Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    	Bernice, I added Squeek about (how long has it been, Nancy?)
    	six months ago. Missy plays with her all the time, but Rosie
    	hisses at her all the time. Rosie has lost her favorite place
    	on my bed to Squeek, and the two of them prowl each other. It
    	looks like they hate the ground each other walks on, but I
    	think in truth, Squeek just wants to play, and Rosie just wants
    	to know where Squeek is so she can avoid her (she's a little
    	priss and wants to be left alone). Unfortunately, 5 1/2 months
    	is NOT a long time for cats to adjust to each other. All I can
    	say is wait it out, and give Trouble TEN times the attention
    	you give Becky and Velcro, they can always entertain each other.
    
    	Good luck,
    	Sherry
    

    Interesting...I've had some problems with Tequila and relatively
    frequent vomiting since I brought Rici home.  Things are calming down 
    "somewhat", and the vomiting seems to have ceased.  Tequila has
    always been a little "crazy"...
    
    It's been 2 months for us, and the cats are not what I would call
    friends yet...I'm losing patience as well.  We've just got to hang
    in there, I guess...
    
    Good Luck!
    

    
    
    	Rosie was in the `vomiting stage' for about two months,
    	also. She's over it now. I didn't even make the connection...
    

    Ignore the fights.  If you get in the middle, you become part of
    perpetuating the problem:  the cats have to work it out for themselves.
    
    Love them each separately and as a group, but let them work it out
    for themselves.
    
    The vomiting is not detrimental to the cat (as the vet said), when
    Trouble understands she'll get as much care whether she vomits or
    not, it will probably cease.
                                                     
    We all love our cats, but we must be careful they don't train US.
    
    MM 

	Re: .0

	If I were you, I'd shut the kittens out of the room at night.  That
	way, Trouble has you all to herself for several hours.  The other
	two can keep each other company.

	I shut Cinamon out of my room at night because he prefers to sleep
	on me, not next to me.  T.K. and Bandit spend the night in my
	room.  I felt a bit guilty at first but got over it.  Cinamon is
	not shut out any other time of the day and since he is old (15)
	and spends most of his time asleep, he isn't lonely. 

	Karen

    I'm having a similar problem with Dream, my oriental shorthair.
    Dream believes she should have been the first cat, not the fourth,
    and demands rights and treatments in accordance with being the
    "queen" of the house.  This includes vomiting anytime "Mommy"
    has slighted her (in her mind).  Dream, in true Siamese tradition,
    has picked me as her "special person."  So have my other five cats.
    Obviously this causes some bickering.  Dream has always been especially
    agressive to Niniane.  While never drawing blood, she does chase
    her quite a bit, especially when she is upset.  Most of these
    attacks are unprovoked.  I have used the CAT on her when she is
    misbehaving, but lately she just stands there staring at me while
    I squirt her, and sulks around afterwards with a pitious look on
    her face.  Ian and I have decided that we will start confining her
    to the bathroom for 15 minutes whenever we catch her beating on
    Niniane.  While I don't want to resort to Ovaban with her, I'm getting
    near the end of the rope.  She just won't get along and she is very
    agressive especially when I am giving another cat attention.  I've
    tried setting aside special time with her each day, I've tried "tucking
    her in" at night, but whatever you give her she wants more.  I will
    never give her up, her personality isn't her fault, but any suggestions
    would be very much appreciated!
    
    Mary-Michael
    
    (hee-hee!  You should have seen last night!  She went up to swat
    10 week old Mips because Mips was in my lap, and before she could,
    Mips swatted her in the face and Dream ran away!  Hee-hee! I love
    tabbies!  They don't take crap!!!  ;-)

    >>Hee-hee! I love tabbies!  They don't take crap!!!  ;-)
    
    Well, if Dundee is any indication they definitely have a
    bratty streak  :-)

    Thanks guys!  It's a relief just to know that I'm not being a "bad
    mommy" 'cause I won't get rid of those brats.  Looks like I'm just
    going to have to wait it out (sound familiar Sandy :-) ).  I'm just
    wondering at what point do I give up and try the Valium treatment.
    I'm thinking I'll wait until her next vet visit (May/June) unless 
    something drastic happens in the meantime.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_&_Velcro

    Nancy, I don't believe for a minute that that sweet faced baby boy
    has a bratty streak!  How can you say that?  He is so cute!  Those
    BIG eyes! and soft fur, and folded cute ears!  Bratty???  I'm gonna
    tell him you said that when I see him on Saturday!!!!  
    He'll fix you!!

    Well, lets put it this way - If I unleash the other three
    (Flame isn't leash trained yet) and tell them "In the House",
    they all sort of wander in the direction of the stairs and with
    sufficient verbal proding will sit on the stairs until I get
    there to open the door.
      If I unhook Dundee and say "In the House" he runs like H^%$
    in the other direction - into the brush and works his way
    over to the neighbors yard.  One rainy day he had me climbing
    back and forth over the fence in my nightgown and bare feet,
    trying to catch the little dickens!!  
    
      If I bring him in first he'll wait at the door and bolt for
    that same brush to hide.
      Now is that a BRAT or what!
    
      Nancy DC
    
    p.s. Of course, when he turns that sweet face up at me and gives
    me the silent meow my heart just melts........Who can be mad at
    a face like that.

