Coexistence

Some of you might remember me mentioning how, when I first brought my girl Eddy home last July, I quickly learned that she was not a fan of the resident pup Astrid. Although disheartening, this was not really all that surprising. Eddy and her apparent litter mates had been captured out in the country at roughly 10 weeks of age. Then, for the few days before I adopted and brought her home, Eddy been fostered in a cat-only home. As far as I knew, she had never been around or even seen a dog before she met Astrid.

For the sake of safe introductions, and because Eddy had just been spayed and was also still struggling with her head tilt and facial nerve paralysis, when I first brought Eddy home I kept her in a large wire cage. This allowed for everyone in the house to get to know each other without direct physical contact. Remember this picture?

Baby Eddy on her first night home! (The little lady had just been spayed, so she was a bit doped at this point.)

While Eddy immediately loved watching and interacting with the other cats in the house, she felt far differently about poor Astrid. I remember when cat-loving Astrid first tried to introduce herself, and I remember even more so the devastated look on her face when the meet-and-greet ended in a plenitude of hisses and spits. After a couple weeks of unrelenting hissing and spitting on Eddy's part any time Astrid would come into sight, I feared that she would simply never warm up to the idea of even being in the same room as Astrid.

Well, I was wrong. Now, are Astrid and Eddy best friends? No. But, even though they still have fleeting moments of tension (essentially always caused by Eddy's disdain for larger-than-average Astrid's larger-than-life playtime shenanigans), they have learned to share space pretty well. In other words, Astrid does her best to give Eddy space, and Eddy does her best to tolerate Astrid's existence.

Take this sequence of events, for example:

Eddy approaches the open window occupied by the dog, all while donning a perfect glare. Astrid plays it cool.

Eddy tries to determine if the view is good enough to warrant sharing space with the mutt. Astrid avoids eye contact.

Then Eddy tries to determine if the smells are good enough to warrant sniffing the same air as that mongrel. Astrid continues to play it cool and avert her eyes.

Eddy decides that, yes, it is worth it, and settles in. Astrid has deep thoughts on the matter.

See? We have ourselves here a perfectly functional love-hate relationship between two perfectly good frenemies. I'll call this one a win.

Happy Tuesday, furiends!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

Yesterday I mentioned how it is wise to be cautious when using topical medications, as some of these can be toxic to cats and dogs. In this same line of thought, be cautious where you keep any pills or other human oral medications, as many of these are also toxic to cats and dogs. Pain killers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen, are some the most common human medications that can be dangerous to your furbabies. Others include decongestants (such as pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine), sleep aids (such as Ambien), and cardiac medications (such as ACE-inhibitors). To avoid risk to your cats and dogs, keep all human medications in a safe and out-of-reach place, and keep them separate from any medications your furabies might be taking.

An Eddy update...and a video!

It's been too long since I've given an update on my new little girl Eddy. Well...she's doing great!

Eddy still has her head tilt, and her right eye still does not blink or close fully. She also sometimes leans to the right when sitting, walking, running, playing, etc. My usual veterinarian examined her just days after I brought her home, and, although no definitive answer can be given, she noted that it could have been a bout of toxoplasmosis that caused Eddy's sudden neurological issues, which could explain why she started to improve after the rescue group veterinarian started her on antibiotics. Her symptoms could also have been the result of an injury or even a stroke.

Despite her specialties, Eddy is a ball of energy and can move faster than a speeding bullet. Even so, she also loves cuddle time (although she still occasionally gets a bit riled and rough during cuddle time, she is doing much better with being taught that cuddles don't have teeth). What's more, Eddy absolutely loves her kitty housemates (Evan, Thimble, and Toby), and they play and play and play like there's no tomorrow. Eddy also has no problem playing by herself if need be, though, such as in this admittedly low quality video (and yes, she is playing with wadded up pieces of paper, which, just like Thimble, have become her favorite toys):

Isn't she adorable? (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

That all being said, the only real issue is that I'm just not sure Eddy will ever really like dogs (poor Astrid!). It's obvious that Eddy was not accustomed to the presence of dogs during her wild country lifestyle prior to being rescued. Sometimes I'll actually think we've made progress, such as when Eddy allows Astrid to approach and chew on a chewbone or even snooze near her. But then the next time Eddy will hiss and growl and give Astrid a well-aimed right hook. The saddest part is that Astrid, who is used to all of her kitty housemates adoring her, simply cannot fathom Eddy's aversion (and I'll admit that, as a result, sometimes Astrid gets a little too insistent with her friend requests).

