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Ping - Candace -- Question about Marbles -- Very Long



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 4th 05, 03:31 PM
Lorraine
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Default Ping - Candace -- Question about Marbles -- Very Long

This is really really long. I'm sorry. If anyone else has ideas, I'll
listen. I'm really trying to put off going the drug route, but I'm
don't know what else to do.

Candace,

While going through the archives trying to find information to win the
outer prize, I had found a post from or to you regarding Marbles. The
jist of the post was the possibility of having all the cats out in the
same area, but with Marbles inside a cage or kennel. I'm wondering if
you ever tried it. I'm not quite ready for the "better living through
chemistry" step yet. The vet suggested caging Lucy for short periods
each day, but we weren't sure we even wanted to go there.

We don't have a cage to try -- we'll have to buy one. I'm just wondering
if it made any difference at all if you did try it.

That is the question, the rest of this lengthy post is background.


Background info:
Cast of players - all three adopted at the same time, 8 months ago.
Ty - approx 4 year old Maine Coon type female -- came to us spayed and
declawed.
Indie - approx 1 year old DSH tortie -- clawed, spayed before she came
home from the shelter.
Lucy -- approx 3 year (or possibly younger) DMH -- clawed, spayed before
she came home from the shelter and the mean one.

Indie and Ty get along great. Indie really looks up to Ty.

Ty and Lucy can be in the same room most of the time without problems.
Sometimes Lucy charges after Ty. I'm not sure if it's aggression or
play. Ty doesn't take any chances and immediately starts hissing and
getting ready to fight back. Sometimes if Lucy even gets too close, Ty
will start hissing. I can live with all that though.

Indie and Lucy just don't mix. Lucy and Indie are both very playful,
and sometimes I think Lucy might just want to play, but most of the
time, it looks like dead serious hunting. If Lucy manages to get into
the basement where Indie now stays, she just prowls until she finds
Indie and the chase begins. Indie has a favorite hiding place now
that's very small and Lucy can't get into without having Indie clawing
at her face. Indie will **** right then and there, and often she's
untouchable for a few hours afterwards. She does seem to be recovering
faster though lately.

There has been a time or two that Lucy and Indie have been in each
other's presence without anything happening. It doesn't happen often,
and it seems that something like a squirrel outside has to have them all
distracted.

We started out with Lucy in the basement, and bringing her up for
several hours of the day to stay in the bedrooms. Then we decided that
switching often wasn't a good idea, and brought her upstairs for good.
Lucy has made the upstairs her domain now. She'll lay in the hallway
and not let Ty get to the back half of the house. One time since that
we did take Lucy to the basement, within 15 minutes she climbed over two
stacked baby gates to get back upstairs and she just walked right past
the other two and layed herself down in the middle of the hallway and
looked at us like, "this is my place, and that's that." She's been
upstairs ever since.

Now Indie is afraid to come upstairs. Ty likes to come up and we just
have the baby gate sort of leaned/wedged in the basement doorway. Ty
can come up by herself, but we have to let her back down into the
basement. The problem with that set up is that sometimes when Ty comes
through, she leaves enough opening for Lucy to get through to the
basement. This only seems to happen when I'm alone and asleep. I now
make sure that she's upstairs when I go to bed on nights that B is gone.
The other related problem is that Ty won't use the litter boxes
upstairs. So far there have been no accidents, but I'm not convinced it
won't happen.

Feliway misters spread throughout the house, in case anyone wonders. I
think it helps some with Ty and Lucy, but not much with Indie and Lucy.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Lorraine
The cats http://www.raineforest.com/gallery/thecats

  #2  
Old August 7th 05, 01:25 AM
Candace
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Lorraine wrote:
This is really really long. I'm sorry. If anyone else has ideas, I'll
listen. I'm really trying to put off going the drug route, but I'm
don't know what else to do.


Sorry, Lorraine, I just saw this post , it got usurped by so many other
threads that it was way down.

While going through the archives trying to find information to win the
outer prize, I had found a post from or to you regarding Marbles. The
jist of the post was the possibility of having all the cats out in the
same area, but with Marbles inside a cage or kennel. I'm wondering if
you ever tried it. I'm not quite ready for the "better living through
chemistry" step yet. The vet suggested caging Lucy for short periods
each day, but we weren't sure we even wanted to go there.


