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Feline Trouble
Jun. 4th, 2005 05:20 pmWe might have a big problem, or maybe two problems.
Problem 1: The other night, I was cleaning one of the two litter boxes. The one that I was cleaning is the "community" litter box. The other is one that Nima used to use when I kept her apart from Random, and now Random has claimed it for his own. Nima peeked around the corner, saw me cleaning the community litter box, and went and used Random's box. He caught her at it, and boy was he pissed (so to speak). He swatted at her, and had he left it at that, I would have stayed out out of their squabble. However, he kept on coming after her, and threatening to pounce on her, and so forth, so I told him to cut it out. (I was rather annoyed that they chose to have a fight right when I about to go to sleep. I told them that I would severely deal with any yowling during the night, and they seem to have listened.)
The next night, Harlee was on the loveseat in the living room. I was petting her, and she was purring. Nima jumped up next to her, and started purring and kneading the blanket that I throw over the loveseat. Harlee started staring at Nima, and then nipped her. I don't want Harlee to think that biting is the answer to frustration, so I chewed Harlee out. (She's nipped the other cats before, and I've been remiss in scolding her because I have a soft spot for her.) Again I was annoyed that two of the cats had a squabble right when I wanted to go to sleep.
Harlee and Nima have had a few more squabbles since then, although I haven't caught Harlee biting Nima. The fights center around the loveseat in the living room; Harlee either chases Nima off or jumps off herself when Nima jumps on.
The two of them seem to be successfully intimidating Nima into staying away from them (and, by extension, from me). A fairly typical tableau occurred earlier today: I was in the home office typing on the computer, Harlee was on the loveseat in the office, Random was a couple of feet away from me on the floor, and Nima peeked into the doorway and went away. (She went and napped on the Loveseat of Contention in the living room.) Now Random and Harlee are sleeping on the Loveseat of Contention, and Nima is sleeping elsewhere. This conflict might have been going on for a long time, but I'm noticing it more now because I'm home more.
It can't be fun for Nima to be left out of everything. However, she's not blameless. If one of the other cats has something that she wants, she'll try to take it with no clue that the other cats might not like it. She doesn't seem to speak fluent cat, as it were; she has no clue that she's being annoying and that the other cats are getting annoyed. I "read" the other cats better than she does.
I'm wondering if I should find Nima a new home in which she can be an only cat. She seems to have bonded less strongly with me than the other two. I want her (and the other cats) to be happy.
On the other hand, she gets more attention and has fewer cats to deal with than in a shelter.
Problem 2: Harlee seems to be sleeping more than usual (and more than the other cats). She spends most of her day on the loveseat. One of the cats is eating less than usual, although it's tough to tell which cat is eating less when I feed all three of them together. However, I fed her some moist food the other day, and she did chow that down. I'm wondering if she's sick.
Yes, I know, take her to the vet. I have to bribe her into the carrier, so I've started the process of feeding her moist food in the carrier. I'll try to get her to the vet next week.
Problem 1: The other night, I was cleaning one of the two litter boxes. The one that I was cleaning is the "community" litter box. The other is one that Nima used to use when I kept her apart from Random, and now Random has claimed it for his own. Nima peeked around the corner, saw me cleaning the community litter box, and went and used Random's box. He caught her at it, and boy was he pissed (so to speak). He swatted at her, and had he left it at that, I would have stayed out out of their squabble. However, he kept on coming after her, and threatening to pounce on her, and so forth, so I told him to cut it out. (I was rather annoyed that they chose to have a fight right when I about to go to sleep. I told them that I would severely deal with any yowling during the night, and they seem to have listened.)
The next night, Harlee was on the loveseat in the living room. I was petting her, and she was purring. Nima jumped up next to her, and started purring and kneading the blanket that I throw over the loveseat. Harlee started staring at Nima, and then nipped her. I don't want Harlee to think that biting is the answer to frustration, so I chewed Harlee out. (She's nipped the other cats before, and I've been remiss in scolding her because I have a soft spot for her.) Again I was annoyed that two of the cats had a squabble right when I wanted to go to sleep.
Harlee and Nima have had a few more squabbles since then, although I haven't caught Harlee biting Nima. The fights center around the loveseat in the living room; Harlee either chases Nima off or jumps off herself when Nima jumps on.
The two of them seem to be successfully intimidating Nima into staying away from them (and, by extension, from me). A fairly typical tableau occurred earlier today: I was in the home office typing on the computer, Harlee was on the loveseat in the office, Random was a couple of feet away from me on the floor, and Nima peeked into the doorway and went away. (She went and napped on the Loveseat of Contention in the living room.) Now Random and Harlee are sleeping on the Loveseat of Contention, and Nima is sleeping elsewhere. This conflict might have been going on for a long time, but I'm noticing it more now because I'm home more.
It can't be fun for Nima to be left out of everything. However, she's not blameless. If one of the other cats has something that she wants, she'll try to take it with no clue that the other cats might not like it. She doesn't seem to speak fluent cat, as it were; she has no clue that she's being annoying and that the other cats are getting annoyed. I "read" the other cats better than she does.
I'm wondering if I should find Nima a new home in which she can be an only cat. She seems to have bonded less strongly with me than the other two. I want her (and the other cats) to be happy.
On the other hand, she gets more attention and has fewer cats to deal with than in a shelter.
Problem 2: Harlee seems to be sleeping more than usual (and more than the other cats). She spends most of her day on the loveseat. One of the cats is eating less than usual, although it's tough to tell which cat is eating less when I feed all three of them together. However, I fed her some moist food the other day, and she did chow that down. I'm wondering if she's sick.
Yes, I know, take her to the vet. I have to bribe her into the carrier, so I've started the process of feeding her moist food in the carrier. I'll try to get her to the vet next week.
