Do you think she is tried of posing for pictures LOL.
She is a pretty cat but not really that photogenic since her face usually is just a black blob.
She and Snoopy get nose to nose at times with just a hiss between them. I almost told a lady at work I'd take one of her 7 week old kittens, but I am not ready to start World War III again.
It must be a tough life having to do all tha sleeping, not to mention the eating. Actually Sakaura is not much of a chow hound. She grazes and is more fond of dry cat food than wet.
She still feels the need to chase Snoopy almost every day. Snoopy must be used to it now because it does not seem to traumatize her like it did in the beginning.
They won't every get along. I have totally abandoned that idea.
If only they would open that window, darn it!
Of course, I am not sure what she would do IF she got outside alone. I won't be finding out anytime soon either.
I guess they keep her warm while she's so bare. Snoopy got her hair shaved on Wednesday, and she seems to want to just roll up into a ball and stay in bed all day.
She is on liquid antibiotics twice a day because her gums were inflamed after her teeth cleaning. She has some spots on her back where the clipper got a bit too close. Ouch!
But she is very clean and seems very content.
Snoopy has become brave enough to venture out into the open and sit by the back door - on occasion. She still spends the majority of her time hiding away.
We were almost shocked to see her sitting by the open door. Sakaura was most unhappy, but her bark is much worse than her bite, and she sat across the room and sulked!
The little green plastic pulled off the milk carton top is her idea of keeping fit (to the right in the picture).
She is fascinated by boxes of any kind, of course.
I may have created a monster today. Putting the leash on her and letting her walk outside is making her stand at the door and beg for more.
Unbelievable, they are on the same bed at the same time. Of course.the scowl on Sakaura's face tells the whole truth!
The background here is that Don opened the window by the bed, and Sakaura was fascinated with that. The fresh air always attracts both of these cats. He put her on the bed, but she did sit there for a long time. Long enough for him to call me and for me to grab the camera and get a few pictures.
This is the closet cat. I had to grab the camera to get a picture of this.
It got stuffy in the house, so Don opened our back door, and within minutes, Snoopy had ambled out of her hiding spot to breathe in some fresh air.
Meaninless to anybody but me, but this is BIG!
Of course, as she walked back to her room, Sakarua had to rush her and slap at her with a big hiss. Snoopy ran, but did not hide under the bed. I think she's about figured out that Sakaura's bark is much worse than her bite.
Baby steps!
she is good! LOL
I love her little pink tongue sticking out like that. It's a sure sign that she is relaxed and fast asleep.
Cats are coexisting a bit better. Still not buddies, but fewer spats it seems. Snoopy is most comfortable cleaning out Sakaura's food bowl twice a day.
She has started eating more so we have to watch out that she does not gain too much weight and perhaps have the diabetes flare up again.
When we went to Vermont for Christmas dinner, I bought this Meow decal but it's been so cold, wet, icy out that I've not put it on my car yet.
Sakaura has taken over the sofa these days. Snoopy is hiding now down in the basement because I got out the Furminator this morning. She is in dire need of a haircut but I'm trying to hold off until it is a bit warmer. I don't like the idea of having her undergo anesthesia at her age, but it is the only way she can be groomed. She also probably needs her teeth cleaned - they usually do the haircut and the cleaning in the same appointment.
She spends a lot ot time in this spot right outside the kitchen. She has a regular routine where she appears here to wait...and to wait...and to wait.
This old girl has come a long way in a year's time. She's figured out that she is still the boss around here and the young upstart is just a pain in the butt, not a real threat to her safety.
She really likes the fact that Sakaura is such a picky eater. She loves to scavenge over her leftovers!
I don't think she would make a very good outdoor cat. I wonder if she ever did wander around outside in her "other life". If she did, she's forgotten all about that now that she is a Princess who must be waited on hand and foot!
Snoopy is not so sure she likes sharing space with another princess!
She gets braver and braver. Lots of hissing and growling going on as Snoopy steps out into the space that Sakaura has claimed as her own. Snoopy is not giving ground, which is good.