    Well,  I had to take Trouble to the vet earlier than I planned.
    She had developed a lump (for lack of a better word) on her head
    which did not seem to be an abcess.  The vet said he had not seen
    anything like this before, but it seemed like the muscle was
    atrophying.  He decided to wait a couple of weeks (with us keeping
    an eye on it of course) and look at it again.  In the meantime,
    he gave me some antihistamine for Trouble that might help with the
    overgrooming.  It's amazing, it seems like the lump has gone down
    and Trouble does seem to be a little more relaxed around the kittens.
    
    I also decided a couple of nights ago, that I had had it with her
    hissing and growling at the kittens and let her have it with the
    CAT.  Since then she's been even better.  I guess it was mostly
    me being too protective with her.  
    
    Thanks for all the help and encouragement.  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_&_Velcro
    

    Bernice -
      If she's not feeling well that will definitely effect her
    personality as I found out from Jesse.
    

Well, I thought it was getting better between Trouble and the kittens but 
it's not :-(  

I took Trouble back to the vet in early November.  He said that she has had 
some muscle loss in the head/neck area, but that it doesn't seem to have had 
any detrimental effect and she doesn't seem to be in pain.  He was also 
concerned because the hair loss was still happening, and mentioned that it 
might be a hormonal problem, but he wanted me to continue using the 
antihistimine for another month.  He said the side effects of the 
antihistimine were not as bad as from a homone type pill.  

That's the update/background.  I have been faithfully giving Trouble her 
pill, but she is still overgrooming, now on both sides.  Watching, but not 
interfering (well not too much), I have noticed that Trouble does not 
instigate these hissy fits.  It is usually Velcro who will chase or pounce 
on Trouble who then growls, hisses and runs away.  I had noticed that it 
looked like Velcro was trying to mount Trouble, but I pooh-poohed that idea 
because they are both "fixed".  The other night, Randy said Velcro was 
definitely trying to mount Trouble, so now for the question: could Trouble 
still be giving off some sort of signal that causes Velcro to want to try 
and mount her?  Does anybody have any suggestions for making Velcro leave 
her alone?  Maybe I should give Velcro Valium so he isn't as active :-)

Bernice
Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_&_Velcro

    That mounting behavior can be a show of dominance.  Maybe valium
    would be a good idea.  Talk to your vet about it.  
    
    Bye the way, I didn't read back into the previous notes, but what
    antihistamine is Trouble on, and what for?  My Joui is on 4 mg of
    Chlorapheniramine three times a day for a food allergy (we *think*
    it is a food allergy).
    
    Jo

    Jo,  
    
    I'm not sure what kind of antihistamine it is.  It could be 
    Chlorapheniramine, but all I can make out is the Ch*scribble*. 
    Dr. Kaas originally put her on it to try to clear up the overgrooming
    problem, but I'm not sure why antihistamine was supposed to work.
    The only side effects I've noticed is she sleeps more and there
    is a dark crusty substance in the corner of her eyes.  I'm going
    to ask the vet about what to do with Velcro when I call him next
    week.  
    
    Thanks,
    
    Bernice
    
    PS I give Trouble 1/2 pill once a day.  Thank goodness she's fairly
    easy to pill.

    Things are looking up for the family.  Trouble finally stopped
    overgrooming herself, but never did seem to get along with the other
    two.  I decided if I waited on her to get my Scottish Fold, I would be
    awhile, so I went ahead and got one.  The other day Randy and I were
    watching TV when he quietly told me to look on the other end of the
    couch.  Trouble was curled up in the corner with Ferlie (the new
    kitten) next to her and Becky in front of her.  Velcro was on the back
    of the couch out of her sight.  Trouble even looked up at Becky and
    then lay her head back down again.  I never thought I'd see this, so I
    quietly and quickly got the camera to get a picture of it.  I wish I
    could say it's been sweetness since, but we all know how that goes.  At
    least I can see where Trouble is starting to accept that the others are
    here to stay.  
    
    Just thought I'd let everybody know "the rest of the story".  
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Troule_+_3

    Bernice, glad to hear Trouble isn't troubled anymore!
    
    Where did you get your new Scottie Fold??  They are such cuties
    and really becoming popular here in Feline.
    
    
    --Roberta
    

    > Where did you get your new Scottie Fold??  They are such cuties
    > and really becoming popular here in Feline.
    
    Just call me a little Scottish matchmaker  ;-)  
    

    Nancy is right.  I couldn't resist the note she put in about 
    Tony's Scottish Folds.  I got Ferlie from him, and have been extremely
    happy I did.  As a matter of fact, I've pretty much decided to show her
    at least as an HHP (she's straight eared) or maybe as an apparent
    purebred, because I think she has such good markings and seems to be 
    everything a Fold should be, but I'm not prejudiced or anything am I. 
    :-)
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble_Becky_Velcro_&_Ferlie

    It's nice to hear that Becky and Velcro are getting along better.  I
    just found the Kodak instamatic camera 1 month ago that I had used to
    take pictures of all the kittens the day that you came and adopted Becky
    and Velcro.  Boy were those kitties cute!!  They brought tears to my
    eyes.  They were also the last pictures I had taken of the mother,
    Brown Sugar, before she died.   Prophet, one of the kittens, is living
    the good life with me in Ayer,Ma now and she has a huge playground out
    back.  Those double paws have made her a good hunter!
    
    Congrats on your new addition!
    
    Ginger