Still more independent!

Miss Snoopy is still moving around a bit more freely since she's back on the valium. She definitely knows where she wants to go and will travel on her own.

This morning when she was running across the hall from her bedroom to the bathroom where she eats, Sakaura attacked her. She didn't panic though and Sakaura abandoned the fight.

They are not friends, but I am hoping they can just live in the same house now with no bloodshed.

We are contemplating a short trip at the end of May. It should be interesting trying to travel to the kennel with them in the same car. We will, of course, have to carry them in separate carriers. And, God forbid, that the kennel mistakenly think they could board them in the same space.

Kitty valium again...

Don is picking up a new prescription of valium today. We had two pills left over so this morning Snoopy got her first valium in a couple of weeks.

About an hour later, Don told me he can already see a difference. She -- on her own -- traversed the stairs from her litter box area back to the bathroom where we feed her. For the entire time she's been off the valium (and taking the prozac) she's been almost like an invalid - having to be carried from spot to spot.

So we will deal with the increased appetite if she can live a more peaceful, confident life.

No privacy

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Peace treaty?

I am not sure this really qualifies. Don has told me that on occasion he has seen this behavior, but this was the first time I actually saw Sakaura that close to Snoopy without any growling or slapping or other reactions. Of course, Snoopy was likely petrified, thus not able to move. Whatever!

I managed to get a picture of Snoopy that did not have the glowing yellow eyes - that is always a problem.



She has the HUGE black pupils that catch the flash every time. The "red eye fix" that most photo editing programs have does nothing for "yellow eye". I had to do some pretty heavy editing on the picture up top to try to get rid of the alien look.

Sakaura, on the other hand, never gets red-eye even. I am not sure why. She has more normal eyes though. I think Snoopy's eyes are damaged by the diabetes. She is not blind, but she definitely has problems seeing.

In the spirit of fairness, here's a picture of Sakaura. She does have pretty green eyes.

Almost Caturday

Another weekend on the way, and we've made little (no?) progress in cat socialization. Don continues to bring Snoopy out to sleep on the sofa.



However, she never comes out on her own and she is usually very relieved when he carries her to her "room". She is like an invalid - if only he could find her a wheelchair, I swear.

Sakaura is most happy to sleep in Snoopy's spot. She has no respect for her or her privacy!

A little research

Today I read a bit about Prozac and found that it may take a week or two before we notice any difference in Snoopy's behavior. So I guess we will stick it out. A friend told me that Prozac was not addictive (Valium is). So we need to give it a chance I guess.

Things are quiet. She is still very fearful but manages to avoid Sakaura. Don said she spent a large amount of her day today under the bed. That makes me sad.

I think I've seen it all

So you can buy your cat a bed so it can sleep next to your keyboard.

Maybe I should suggest this to Don. He says when he is working Sakaura walks all over his desk and keyboard.

Not so sure about that Prozac

We had a major cat fight yesterday. I was downstairs trying to get my laptop to connect to the big backup drive we'd set up on Don's computer, and Snoopy was sleeping on the futon. Sakaura jumped up in her face and started in on her scratching, slapping - much screeching and growling. Poor Snoopy got up and started to run upstairs with Sakaura running after her, same screeching and screaming all the way.

Snoopy hid under the bed totally traumatized. We are feeling that the Prozac is not as effective as the Valium, but will give it a full week before we opt to switch back. She's very wary today - and seems to have given up all the ground she'd gained (walking to the bathroom to eat, going downstairs and upstairs on her own, etc.)

Sakaura is a little meany! And she thrives on Snoopy's fear. How could anything this innocent looking be so bad?

T.G.I.F.

I am not sure cats know that today is Friday, but I certainly do. And a Friday that I took off work. We gave Snoopy her first dose of Prozac today. It's a liquid so I was not sure if she'd notice it in her food or not. Obviously she didn't and she licked her plate clean. I can't really tell if she is behaving much differently. Time will tell I guess. She's in her usual spot - sleeping on the sofa.

Sakaura is sleeping across the room. They are still very wary of each other.

