Thursday, April 8, 2010

I've failed

Well, after 10 months I'm giving up.  I'm a failure and certainly not a cat-whisperer.  I can't get Amelia, Callie Mae & Vante to integrate.  They won't even ignore each other peacefully.

Let me rewind to this morning: I've placed screen on my bedroom door where Amelia & Callie are sleeping in the chaise.  Vante and I are lounging, reading and drinking coffee. The coffee must have gone straight through Vante because she goes to her room and I continue reading.  About 5-10 minutes later all Hell breaks out in my guest bedroom/sewing room.  Amelia is on her back, claws unsheathed and Vante is about 6 inches away towering over her.  There is black, white and all sorts of hair on the surrounding floor and also PEE!  And not just your ordinary urine, but pungent, clear-a-room type pee.  It's on both cats, my light box, the carpet and even some new fabric!

It was terrible.  I separated them, cleaned the carpet, light box and  have washed the fabric.  The room still doesn't smell right, so I'm going to get the carpets cleaned and I'm calling it a 'Day' for the integration process.

Unless a cat-whisperer or a cat psychic shows up on our doorstep - I quit.  We'll just keep them separated and they'll have to take turns over who has the run of the house.  I'm going to see about installing some cat shelves in their bedrooms so they have some vertical space and can see out the tiny windows at the tops of our walls.  Hopefully that will keep them mentally stimulated while they're stuck in their room. 

I love all three and had high hopes that I could somehow make this work - I was wrong.  ~Sigh~

6 comments:

  1. Awww. Don't give up. I will talk to Mike and others and see if we can come up with anything else to try. Hang in there. And give Vante a big hug from the Colonel's Crew.

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  2. I'll give Vante that hug. And I'd love to hear any advice you're willing to give. I am seriously at the end of my rope on the integration issue. Thanks! -Ashley

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  3. I understand Ashley. In all the years I've visited Vante at BF, she was always sensitive about being around others.

    It might be OK to give it a break anyway. It's too draining on you and them to try to for "progress". If you can deal with separated kitties, that's great.

    Best of luck. Give them all a hug and yourself a break.

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  4. Oh, and you haven't failed. Clearly Vante, Amelia and Callie Mae are having a say in this. : \

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  5. Yikes! Hopefully the shelves/verticle space will give them the room to feel each other out. But buy more Resolve just in case:)

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  6. Here was the response from Dr. Frank, our behavior specialist...

    There may be some additional methods available, including prescription medications from her vet to help ease a mutual acceptance. It's also possible that these are a group of cat personalities that will never be fully compatible. Although I don't have the time available to take this on myself, an excellent (and no-cost) behavior counseling service for just this thing is run by Denver Dumb Friends League. Here's the link to the service: http://support.ddfl.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=1200&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS



    Dr. F


    And, I agree with the comment about Vante and what I would call her "sharing issues". She does not like to share attention with anyone.

    I hope this helps. Linda Bo

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