put one on your
bedroom door? That way poor lonely Chief might not feel so isolated.
I'd also rig him a wonderful cozy bed right by the door. You'd be able
to talk to him through the screen door too. I understand not wanting to
alienate Rosie, after all, she was there first. I also understand the
fears of mixing fiv and felv together, but I have made the decision that
once someone is a member of the household, their a member all the way.
I would keep talking to them and watching their behavior. For instance,
when you see Chief blocking Rosie's path in the kitchen, (for whatever
reason), I'd step between them and tell Chief to respect Rosie and let
her pass! Keep reminding him that he's lucky she allows him to share
her home, that she's the Grand Dam and he needs to honor her majesty!
I'd talk to Rosie and tell her how important it is to you to have her
help in smoothing out Chief's rough edges. Ask her to help you get
through to Chief that his behavior is not acceptable. That you love
her, but you want him to be happy too. It may take a while, but you
guys will figure this out. If Chief doesn't back off, give him a time
out, (a very short one, just a couple of minutes), behind a closed
door. Set him up with a room of his own, maybe a bathroom? Make it
comfortable in there, give him everything he needs and use that as his
time out space. Spend lots of time confined in there with him. When
you go in with Chief, (not after he's been naughty!), tell Rosie you're
going to spend some time with Chief to try and help him understand his
position in the family, (below Queen Rosie!). When he's pushy with
Rosie and doesn't back down when you tell him to, let him cool his heels
in his room. Then let him out and try again. Keep telling him being in
the house is a privilege, he has to follow the rules! It took months
for our socially retarded, cat hating, Kimba to get it, but get it he
finally did.
Nina
Hideyo Yamamoto wrote:
Oh... I am so sorry that you are torn... well.. one thing I can suggest
is that do the introduction process start all over again. It will take
a while, but it's very doable.. I have two cats who wanted to kill each
other, (literally, one of the bigger one goes to a throat of a smaller
one to kill), but after re-introduction, now they are completely happy!
They don't groom each other or anything, they happily co-exist -
I usually use screen door between rooms instead of solid door and/or a
crate technique.. but never throw them into a room with no
protection..what have you tried?
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steph E
Caldwell
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Separating the kitty household
Hideyo Yamamoto wrote:
I guess, I have a little bit concern regarding mixing FIV positive
with
FeLV positive together even if they got along well..
I tried total seperation when we first got Chief. Rosie lived in my
room, had seperate food, water, and litter. But, she wasn't happy locked
in my room unless I was in there. So, she pulled all her hair out that
she could reach and started spraying things.
has something that they are fighting against, I am concerned about the
situation.
I worry, too... She's vacinated for it, spent a good bit of her early
life outside, so I think she's pretty well immune.
Rosie goes to work with me everyday, so they're only together for a few
hours. They do share litter boxes and a waterdish, but that's it.
Right now, she's happy in my room at night, but now Chief doesn't have
anywhere to sleep and he's unhappy with my door shut...
Steph