This morning Snoopy's bed was all ruffled up, so there must have been an encounter during the night. At least they were quiet about it. They can fight all they want, but please none of the screeching and yowling!

Prozac

So we are switching from valium to prozac. I am not sure how it will work or if we will switch back to the valium (which seems to do some good). The valium makes her extremely hungry so I want to see if we get a good effect with the prozac with no increase in appetite.

Sakaura, on the other hand, horked up a huge hairball during the night. Ick! She needs to sit and let me brush her really well. She has such long hair and with warmer weather upon us, she will be shedding a lot.

Another exciting day in kitty paradise!

But, aren't these cute?

Of course, they are just adorable. Well that is a stretch, especially when Snoopy is growling. And when Sakaura is climbing up to the top of the screen door. Or when she is refusing to eat her dinner -- after she conned me into a special feeding at breakfast. I swear she is giving me new grey hairs every day! Today she even took over Snoopy's bed. Nothing is sacred here any more LOL.

This has to be the cutest kitten in the world

Unbelievable kitten cuteness and crosses the language barrier!

Just another day in paradise

The cats are tolerating each other. Snoopy is actually moving around the house a bit better - always making sure, of course, that she avoids Sakarua.



We increased her valium to a whole pill twice daily through the weekend in order to see if that helps. The vet called last week to check on her and said we could try Prozac if we wanted and see if it made a bigger difference than the valium. I think we will try the whole valium for a week at least, and then maybe try the Prozac.


While the cats do not "love" each other, things have gotten considerably better with Snoopy as far as her fearfulness goes.

So Snoopy will now go from the bedroom to the bathroom to eat and she will, on her own, go downstairs to the litter box, and come back up and go into the bathroom. Don says that for the past two nights he's found her sitting in the bathroom at 2 or 3 a.m. - waiting for food. The valium really has made her ravenous, but we are trying not to let her overeat. We don't need to be fighting the diabetes again.

Cat status

Snoopy is getting to be a bit more confident. She still does not move freely about the house, but she will now slap Sakaura soundly when Sakaura jumps up hissing in her face.

Sakaura, on the other hand, is getting meaner and more aggressive. She is really a bundle of fear though when caught in the middle of one of her "attacks". So I think she is trying to keep the upper hand.

Sakaura is definitely an Alpha Cat.

This is too cute for words

Pictures

Snoopy's growing some hair back! She'll have hair as long as Sakaura's before we know it.


Sakaura a loves to play. What different animals these two kitties are.

It has been fun pulling all of Rusty and Pepper's toys out. They are all new to Sakaura and she loves them.

Snoopy - just give her some food and leave her alone - that's her happy place.

Sakaura

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14 Pounds!

Snoopy's gained a pound and that is a good thing!
She's started behaving so much like Pepper around her food that I was afraid she had the thyroid condition and would lose weight until she was just a bag of bones.

Today's been relatively peaceful.

We cleaned the Smart Cat Box thoroughly today. I am still amazed at it's effectiveness. We washed the seeds that were in the box, and put back the one's we'd washed another time. It's sort of a chore, but in the long run we have less work to do and much less mess and odor.

It's almost time for the kitty girls to get their dinner - they seem to have internal clocks that very accurately demand food at certain times.

It's not much better

Snoopy is freaking tonight. The vet said we could try increasing her dosage, so I just gave her another half pill.

I am now convinced this will never work, but we will just have to make the best of what we have. I feel bad for both cats. But they have a good life - we feed them well, they have nice warm clean places to live. And they may be happy in spite of the atmosphere that prevails.

Wish I could get inside Snoopy's head.

Peaceful coexistence

Is that possible? For now, there seems to be less screaming and screeching. There are still a lot of low growls and grumbles, when the curious cat tries to approach the old lady.

Snoopy seems more comfortable out in the living area now though. Even though she will not come out into the open on her own, she is able to relax and snooze while Sakaura plays around in the room.

Sakaura is truly a playful little cat. I'd say it was her age, but thinking back, Snoopy was never playful. In fact, as a baby, she acted much like she does now. She's really a disfunctional pet.