I think maybe in year two we will see the two cats figure out that they both belong here and maybe they need to get along a bit better.
"So where do I file this?" LOL
Don makes the biggest mess. He says he is "organizing" these files - all over the living room floor. He was not around when I found Miss Sakaura sitting on top of a stack of his files.
I did hear him yelling at her last night because she was messing with some of his papers.
Men!
Why do these two yellow cats want to roam around the neighborhood when it's below zero outside?
This is the less attractive of the pair. He looks like he has some sort of eye infection or else he lost a fight. I fed him, and he even ate the Serengeti Cat Food that all the other cats reject. At least he has good taste LOL!
Sakaura shows no interest in this one. But his brother will bring her out to the door to "flirt".
Sakaura is so fascinated by all the action at the bird feeder and on our porch where the birds scavenge for seeds that have dropped from the feeder.
I don't know what she'd do if she actually could catch a bird. Probably tuck tail and run. She's a lot of bark and little bite.
I've never seen a cat that has her tongue out of her mouth so far and so much! Don says it is a sign that she feels at ease - I think she is sending a raspberry to the world.
We've had big changes here in the way the cats interact. Snoopy has realized that Sakaura is a picky eater and, like Rusty, leaves food in her dish uneaten and ready to be cleaned up. So she lingers in the hallway waiting for Sakaura to abandon her food and when she feels it's safe she goes and quickly gobbles down the leftovers. We feed Sakaura tiny amounts of food, so we need to continue to do this. We do not want Snoopy to start putting on the pounds again.
Last night for the first time in almost a year Snoopy came into the living room and jumped up on the sofa where Don has been carrying her to "visit". Sakaura was sleeping on Snoopy's purr pad. Uh oh - but no hissing or growling. I moved Sakaura and, after a lot of sniffing at the very unpleasant smell that Sakaura had left on the pad, Snoopy relaxed and napped.
Snoopy has become much more independent and open. I think she's past a lot of her fear of Sakaura who has proven to have a loud bark but little bite!
This cat has such CATtitude! I often wonder if she ever recalls her days digging in the dumpster. Of course, we know little of her background and how she came to be a shelter cat. But sometimes I imagine her as Cinderella who lived with the evil step-sister cats until we rescued her and brought her here to her palace, where she truly feels she is royalty. Takes little to amuse me, eh?
Sakaura's entertainment is watching the wildlife outside the back door. I wonder if she is dreaming of dinner? I sort of doubt it since she is the most picky eater in this household.
Her world is a bit shaken. Yesterday, Snoopy roamed all over the house freely - like she did before Sakaura arrived. She even went into Sakaura's playhouse. When Sakaura decided to attack the invader, she ran up and Snoopy let out a loud growl, and Miss Aggressor stalked away with her tail between her legs.
It could get quite interesting around here in days to come!
This is not the best picture in the world - taken with my cell phone - but I had to capture the moment.
Don and I were sitting here watching the football game and all of a sudden Snoopy walked right up to Sakarua's scratching pad and started sniffing around it.
She has NEVER been in this room on her own in almost a year.
Maybe she has made a New Year's resolution to be more social. LOL!
Snoopy will come and sit at this corner and sometimes Sakaura will come into the same vicinity, but they are both there thinking about being fed - not bonding.
I've been sort of worried that Snoopy was ill since on Monday she had little interest in eating. She is such a chow hound that any variance causes me a bit of alarm.
But today I was chopping up some ham and I felt a cat "swirling" around my legs. I assumed it was Sakaura until I heard some very loud purring and looked down to find Snoopy standing there begging for a handout. For her to come all the way into the kitchen is a very big step. That corner where she is sitting in the picture is usually as far as she will come out into the open.
And speaking of the ham, later on Sakaura came and I offered her a bite of ham. They both loved it. Sakaura is a picky eater - even of "human food" but she does like ham.
A year ago today you were a very sick cat, Miss Snoopy. But you were on the mend, and we were so happy to have you back home.
