at the end of our rope....

We discovered poop in the living room yesterday, hidden behind a chair - no telling how long it had been there and found pee on the carpet runner this morning.  Without a doubt, Sassy will have to be locked up while we are gone.  Then, if the sitter finds other messes, we will know it's Sadie.  I don't think this is the case, however.  Sassy was naughty before Sadie showed up although she had controlled it for quite some time and she started again after Sadie came to live with us (stress perhaps - angry at us - who knows?).  The only thing we haven't tried is a behaviorist and I'm not even sure we could find one around here.  Something has to change and soon.  We will put Sassy in the bathroom and make her comfortable, maybe move in her climbing tower or arrange a ramp to the washer and dryer so she can sleep there.

A house divided - again

I made some changes to the pooping area in the spare bedroom.  I moved the smaller litter box to the laundry room where it's hardly ever used and moved the XL box into the bedroom.  I then located the box on the west wall instead of the south wall, providing a better line of sight to the door.  I'm grasping at straws here.  I moved another pet carrier to the original litter box location and various other boxes and stuff on the spots she's used before.  That was yesterday morning after I cleaned up the mess we found in the spare room.  Sassy has been having more 'accidents' than on purposes.  But she used the litter box last night.  That's the thing we can't wrap our brain around - she uses the litter box just fine some days and then other days she won't.  If we could find the trigger for either event, we would be happy to do that, say that, buy that, whatever it would take.  Sassy has taken up residence in my craft room again or on the couch in the family room.  Sadie is living almost exclusively in the basement, coming up for meals but not interacting in the family room like she used to.  Carl put a blanket down on top of a large bin he uses for storing photography props and she seems content to sleep there.  Carl spends a lot of time at his computer I think she likes Carl best, but that's ok, cuz Sassy loves me best.  So, from the freezing mid-west, I hope you all have a very warm and happy Thanksgiving.

Remember the pet carrier, remember the pet carrier

Yesterday while we were in the happiness bubble, thinking all was well, my husband happened to notice that somecat hit my chair AGAIN.  We have been religious about putting the "going to the vet" pet carrier on my chair when I'm not in it.  Some days (or nights) I can walk right by the carrier and not remember to put the carrier on it.  So, we cleaned up the mess, scrubbed, sprayed with Fabreze, and replaced the pet carrier on top of a clean towel.  The footstool has three layers including a waterproof pad on it so we can just whip off a layer and wash it.  I even put the carrier in the way so I have to trip over it and this morning I walked right past it, as hubs was quick to note.

Sadie spent part of the morning with me:

The good news is there were no messes last night and two of the litter boxes had been used.  We're on the countdown to vacation - 10 days to get these girls in shape before we have to lock one up.  Sassy is in the window seat, Sadie is in the basement and all is quiet where we live.

Edited to add:  9:33 - just spent a half an hour cleaning their water fountain.  I couldn't figure out why is had slowed to a dribble - duh, dirty pump.  So, it's all sparkling, filled with clean water, and running a good stream.  Of course, both cats were curious, watched the process, followed me from dining room to kitchen to dining room and when I was finished, Sadie walked past so I picked her up.  Of course, she tensed up, growled and strugged so I let her down and she immediately went after Sassy.  Total and instant aggression.   I've read about displaced aggression - Sadie was mad at me so she wanted to beat up Sassy.  Carl hit Sadie with a few squirts of water, but Sadie doesn't mind water.  I guess a can full of pennies is next.  And Sadie won't be picked up again any time soon.  Sassy is locked up in my room and Sadie is downstairs for a time out.  I'll let Sassy out in a few minutes.  We thought the aggressive phase was over, we're not ready to deal with that plus the litter box problems.  When do adoptive parents of dysfunctional cats say enough is enough?

Drama unfolding....

I am in the craft room checking e-mail and starting to work on a fundraising project.  It's 6:38am and I've just started Netflix.  Sassy has been sleeping on the window seat and I had been wondering where Sadie was.  Five minutes ago Sadie jumped up on the window seat.  No ear position change from Sassy, just a watchfulness.  After a minute or two, Sassy got up, stretched, moved closer to me and farther from Sadie on the seat and laid back down.  Ears are forward on both cats, Sadie has laid down on the right side of the window seat and appears to be fixated on the bird feeder inside the window.  Sassy appears to be sleeping.  This is almost 24 hours to the minute that they had a screaming match yesterday.

Carl asked last night if we were going to lock Sassy up on what would be her third night out of lock up, I said no because of one change between .  Remember, the first night was fine, the spare bedroom door was open, she used the spare bedroom litter box, no messes.  The second night Carl closed the spare bedroom door and there was a mess on the footstool.  Last night the spare bedroom door was open and she used the spare bedroom litter box, Sadie used the living room box, took her pill, and all is well in my world.

Night 5...

