Macky, Mowie, and Sunny

Mac and Sunny turned 5 months old today!

They’re getting so big :(

The About section is finally up and running.  Be sure to click at the bottom of the page for Mac and Sunny’s story.  I know it takes a long time to load, but there’s a lot of previously unseen pictures.  I’m in the process of adding more and I’ll fix the slowness tomorrow :)  Hopefully they’ll be more new things coming here soon, so stay tuned!

There have been some improvements, I think, on the whole cats-getting-along thing. They’ve been doing something between the doors — I really wish I could justify it as being playing, but I still think Mowie is still a bit too much on edge to be considered playful. However, there’s no longer any hissing between doors, so I suppose maybe things are, in fact, getting better.

Macky, being the curious little guy he is, continually sticks his paws underneath the door trying to play with Mowie. In the past, you’d see Mowie get physically nervous and would often hiss through the door. But as of late, Mowie will follow the paw back and forth underneath the door — occasionally jumping on Mack’s paw or even swiping it with her own. She doesn’t seem too much on edge while this is all occuring, but you can see her tense up from time to time.

Because of these ‘improvements,’ we tried mediating a little group therapy session last night between gates. Unfortunately, it went quite like it usually does. Mac and Sunny up against the gates while Mowie hissing and trying to attack them. I don’t know if I’m being overly optimistic, but the hissing/attacking didn’t seem as bad as it once did.

Maybe this is just one small step in the right direction. Cheers.

Wednesday marked Mac and Sunny’s third round of shots. Mac weighed in at an even 7lbs and Sunny barely beat him once again a 7lbs 3 oz. They are not even close to full size yet, they’re only 4 and a half months and they’re 7 lbs each! I could barely hold the cat carrier up the stairs with the two of them in there! Mowie is an adult cat and is just over 8lbs..and she’s much larger in size than the kittens are. We’re going to have some tigers on our hands!

In other vet updates, Mac seems to have an infection in his eye. He’s had a runny eye since, well he was born. Recently it got worse and we brought it to the vet’s attention. She gave us some ointment to squirt in his eye twice a day. At first we thought he’d hate us, but he seems to enjoy it. It must be soothing to him. If the ointment doesn’t work within the week he’ll need antibiotics. That was the only major issue the two of them had, despite Sunny’s random wheezing a few days before. Even though it didn’t seem to stop him from playing, it was scary. He must have just had a little cold because the vet said his lungs sounded good.

Mowie is still homeless. During the week, we decided to work on her relationship with Mac and Sunny and try to keep her. However, their interactions became more and more violent. I have 5 cats at home who were introduced at different times and I have never witnessed anything like this. It was like watching the discovery channel lions attack a deer. And the boys never fought back. I knew something was strange with her, whether she was just a little nutty or even bipolar, she would be sitting on my lap one minute then flipping out the next.

After some google diagnosis, I discovered that her behavior is actually normal of declawed cats. After a cat is declawed, it becomes very nervous and uncomfortable around other cats (which would explain Mowie’s making her self sick over the kittens). They become aggressive as a way to say that they are still tough and can still protect themselves. They also bite more in general, which Mowie does too. I found some bulletin board type thing where many cat owners had the same experience we’re having with Mowie- they brought home a declawed cat and was nervous the cats with claws would hurt her, but the opposite happened. All of them said the cats with claws never scratched the declawed cat and learned to ignore it, as if they knew not to pick on someone who couldn’t defend themselves. It turns out that Mowie’s crazy behavior is just compensating for her lack of self-confidence. How sadly psychological :(

Some offered hope in cats that learned to tolerate each other, but we want Mowie to be happy and comfortable. The less stress that is placed on her the better. So we are still looking to find her a home, preferably with no other pets, where she could get lots of love and attention. She may never be happy here with Mac and Sunny, and we’re learning to accept it (or trying to).

So Mowie has made herself at home at mike’s, although she and Sunny still have their issues.  Mowie seems to be terrified of the kittens, actually throwing up after their first interaction.  She doesn’t run or hide from them though, she just sits on the side in a little ball.  The kittens on the other hand just want to play with Mowie.  All Mac is interested in is the fact that theres a second litter box.  He’ll run up to Mowie with his tail wagging as if to say “Hiii play with me??” Then she’ll growl and he’ll cry and run back to Mike or me.  Sunny is more cat like.  He wants to investigate Mowie and see what shes all about.  He’s persistant in constantly looking for her to stare her down or sniff her butt.  Mowie isn’t really a fan of his antics.  So they’ve growled at each other a few times.  It’s only been 4 days, so they’re doing pretty well.

Mowie is loving the indoor life.  She just couldn’t stay in the garage anymore, she was bored, lonely, and tried to casually walk out a few times.  But she’s a good listener and came right back in when I yelled at her.  Not that Mowie ever needs to be yelled at…

We think she’s pretty young, she is very playful and runs laps around the living room.  Her favorite hobbies are laying in the sun and biting toy mice.  Sometimes at the end of the day, she likes to sleep on the ottoman, but only when permission is given.  You basically have to beg this cat to sit on the couch with you.  She doesn’t sit on furniture unless asked.  Poor kitty probably got yelled at for sitting on the furniture :( As the week goes on, she is getting more comfortable and building confidence.  At first she would follow me and cry if I left.  But now shes gotten used to Mike and even chose to sleep on his lap rather than mine the other night.  We’ll post pictures soon.