Hmm... Rosie's failing health, and the fact that you've tried to
dissuade Chief from initiating play changes things. I'd suggest
bringing in another fiv kid to interact with Chief, but that would
probably upset Rosie... You talked about a "hole behind the ironing
board" and it gave me an idea. Since Rosie is so much smaller than
Chief, could you rig small "safe houses" in several rooms near, or on
the floor where Rosie could retreat to? You could make the openings
small enough for Rosie, but not large enough for Chief and the interiors
deep enough to give Rosie a sense of security. I'm a big believer in
allowing our geriatric friends the opportunity to live their last years
in peace and harmony. Chief's not making this easy for you guys! How
about a rigged "kitty door" that's only large enough for Rosie to
squeeze through to your bedroom? That way she'd have a room that she
could come and go to, if she chooses, and Chief could only gain
admittance when you're there to supervise. Your sweet girl deserves
some peace! I'm sorry to hear about Rosie's tumors, I pray she recovers
and the tumors remain small and benign. It's wonderful that her mom
and sister lived such long lives, but it makes the transition of moving
on with our lives without them even harder. It's so hard to adjust :( .
N
Steph E Caldwell wrote:
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...