Interesting developments.  We did not lock Sassy up last night and she pooped on the footstool which is very well protected.  We also had the spare bedroom closed off but when I went in to grab a VHS tape that was recorded in the spare bedroom, Sassy ran straight into the litter box in there and peed.  Was she angry that the door was closed and she needed to use THAT box?  Sadie uses the box in the laundry room once in a great while (and I decorated it so beautifully, too) but for the most part, neither cat uses that box.  The one in the spare bedroom, the basement box and the one in my craft room are used frequently.  The one in the living room is a once in a while box.  Who can understand the minds of cats?

Sadie didn't take her pill yesterday and so far hasn't eaten it today.  She's gone from gulping her food to eating a little around the pill and leaving most of it.  She really seems to like the Aims Dry Hairball Control food that we purchased last.  I keep a bowl of it in the craft room along with a bowl of water, there's an automatic feeder in the dining room filled with the same food on Sassy's side.  Sadie has some Meow Mix or Little Friskies in a small bowl on her side.  When we first got her, she was so crazy over the canned food that we couldn't get her to eat dry food.  It might be that she eats so much dry food that she isn't interested in the canned food any longer.  We're not contemplating hand feeding her the pill.  I will call the vet this morning and see if her not taking the pill is going to have consequences we don't know about.  We were going to wean her from it when we got back anyway, so it's just earlier than we expected.  Of course, we don't know what she's going to be like without meds.  This morning I tried to pet her and her pupils got really big and black and she reached up to hit me - luckily, I moved but had I been a tad slower, she might have gotten me.  Sometimes she hits with claws in and other times with claws out, I don't like to chance it.

She's in the craft room window this morning, still not very friendly.  If left alone, she's a perfectly acceptable cat.  It's just sad we don't have the comfort of petting her.

EDITED TO ADD:  Just after I finished this entry Sassy came into the craft room.  Sadie got out of the window and laid down on the carpet about a foot from Sassy.  I turned back to the TV and the next second the mother of all cat fights broke out.  It's been months since we've had one of those.  I tried to break it up in the craft room but they ran down the hall and into the kitchen screeching and hissing.  I found the squirt bottle but it didn't make any difference, they screeched in the dining room, the family room and back to the dining room.  Sassy finally hid under a chair and I grabbed her and took her upstairs and locked her in my craft room.  Then I got the gate and put it up in the hallway.  Back in my craft room Sassy played with her Yeowww Banana and finally plopped down to sleep in the window.  Like. Nothing. Happened.  And, my heart rate is still up.

I also managed to get Sadie to eat her pill.  She loves the chicken flavor hairball medicine that we give her once in a while, I just put a bit of it in a bowl and pressed her pill into it.  She thinks that's a treat.  Perhaps we need to find something else she's crazy about and put the pill in it.  Then she headed upstairs to Sassy again.  They are still separated by the gate and may be until that pill takes effect.

Storm Trooper

DCWV Glitter Cardstock

Recollections Black Cardstock

Beckett Radiance Cardstock

Cameo Silhouette / Make the Cut Software

I didn't do it

 

Bazzill Salmon Cardstock, Beckett Radiance CardStock

Peachy Keen Cat Background, Faceless Puppy & Faceless Kitten

Distress Ink Black Soot, Picket Fence Ink & Marker

Wink of Stella Clear & White

Action Wobble

PTI Half & Half Die

Copics:  .3 Black Multiliner, R22, C00, N8, N4, B0000

Memento Gray Flannel, Tuxedo Black

Night 4...

We closed off the spare bedroom last night and did not lock Sassy up.  Call us silly!  I did cover my chair with the pet carrier, the living room has the upside down carpet runners, and the rest we left to chance.  No messes that we could find this morning.  Both girls were in my craft room and an inspection of the boxes showed just pee in the box in my room.  Both girls got treats and lots of 'good girls'.  About 10:00, UPS showed up with two brand new Yeowww Bananas for my good girls.  Sadie played with hers for a while, it had spit all over it but Sassy went a little nuts.

Enjoy!

Night 3...

One mess in the litter box, one on the carpet.  What was different from Night 2?  First, we didn't play for a half an hour before I locked her in.  Second, Carl did the honors since I went to bed earlier than I thought Sassy should be locked up.  Did that make a difference?  Was she angry with me?  Not a clue.  I thoroughly cleaned the spot where she pooped, sprayed it with a cat-away product and placed a box on top of it.  We'll try another night tonight and if the same thing happens, it's down to the linoleum floor in the laundry room.  It's about 1/5th the size of my craft room - just room enough for her box, a small blanket and food and water and no window.  In the meantime, she's helping me craft.

I'm trying to take a picture of the card I just made and here she plops so work has been suspended and laundry is about to start.