Although neither of them seems interested in doing any real damage (it's actually Eddy that I'm most worried about doing damage, as she puts a lot of gusto into her hisses and swats), unless carefully supervised I do not yet allow Astrid and Eddy to have direct contact with each other. They can see and meet each other through baby gates, but I'd really rather not have my furbabies living in a segregated home. I hope that soon my continued efforts will spur Eddy to even begrudgingly accept Astrid's existence, even if only from a distance (at which point I'll have to convince Astrid to give up on those overkill friend requests).

Have a great week, bloggers!

Super Bowl Sunday Shenanigans

Although I am not truly a fan of football, I do enjoy Super Bowl Sunday for the funny commercials, and of course the Kitten Bowl and Puppy Bowl! But, more importantly, how were the furry babies in my life celebrating Super Bowl Sunday? I'll show you...

As always, Rosie was reigning supreme from her couch throne. Here you can see her lying on a blanket that I had not long before been using to keep warm.

Evan started off the festivities by taking a nap on Mommy's bed.

Astrid was sleeping like a (snarling?) log.

Thimble was enjoying one of her most favorite things in the whole world - belly rubs!

Toby decided to camp out on a new shelf that is in the process of being refurbished.

Apparently Trapper finds my photo shoots unbearable.

Finally, with just under 5 minutes left of the Super Bowl game, Talon and Evan decided it was time to snooze in their front row seats.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! How did you and your furry babies spend Super Bowl Sunday?

Best Buds

Living in a family with a high four-legged furball population, it's nice when everyone gets along. Although it took time, patience, and lots of supervised meets and greets, I now get to see plenty of little moments like this:

More often than not, Astrid and Trapper are good buddies.

Of course, Rosie still offers little tolerance for any of the other furry babies in the family. But, at 21 years old, I believe she's earned the right to shoo away such young hooligans. Anyway, Rosie's got friends like Prickles the Cactus to keep her company.

Rosie and Prickles

I hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend!

Sharing is caring.

I'm sure I'm not the only parent to four-legged furballs who understands the concept of sharing. And when I say sharing, I mean giving up your goods for the sake of -- or, more like it, at the request of -- the furballs.

I can't even begin to count the number of times I've given up my blankets and bedding, items of clothing, and even the food off of my plate for my furry babies. But I guess since they're so cute I just can't help myself, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I might as well show you some examples of how sharing is caring in my family of furballs:

This picture was taken a few years ago and shows Rosie drinking a bit of milk from a cereal bowl. Even now, at 21 years of age, she still begs on occasion, such as the other night when I was having milk and peanut butter cookies.

This one was also taken a few years ago and shows Rosie lying on a pair of my dad's slippers. Those slippers used to be one of her favorite makeshift beds, but these days she prefers to make use of my favorite sweatshirt.

This picture was from a couple of weeks ago, at a time when the kittens had taken it upon themselves to make a bed out of a pair shorts and a shirt.

See that pillow Astrid's lying on? I had just been using it prior to this photo being taken. But, Astrid had looked so uncomfortable and pitiful next to me on the couch that I just had to give her my pillow. (And then Astrid so kindly paid it forward by allowing Evan to use her as a pillow.)

I guess the moral of this story is that living in a home full of four-legged furballs has taught me to be a good sharer. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

High Population Harmony

As a recap, there are four four-legged furballs under my care -- Rosie, Evan, Astrid, and Thimble. And there are three more little furballs that, although they are not technically under my care, do play a large part in my life -- Trapper, Talon, and Toby. So, how can there be harmony in this furrily high population life of mine? Well, it's possible. Not always easy, and not always perfect, but it is perfectly possible.

I'll begin by noting that this clan of furballs does indeed have one particular inhabitant that goes against the grain of harmony. And that would be...

Rosie.