A lot has changed for you, and you've adapted pretty well. Merry Christmas and hope you celebrate many more with us (in spite of the fact that you will be eating your Christmas dinner at the boarding kennel).
Little does she know that she will be spending her first Christmas with us NOT with us. Of course, it is just another day to her, but I feel semi-guilty shipping her off to the Cat "SPA" for her holiday.
We will send along some of her Fancy Feast favorites, so hope she's not too mad when we return.
At least in her own mind, she has the power.
The spot where she is lying belongs to Snoopy, but Sakaura had claimed it lately. This does not please Snoopy but it's not worth a fight.
So Sakaura Mae (as I've nicknamed her) is here leering as Snoopy is glowering at her from the love seat.
Oh, and the other cat is nicknamed Snoopy Delia - not sure where that came from, but they both respond to those names.
In the spirit of fairness, Saki should get a post, too.
Saki is a very "needy" cat. So I am not sure if my diagnosis of her being an Alpha Cat is totally correct. I have a lot of reading to do.
She is a very picky eater. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't and she refuses to eat anything that she does not approve of. Don mixed an entire bag of EXPENSIVE "Serengeti" cat food in with a bunch of "cat junk food" (Meow Mix, etc.). She can pick all around the Serengeti - she does now want a "healthy diet" and you can not make her eat one.
I am not really sure that is true. I did order a book this week that I hope will help diffuse some of the ever present turf wars around here.
I think that both my cats are Alpha cats and that is part of the reason they don't get along.
It is much better and Snoopy is 100% more out in the open than she was even 6 months ago. BUT she still wants to stay in her bedroom most of the time. So I guess Sakaura is sort of winning the war.
Snoopy did not vote BUT if she had, I'm sure she'd have gone for Obama!
Her hair has really grown out. I am not sure how long since her last haircut and I am hoping she will not get so tangled as to need another haircut soon. Since she's not on the insulin, and supposedly "cured" of her diabetes, it does not seem she has as much of a bad coat problem as she did back then. She still does not like to be brushed though.
She and Sakaura still do not love each other, but they are a bit more tolerant. Snoopy will come out and sit by the kitchen wall waiting to be fed. Sakaura will come and STARE at her - a bit of hissing but so far no scratching and clawing.
What big eyes you have!
Sakaura is the boss cat. She goes where ever she pleases!
She seems to want to taunt poor Snoopy by acting like most favored cat. But Snoopy does not fall for that. As long as she has food, she could care less about being favored!
Time for a progress report, I suppose.
First, Snoopy's hair has mostly grown back. It is not really as matted as it used to be - maybe her "miracle cure" from diabetes cured her bad skin condition, too.
She's a bit more comfortable around the house, but still does not like the other cat - ONE.BIT. At least they do not fight, so all is good.
My next door neighbor, Robin, has a geriatric cat, named Friskie. Don and I laugh at this since she really is anything but.
She's a crotchety old cat, who seems to prefer women to men. I suppose that is no surprise since she lives with all females.
It was surprising to me that she moved here and is an indoor/outdoor cat who never seemed to realize she was not at home. I'd have freaked out that my cat would have tried to return back to my previous residence.
Robin says she refuses to stay indoors all the time, so she lets her out and then back in again. She's the queen cat of the neighborhood. Several cats try to come around but she lets them know who's the boss!
Playing with Picnik and since I could not get rid of her red eye, I thought I'd let her go pink.
We have had some serious spats lately. Sakaura does not like the fact that Snoopy has gotten a bit braver and she makes sure she puts her in her place from time to time.
I gave her claws a good trim this morning. She has an unfair advantage over poor clawless Snoopy.
Why did Snoopy get so brave as to come out into Sakaura's territory? She is not one bit happy to have her sitting there staring at her.
Don and I are laughing at the big deal we have made of Snoopy walking two or three steps when she used to freely roam the house like she owned it.
I do believe that she is getting much braver though and this is with NO medication.
This week we have seen more progress in cat behavior than we have in the past 9 months. Snoopy has actually begun to come out of her "safe spots" and into the open. This is most always related to eating, but that is okay. Seems she will do anything for food.
