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