Hormones Part IV – feline aggression

Sat., Jan. 25 – evening

We were watching Along Came a Spider (2001) .Excellent, Morgan Freeman, kidnapping, suspense all for distraction.

In desperation, JB has been reading the insert on the Feliway package.

"Diffuser is not recommended for overt aggression between cats..."

It's a bloody myth. We've been bashing our heads against the wall. We're done. Annabelle will go back to the vet, where we got her.

Annie slept in the spare room. The kittens were free to play.

Sat., Jan. 25 – morning

 Feliway is in the living room, the spare room, and on Annie's collar. We'll cross our fingers. The deadline is next Friday, Jan. 31st.
Annie was in the spare room overnight. No banging on the door. The kitten had two stints out in the Muskoka room. They quite like it. Cinn came in and had a play, so we brought in Nutmeg, and put Annie back in the room.

The new litter medium, the wood pellets, are working out well. Annabelle stunk up the room with a big poo, but I took them out, and all was well!

Friday, Jan. 24

We brought home Nutmeg, who had her stitches removed. Dr. Brianna gave us Feliway spray. 

We have been putting the collar around Annie's neck since Tuesday, and putting the Feliway on it. It can take up to 7 days, they say.  

JB went out shopping to beat our predicted Saturday ice rain storm. (It ostly snowed!) We put out two Feliway diffusers: one in the living room, another in the spare room. We kept Annie in there overnight.

It's $60 for the two pieces, $30 for a refill. JB bought two refills.

Nutmeg and Cinnamon were encouraged to visit the Muskoka Room. When I checked on them later, they were happily sleeping, curled up around one another in the small cat bed. They moved when I peeked, of course.

I let one kitten in, I thought it was Cinnamon. He went into the kitchen to eat. JB was in there. He said, "You let Nutmeg in!"
"That's Cinnamon," I replied. Annabelle came in the room, roared at the kitten, trapped her in the pantry. I realized I made a mistake. It was Nutmeg. I am so stressed out with this. My stress symptoms are increasing.

They slept together on the couch. At one point, I looked over and they had their paws on their sibling's shoulder making an X!

PART III: Plan D Friday, Jan. 24

We're keeping Nutmeg isolated from Annie. Annabelle is out in the night. Then, when she sits and sleeps, we put her into our bedroom and let Nutmeg out to play. We made a mistake and while I was on a 2-hour conference call for ODPRN, we forgot about Annie in the bedroom. She peed on my cotton t-shirt, which soaked it all up, fortunately.

We have plan D. We will try Feliway on Annabelle's collar. We can't put it in all the rooms of the house, but this could work. It could take 7 days to work, if it is going to work.

Once Nutmeg gets her stitches out on Friday, she is less fragile. Hopefully, the hormones in both kittens will work their way out of their systems, too. Annie hunts Nutmeg down, and just goes for her. Nutmeg is cautious. They are fine early in the morning, when they are hungry, then things go awry.

If this doesn't work, the vet has said they will take Annie back. She was rescued by one of their former employees, and that is where we adopted her from.

How to make a cat collar

Annabelle and her bird collar

Cat tales: 

Kitty Hormones... |   Hormones, cats – part II 

NaPoWriMo Day 14 – San San

Day 14

My heart is breaking with Buster's demise
Sisters being his apparent adversary
More time spent as a bully than being victim
Joyful adventures under blue skies
Black face at the door sought sanctuary
Hours we spent in joy forest bathing
Eventually hormonal rage pricked him
Dispel my anger at changes scathing

A seven-line poem called a san san, which means “three three” in Chinese (It’s also a term of art in the game Go). The san san has some things in common with the tritina, including repetition and rhyme. In particular, the san san repeats, three times, each of three terms or images. The seven lines rhyme in the pattern a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d.

Days of the feline reunion

Daisy on a 'walk'

Monday, April 4th – Day One of Cat Reunion

Buster had his time out at the 'cat spa.' Dorah had her 8-day time out. Both came back relaxed. My blood pressure is down, as well. This is a good thing!

We're all back together. With the Polar Vortex dumping freezing cold temperatures, it's put us off a bit. Buster has been much calmer. He's been outside for a few hours in the night, and in the afternoon. Dorah sees Buster and growls like mad. He has just about ignored her. This may take time!

We have a plan.

• Both cats (Buster & Dorah) get their meds at dinnertime. 
• When the good weather comes, we encourage Buster (13 lbs.) to go out at night.
• Dinnertime is wet food, anything they want. 
• Forget dieting for Annie (10 lbs,) and Dorah (15 lbs.) 
• Daisy (7 lbs.) eats crunchies whenever. 
• Annabelle goes outside whilst the two eat and get their meds in.
• Separate forest walkies for Buster and Daisy.
• Dorah is a happy house cat. 

Day two Tuesday

Things have been strangely calm. Dorah doesn't like her crunchies, but hopefully we remain firm.  Buster was out in the night, but came in around 2:00 a.m., as it was -10 C., and Dorah remained on the bed.
I took Daisy down to the frog pond for a walk on Tuesday. When I turned around, I found Buster and no Daisy.

He was hungry, it was 5:00 p.m. and I was depressurizing from my afternoon with my client. I spotted two bullfrog tadpoles. Big one, ready to metaporphosize this year! We had a banner year for them last year. The Wood duck nesting box looks good, although I could add more tree shavings!

Back up at the house I sat in the warm sunshine. There were 5 or 6 turkey vultures doing slow circles overhead. And, yes, I must remember to clean my zoom lens! (Non-mental note!)

Days 3 

Things are calm. Dorah spent the day on the bed. The deer were about and a sure sign of spring, one yearling shows signs of sprouting his antlers. See the ground. No snow.


Happily, whilst all relaxed before the snowfall, I went down to see what the trailcam had on it. 

No sign of the muskrat, and there were spots on the pond where the ice had broken. I was curious as to who might have been visiting. I was very excited to see a photo of the male wood duck, as well as both McGregor Muskrat and Wood duck in the same frame!

Day 4 Wednesday

We had 6 cm snow during the course of the afternoon, and into the evening. I trimmed his toe nails, as well as Daisy's, while Dorah had dinner in bed.

Not a good day to get cats outside. Buster was mushy and spent the evening sitting on my lap while we watched American Idol. It was good to sit quietly and BE idle!

The artificiality of the show saddens me, the way they manipulate the performers, the performance and the audience. We see it as a free concert.



The robin looked so sad! City folks can feed them shopped grapes, apples, raisins, blueberries, putting them out on the ground. My robins are very happy with the sumac berries! One pair stayed all winter. Several others turned up when the snow melted.

We are wrestling with this problem, but I think we are making progress. I am giving a concerted effort to have Buster sit with me. I am taking him on solitary walks, too. Dorah, bless her feisty little heart. She's doing OK. I did her toe nails, which made her growly. So far, so good.