Ummmmm!

 

 

Yes... that's Ava and Sofia, in 'Indigo's' room....

 

We've been on holiday, and Ava and Sofia, as the well behaved residents of the household, were permitted to stay at home while I was away. (Ok, so one of them puked on my bed, but that's small beans compared to what Indigo managed the one- only- time I left HER. *shudder*) They were given the run of the house, and they loved it. It's made me feel bad all over again for keeping them confined.

 

And to be honest, it's very awkward pandering to the whims of one awkward Tonk. I mean, I don't mind, but it's a pain, and I'd rather not. She isn't the only one in this household!

 

So, when Inds and Theo come home from the cattery tomorrow, I'm going to have another shot at reintroducing them all. Indigo has been making concerted efforts to get into my room of late, and stakes out the shut door... and Sofia does the same when Inds door is shut. Ava calls to Indigo through the door, and... oh I don't know. Maybe they've all grown up enough now to get along better?

 

So tomorrow, I'm off to stock up on the Feliway, collect the cats, and... see. I'll still seperate them at night and if I go out, and I expect Indigo will spend most of the day under my bed anyway. Sofia will spend it up the cat tree, and if they both spend a few hours sans food, then they can both live with that lol.

 

You just know it's all going to go wrong, don't you?

 

We'll see.

 



 

Ava. The only kitty of mine who doesn't feel the need to PEE ALL OVER MY HOUSE grrrrrrrrr.

So something has upset my cats' collective equilibrium. Maybe the weather, maybe the season, maybe that I've been away on and off. But Theo seems to have gone on a piddling rampage, and has also been a PITA jumping on the other girls and generally being a brat. Which winds them up, so Sofia has been joining in the wee-a-thon. This is rare for her but when she does he likes to pee on socks. She has a bit of a fetish for socks, the strange girl, but she doesn't usually pee on them!

It's time to replace my Feliway, I think!

Ho hum. My Ava though? Ava's a lady, and wouldn't dream of weeing anywhere but in the litter box. The darling.

Oh So Cuddly

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

Not sure whether it's the Feliway or pregnancy hormones (I haven't given up hope yet!) but this girl has been cuddly recently. Here she is snuggled up cosily... doesn't she look satisfied?

Indigo is my only cat who will sit on your lap. Not for long, Tonkinese are much too busy for that, but she will take a frequent five minutes to come and snuggle. Yesterday it seemed that every time I sat down, my lap would be swiftly filled with a purring Tonk. Not that I was complaining.

The other cats are affectionate too, but not really lap cats. Ava watches Indigo with envy- there's been times when I've sensed she really really wants to curl up in my lap and she's walked over and over me indecisively and not been able to do it, bless her. But when i'm lying down, she'll come and lie on my chest and purr her whiskers off, which is lovely. Theo will tolerate being picked up and held but as soon as you relax your arms, he's off, and Sofia doesn't like to be picked up AT ALL. Nor does Ava for that matter.

Indigo though, Indigo will climb onto your chest and purr and do happy paws into your shoulder quite happily, and will tolerate being cradled, upside down, like a baby. In fact she will often climb into your arms and upend HERSELF which is hilarious. She'll sit on your shoulders, snuggle in your lap, and if allowed into the bedroom she'll get under the covers with you.

Don't get me wrong, she can be a thorough pest at times, but her cuddliness is one of my favourite things about her.

Such A Bad, Bad Girl

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

Yes, I mean you, Indigo! (but so adorable too...)

Indigo has continued to be unsettled, and when Indigo is upset she has an unpleasant habit (for me) of weeing in inappropriate places. This morning it was on my bathtowel as I was in the shower. Fortunately I noticed before I wrapped my hair up in it!

I think it's territorial- she wees to mark certain objects and places as 'hers', and not for the other cats. Unfortunately the things she wants to claim are things that I might use... she's very attached to me and I think it's her way of 'claiming' me and asserting her dominance. (Thank heavens- and crossed fingers- Sofia has never responded in kind, as I would struggle to cope with two weeing cats.) Indigo has also been aggressive with the other two girls, actively seeking them out to yowl at them, much to their consternation, and even Theo the placid has seemed a little ruffled.

So Indigo is currently spending her time in the living room, seperately, to chill out. I noticed my Feliway is empty so I'll be off to the pet shop tomorrow to get a refill, either that or I'll order one online. I'll continue to keep her away from the other girls for a bit and spend a lot of time going from one group to the other to transfer their scent (although it's Indigo who has the problem actually, the other girls are fine and Ava has made friendly overtures- she tries so hard, bless her- and been hissed at for her troubles) and be generally reassuring all round. And I'll fill up the water spray, just in case the hissing degenerates into a full on fight... which is very very rare here, I might add, but the spray bottle is most effective.

So we've had hissing, yowling, inappropriate urination and general feline dramatics...sheesh! Give me a nice neutered cat any day- queens are Hard Work.

Smug Sofia

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

When you have a community of cats, especially in a limited space as I do, you must be very aware of the cat dynamics, potential issues and how to ensure your feline family remains calm and mentally healthy. For example, Ava and Sofia were littermates and are still quite closely bonded. Theo likes everyone, but he's not above jumping on them, kitten like- Indigo likes it and responds in kind, Sofia will swat him on the nose determinedly and Ava will utter an agonised howl and run for safety and so on. Sometimes, there will be a clash.

In our house, it is Misses Indigo and Sofia, who face off from time to time, apparently to their mutual satisfaction. I believe the reason is this: Sofia has been top cat since she was 7 weeks old, despite being the tiniest of her litter she was markedly more confident than Ava when they came home. When Theo arrived, she added him to her dominion. However, in the wild, entire (not neutered and spayed) cats have an advantage over their altered counterparts and naturally, an entire female will come higher in the pecking order than a neutered one. So naturally Indigo, as the only entire cat in the house, feels SHE should be top cat. And so she is in a way, she lords it over Ava (everyone lords it over poor Ava) and Theo is so easygoing anyway he couldn't care less. But no-one told Sofia about this natural order, and Sofia isn't about to relinquish HER dominance any time soon.

(Incidentally, this is why the FIRST thing you should try, if your cats are clashing and if they are not breeding animals, is to neuter them... it's often the answer)

So they occasionally face off, circle each other, yowl... Indigo is more energetic about it, floofing her tail out and prancing round Sofia, howling, whereas Sofia parks herself on her fluffy behind and keeps up a low growling and refuses to back down. They are separated at night (more about that another time) and we use Feliway (and more about THAT another time as well) which keeps the situation well under control and the cats' stress levels down. As any breeder will tell you, caring for a multi cat household is not easy!

Anyway to cut a long story short, Indigo has been away this week and for the past few days Sofia has been, without doubt, super smug. If a cat could smirk, she'd be doing it.

Sorry Sofia. Indie's coming home in a bit to burst your bubble!