Yesterday she actually left the bathroom where she eats dinner and on her own walked into the living room and got up on the sofa where Don normally brings her physically every day. He says it confirms to him that she really likes that spot and the growling she does when he carries her there is only related to the fact that she does not like to be picked up. Whatever!
She and Sakaura still do not kiss and groom each other but they have had a few very close encounters in the past few days with no fighting.
Baby steps!
She's become so much more alert and she is actually venturing out of some of her hiding places lately. I think that the trip to the boarding kennel the first week in September had a positive effect on Madame Snoopy.
Here she's sitting in her spot on the sofa waiting for Don to flip a cat toy over for her to chase. She's off her valium. And a trip to the vet last week to check her blood sugar shows she still does not need the insulin.
She's an old cat and shows signs of the old age, but all in all, she is improving. It's been a long road!
Sakaura has full claws and so far we've managed to keep her from shredding the furniture. I recently purchased this carpet covered "tunnel" that she jumps on top of to sharpen her claws, and sometimes she get inside it to play with the little mouse that dangles from the top.
She's a playful cat. I guess we got so used to our geriatric Snoopy that we are easily amused by a cat playing with toys again.
On a positive note, we've seen a bit on improvement in Snoopy's independence since we brought both cats to the boarding kennel last weekend. She has actually ventured into the kitchen on occasion and she has begun going up and down the stairs totally on her own to use her litterbox. Previously, Don would carry her (like an invalid -- or a princess).
Cat's are not best friends, but there is much more tolerance it seems.
The valium really does help make Snoopy a very mellow cat. Except for some up close and personal encounters with the "evil Sakaura", she spends most of her days lounging on the sofa or in "her bedroom".
She's gotten brave enough to make a few trips downstairs that are not initiated by Don. Once she's done with the litter box, she has a cat condo that she perches on top of and feels safe from "the monster".
A lot of her hair has grown back. I am trying to keep her brushed to put off the inevitable haircut. Her hair seems to have thinned a lot in spots. She is getting to be a really geriatric cat, I guess.
She thinks she is so human and she looks human at times, as well. The other day she got up on the sofa and was sitting there watching tv in this pose. The look on her face when I got the camera was priceless.
She is not a nice cat, but she is so darn cute that she can get by with being such a terror!
Not bby choice, of course. But I was glad to get a photo of her without the dreaded flash and the flaming eyes.
Don carries her around like she's an invalid. I guess she really is - at least mentally. She is afraid of her own shadow since we have had the invader Sakaura come into the picture.
This afternoon Sakaura decided she wanted to sleep on the sofa and jumped right up into Snoopy's face. I think she didn't realize that Snoopy was there because she cautiously backed off - after a couple of not so friendly hisses. No screeching or screaming or slapping - progress!
She is seriously pretty!
This was taken while Don had her sitting outside on the deck rail. I am not comfortable with her being outdoors, since we know nothing of her background and I'd hate for her to escape and run away.
She obviously has had encounters with bad weather given her fear of thunder and lightening, so I wonder if she was at one time an outdoor cat.
At any rate, I do not like her having too much freedom! She does very well as indoor only cat, despite the fact that she has claws. She's been great about not clawing carpets and furniture.
She's a good cat!
She spends most of her time hiding from the sound of the daily thunder. Snoopy does not seem to even notice. It makes me wonder if Sakaura had some experience in her life that caused her to cringe and run and hide during stormy weather.
I feel so badly for her. She is becoming a recluse just like Snoopy. We are good to her and we love her, but I am sad that she is all alone with no other cat companionship.
But what do I know. I felt the same way about Snoopy and she really wishes I'd just kept to my own business and let her be "the only cat".
He was good while he lasted, but his attitude lately has brought the entire team down. It's time to say bye bye!
Snoopy was asleep in her usual spot this morning but was way too awake when I grabbed the camera. Her eyes pick up the light in such an evil way.
Her hair is growing back, so she does not look as much like an alien monster (or an o'possum).
