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- Apr 6, 2006
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Baby Girl is now officially my cat!
Could you resist this face?
Remember this thread?
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=137900
I was out this morning, mowing the lawn (and my neighbor's lawn, because I have a deal with her landlord to mow hers and mine in exchange for using her lawn mower to do it). My neighbor came walking down the sidewalk, so I greeted her and brought up the subject of Baby Girl.
Her girls had mentioned that Baby was often seen at my windows, but she hadn't realized (!) that Baby had been staying at my house, full-time, indoors-only, for the past month or so. I asked whether she was still moving; she was. I said the girls had mentioned that her husband didn't like Baby; she said it was because Baby fought with the other cats and didn't use the litter box. She said her husband wanted to get rid of Baby; but she didn't want to put her in a kill shelter. The upshot of it was that I offered to take Baby, foster her, and find her a home through SICSA (which is kind of a humane-society place that does free spay/neuters).
She said yes.
I officially have two foster kitties now! (And my landlord still doesn't know. Ohboy.)
Both Baby and Tiny will be fostered until I can find a home whose landlord doesn't have a no-pets policy. I wish I could keep one of them. (Two might be a problem... they still fight.)
How a typical Tiny/Baby confrontation starts. She's sitting in one of "her spots"; Tiny is watching her.
Thankfully, this one didn't happen because both were interested in the camera.
The thing that really kills me is that she said she's only got one big litter box for all three cats. Since Baby uses the litter box perfectly here--because I have two boxes for two cats. It's my surmise that the other two cats have been litter-box guarding... But Tiny can't guard both litter boxes, so she can use one whenever she wants! And she does.
She says also that Baby picks fights with her cats... What I've seen with Tiny and Baby is Tiny approaching in a friendly manner, wanting to play, and Baby getting scared and lashing out, and Tiny eventually getting angry too. So now, when I don't watch them, separate them if necessary, and decrease Tiny's energy with vigorous play, Tiny is basically terrorizing her--just sitting there and staring at her. You'd think Baby was the antagonist, but she's not; she's just overly defensive, the first to hiss. Won't let Tiny near her.
So what I think is really happening is her cats didn't like Baby's intrusion, and basically told her to stay the heck away from their litter box; so naturally Baby got mad and started fighting when they stared her down, and if she couldn't use the only litter box, had to use the floor!
Bam: Behavior problem. Some people are SO cat-illiterate.
Baby makes herself at home.
She's still not good at socializing with cats. She doesn't know the rules. But then, neither does Tiny. He doesn't get her "back off" signals until she's actually hissing.
Send vibes for Peanut, the poor Chihuahua/JackRussel who has been biting off her own fur because her fleas are so bad... She's four years old; this has happened every summer. Her owner has given her a flea bath and put a flea collar on her, but of course that won't help unless the house is fumigated too. Mind you, she probably can't afford it because she and her husband are both unemployed... But I was unemployed when I de-flea'd my own house, so really, they haven't got an excuse.
Once I get Baby into the SICSA system, I'm going to have to talk to my landlord. Hopefully, I can pay an extra deposit and have Baby and Tiny stay. I can't do this deception thing much longer.
Could you resist this face?
Remember this thread?
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=137900
I was out this morning, mowing the lawn (and my neighbor's lawn, because I have a deal with her landlord to mow hers and mine in exchange for using her lawn mower to do it). My neighbor came walking down the sidewalk, so I greeted her and brought up the subject of Baby Girl.
Her girls had mentioned that Baby was often seen at my windows, but she hadn't realized (!) that Baby had been staying at my house, full-time, indoors-only, for the past month or so. I asked whether she was still moving; she was. I said the girls had mentioned that her husband didn't like Baby; she said it was because Baby fought with the other cats and didn't use the litter box. She said her husband wanted to get rid of Baby; but she didn't want to put her in a kill shelter. The upshot of it was that I offered to take Baby, foster her, and find her a home through SICSA (which is kind of a humane-society place that does free spay/neuters).
She said yes.
I officially have two foster kitties now! (And my landlord still doesn't know. Ohboy.)
Both Baby and Tiny will be fostered until I can find a home whose landlord doesn't have a no-pets policy. I wish I could keep one of them. (Two might be a problem... they still fight.)
How a typical Tiny/Baby confrontation starts. She's sitting in one of "her spots"; Tiny is watching her.
Thankfully, this one didn't happen because both were interested in the camera.
The thing that really kills me is that she said she's only got one big litter box for all three cats. Since Baby uses the litter box perfectly here--because I have two boxes for two cats. It's my surmise that the other two cats have been litter-box guarding... But Tiny can't guard both litter boxes, so she can use one whenever she wants! And she does.
She says also that Baby picks fights with her cats... What I've seen with Tiny and Baby is Tiny approaching in a friendly manner, wanting to play, and Baby getting scared and lashing out, and Tiny eventually getting angry too. So now, when I don't watch them, separate them if necessary, and decrease Tiny's energy with vigorous play, Tiny is basically terrorizing her--just sitting there and staring at her. You'd think Baby was the antagonist, but she's not; she's just overly defensive, the first to hiss. Won't let Tiny near her.
So what I think is really happening is her cats didn't like Baby's intrusion, and basically told her to stay the heck away from their litter box; so naturally Baby got mad and started fighting when they stared her down, and if she couldn't use the only litter box, had to use the floor!
Bam: Behavior problem. Some people are SO cat-illiterate.
Baby makes herself at home.
She's still not good at socializing with cats. She doesn't know the rules. But then, neither does Tiny. He doesn't get her "back off" signals until she's actually hissing.
Send vibes for Peanut, the poor Chihuahua/JackRussel who has been biting off her own fur because her fleas are so bad... She's four years old; this has happened every summer. Her owner has given her a flea bath and put a flea collar on her, but of course that won't help unless the house is fumigated too. Mind you, she probably can't afford it because she and her husband are both unemployed... But I was unemployed when I de-flea'd my own house, so really, they haven't got an excuse.
Once I get Baby into the SICSA system, I'm going to have to talk to my landlord. Hopefully, I can pay an extra deposit and have Baby and Tiny stay. I can't do this deception thing much longer.