I never did that. Marbles freaks out in a carrier. It seemed mean.
And I don't have an actual cage either. I did every other suggestion I
was given, though, I think, including having a screen door on our
bedroom for nine months. Finally, I was so sick of that thing and it
had done no good as Scottie and Abbey never went near it that we took
it down.

Feliway misters spread throughout the house, in case anyone wonders. I
think it helps some with Ty and Lucy, but not much with Indie and Lucy.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.


I'm afraid I'm not in a position to give advice as we keep Marbles
separated in the back part of the house (we don't have basements in AZ,
for the most part) while Scottie and Abbey get the living room,
kitchen, family room, and laundry room. Marbles gets 3 bedrooms (one
which is temporarily off limits but not for too much longer) and the
bathroom and a hall. A few hours a day, in the evenings on weekdays,
he comes out and the other 2 hide under a futon in the family room and
watch him or doze. They don't act like they care much one way or the
other but they still won't come out if he's out. He knows not to go
under there...usually. Once in awhile he will stick his head and front
of his body under there and look at them. Then hissing usually occurs
and howling on Marbles' part.

It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't whining to get out with them a lot.
He is very vocal and loud and doesn't like to be in the back when we're
home even if we sit back there with him. The computers are back there
so we spend a good amount of time in the back plus he gets to sleep
with us, something Scottie used to enjoy, too, but now doesn't get to
do unless I sleep out there with him which I do occasionally.

It's far from ideal but we have something of a routine. They are all
indoor cats but Marbles has a walking jacket and gets to go outside
once in awhile...the other 2 would freak out if we put a jacket on them
and attempted to take them out so we leave well enough alone. I take
him out on weekends but right now, it's over 100 everyday and it's just
too hot to sit out there with him very much. I just told him I would
take him out in a little while when the sun goes down. That wears him
out so he is more docile when he comes back in.

We are currently, as I type, having a workshop built so he will get to
go out there with his dad sometimes, too. I just feel added space will
give everyone the room they need. Someday I hope they will all
tolerate each other but we have had Marbles for over a year now. If
Scottie or Abbey somehow come out while he is out (seldom happens), he
will almost always chase after them if they move. They don't act all
that scared anymore, it's just their routine, and I don't know how to
break it. I'm just hoping with time that they will all get
desensitized to each other and just avoid each other but go on with
their lives.

Marbles is still on elavil but I have reduced his dose. He now only
takes 2.5 mg daily, just enough to mellow him out a little bit. I've
tried taking him off altogether but he does become more aggressive if I
do so.

Candace

  #3  
Old August 8th 05, 02:31 PM
Lorraine
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On 6 Aug 2005 17:25:27 -0700, "Candace" wrote:

I never did that. Marbles freaks out in a carrier. It seemed mean.
And I don't have an actual cage either.


In the past, Lucy has not had a problem with being in the carrier, but I
have the feeling that I'm not going to be able to do it either. I might
have months ago, but now I've bonded too much with her, and I just don't
think I can do it. Well, I could if we built some elaborate cage with
lots of cubby holes, and things to play with -- a cat tree in a cage.
I suppose we could build something to later move outside to give them
all some outdoor time. That's a thought.

Thank you for taking the time to share all of that stuff I snipped. You
reminded me of the harness possibility. We put the harness on Lucy
before and it slowed her down quite a bit until we tried to actually
restrain her. Then she fought until she was able to back out of it. We
just won't actually try to restrain her with it this time. Now, I
wonder where we put the harness???

We did not have a good weekend. I woke up Sunday morning to poo on the
rug. Ty was upstairs all night while I was sleeping, and Lucy must have
blocked her from the little box, or she just didn't try. We do have
another box in the back bathroom, but it's possible she didn't remember
it was there, or Lucy had the entire hallway blocked. Next weekend I'll
put it in the other bathroom to see if it helps. When I went downstairs
Sunday morning to see Indie, she was in her hiding place, and would hiss
and attack if I tried to get her out. So she's figured out that Lucy is
most likely to get down there to attack her when Brian's not home
staying up late in the basement. I guess the possibility for that is to
start bringing her up on weekends when I'm alone and giving her the back
half of the house. What a mess.

Thanks again for all the info. I'm thinking it won't be long before I
give in to the drug option. I might end up having to get some for Indie
at the same time. And for myself!!



 




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