Rosie is the Queen, and she is certainly set in her ways. After putting in 21 years, though, I would say she is entitled to that. That being said, Rosie is the only furball in this home that seems absolutely against living in harmony with her fellow furballs. Aside from her littermate who passed away almost fifteen years ago, Rosie has always displayed a strong disliking toward other cats. She does tolerate dogs, once she gets used to them, that is. Surprisingly, she tends to prefer larger dogs, such as Astrid (and such as the dogs my family had as I grew up). But, Rosie really does not like other cats. And when I say that Rosie does not like other cats what I mean is that if Rosie catches sight of Evan or Thimble or any of Thimble's brothers she will go after them, screaming and hissing and slapping them around a bit.

I absolutely love all of my furballs dearly, but when it comes to the arrangement of my home I will admit that I make Rosie's happiness and health my main priority. She has been by my side for 21 years, and I grew up with her. After the loyalty she has shown me I never want her to feel as if she is being pushed aside, and I never want her to suffer any ailments as a result of undue stress.

So, how do I keep Rosie happy and healthy in the midst of so many young hooligan furballs that she doesn't even like? Well, Rosie does make it a bit easy for me by the fact that there are only two places in the house where she prefers to spend her time -- the living room and my bedroom. So, when Rosie is in either of those rooms all other animals are kept out or at least incapable of reaching Rosie. Making this task even easier is the fact there is actually one particular couch in the living room where Rosie spends most of her day. As Rosie eats and snoozes her way through the day on that couch, the other animals are denied access to the area with a variety of makeshift walls and barriers.

Rosie on her beloved couch. Note the food bowls, toys, and blankets and beds adorning her couch. She even has access to a litter box not far from the couch.

Now, do Astrid and Evan and the kittens ever try and manage to breach the barriers and reach Rosie's couch? Yes. But, Rosie always lets me know -- very loudly, in fact -- when there is an intruder. That's when I remove the intruder and cuddle Rosie until she's all cuddled out. I also usually have to go and console the intruder -- out of Rosie's view, of course -- because Rosie's punishment toward intruders can be very loud and alarming, although usually quite harmless otherwise.

Aside from Rosie, though, there has been good success integrating everyone into one big, happy, furry family. Of course, in getting Astrid, Evan, and the kittens all used to each other, their first encounters were from behind closed doors, when only noses and ears were used to make initial acquaintances. After that, instead of doors there were cages and baby gates and other such minimal barriers, so that the unfamiliar furballs could see each other but so that there could be no injurious fights in the case that someone felt uncomfortable around their new friends.

Evan and Astrid getting acquainted. Part of their introduction process involved cages, with one locked in a cage and the other investigating from outside the cage.

It may be hard to tell in this blurry picture, but Evan is reaching through the cage to pat Astrid on the head.

This one is very blurry, but in it the four very young kittens are in a cage with Astrid sniffing them and essentially begging to meet them.

Each time a new animal was brought into the family, after a few days of acclimating to each other through barriers, when I was certain that everyone seemed more intrigued than uncertain, barriers were removed. Face-to-face introductions were made, with heavy supervision, of course. At first, these direct interactions did not always last very long, as sometimes one or more of the furballs would start feeling a bit overwhelmed by their new friend(s). But over time the interactions grew longer and longer, until all the furballs (except for Rosie, of course) started to really enjoy hanging out together.

Astrid and Evan have become good friends. They usually get along very well, although sometimes Evan gets a little too cuddly for Astrid and she has to walk away from his advances.

Astrid and Evan playing. The rule is that, because Astrid is so much bigger, she has to lie down when playing with the cats. She usually does pretty well obeying this rule. Usually.

Astrid got to meet the kittens very early on, as she displayed significant interest in interacting with them. The kittens also seemed very eager to meet her as soon as they saw her. In this picture, although you can't see it, Astrid is on a leash and is being held back so that her enthusiasm wouldn't get the better of her or the kittens.

Evan was not sure about the kittens at first, but after getting used to them he now greatly enjoys playing with them. In the above picture you'll see little baby Toby chasing after Evan. The kittens sometimes think that Evan's dragging hind legs are toys to bat at, but he usually tolerates them well. Usually.

Now, are there times when the furballs squabble? Yes. Just as with humans, sometimes it's just not possible for everyone to be in a congenial, social mood. There are times when Astrid gets too hyperactive for Evan and the kittens. And there are times when Evan gets too overwhelmed by his kid sister Thimble and her brothers. In such cases, depending on the situation, certain furballs are separated from the others. Usually after a bit of a break from each other, though, all of the furballs can happily interact. Except for Queen Rosie, of course.

All hail the Queen.