Sadie is back under the shower curtain where she was hiding yesterday when I had to take a shower.  I turned on my MP3 player, the ceiling fan, the shower chandelier, the water, and tried to creep over her to get into the tub.  I think she got disgusted with all the noise and disturbance so she was gone by the time I got out of the shower.  So far as we know, Sadie has been really good since Sassy was locked up except for once again peeing in a box top my husband left on the floor of his workroom.  She's done this once before so we need to be diligent with picking them up so she doesn't get the idea it's a litter box.  Carl said, "but it doesn't have litter in it".  Excuse me?  She's a cat, it's a box....

Can't work....

Sassy has taken over my desk so there will be no work for me today....

Night 2...

We slept in this morning until a little after six.  When I left the bedroom I saw Sadie laying in the hallway on my side of the gate while Sassy was in the craft room on the opposite side of the gate, practically nose to nose and Sassy was vocal.  I imagine she was telling me to hurry up and move the gate but we have to do a house inspection first.  All floors were clean and all boxes in the upper three floors were clean.  Carl does the basement box since that's his area (the man cave).  When I let Sassy out, I checked the box in the craft room and there were TWO piles in it.  Yeah, Sassy.  I went back down to go out and get the paper and the girls were chasing each other in the family room.  First Sadie chased Sassy (tails were swishing but ears were erect), then Sassy chased Sadie, then Sadie chased Sassy around the clothes basket and then Carl dropped Sadie's meds, said a bad word and every one calmed down.  We drank coffee, read the paper and then got ready to start the day.  I checked the boxes again and Sadie had used the one in the spare room.  I would feel totally bad about locking Sassy up every night for the rest of her life but if that's what it takes to keep our house clean and smelling good, I'm up for it.  I don't know where Sassy is now but Sadie is on the window seat in my craft room and all is calm, all is bright.

Night 1...

Sassy spent her first night last night in lock up.  We put the gate up in the door of my craft room where she had food, water, and her window seat.  She also likes to sleep on my crafting desk so I needed to clean it off last night.  Luckily, since we've rearranged my craft room and I've adopted the "everything in its place" idea, that wasn't a problem.  She wasn't happy and was waiting at the gate this morning when I got up at 5:00 a.m.  But....and this is a huge but....(no joke)....there was a good sized pile in the cat box this morning, both solid and liquid.  No messes anywhere in the house.  Of course, this is only one night and not definitive proof that Sassy has been our problem child but I didn't feel at all bad about locking her up.  It's a large room and she likes being here - in fact, as I type, she's on the window seat asleep.  I moved some of her toys in the my room and she carried one downstairs to me while I read the paper.  I promptly moved it back to the craft room so she'll have it tonight.  We've only got 17 more days until we leave for Florida so we'll keep her locked up at night until then.  We may even talk to the sitter about feeding twice a day, locking her up at night and letting her out in the morning.

Happy Birthday

 

Saturated Canary Party Hardy

PTI Boutique Borders:  Birthday

Copics:

Flesh: E000, E00, BV20, E93, B0000, G05

Hair:  E33, E35, E37

Clothes:  BG11, BG13, BG15, G82, YG61, G94

Cupcake:  Y32, R11, R27

Pennants:  Y19, R85, V04, R05

Spica Pen:  Clear

A new blog is born - kardmkr.blogspot.com...

I've gotten pretty off track with this blog.  It started out just to be cards but has moved to family matters, cats, vacations and lots of unrelated to crafting stuff.  So, I have started a new blog entirely devoted to crafting - cards, glass blocks, tumblers & vinyl, cutting machines, and hints and tricks I've picked up over the years.  It you'd like to check it out:  http://kardmkr.blogspot.com/.  I will keep this blog for all the other drama.

Holiday Cheer

Peachy Keen Putsen & Jud Snow Couple

DTWV Linen Closet

Memory Box Findlay Frame

Just Rite Noel Christmas Ornaments

Copics-B0000, Y35, R37

Pebbles Inc., Pearlescent Chalk

Comparing cutting machines

I have to admit I haven't tried all the cutting machines on the market, who can afford that?  But I have tried many of them.  Of them all, the ones I've kept are the Sizzix Big Shot Pro, the Cuttlebug and the Sidekick and I'll tell you why:

Cuttlebug - I've had my Cuttlebug for so long I can't even remember when I bought it and it's still a workhorse - always ready to cut, the cutting pads are still available and it only takes a second to pull it out, make a cut and put it back.  Most of the steel rule dies that I purchased to use with it are up for sale due to the arrival of my Silhouette Cameo but you can cut any die on the market that is less than 6" wide if you have the proper cutting pads.  Length doesn't matter because 12" long cutting pads can be purchased.  So, if you don't plan to cut a die that is 6" or wider, this could be the machine for you.

The Sidekick is a tiny machine that works really well for the thin dies.  It will take dies that are less than 2.75" inches and again, length doesn't matter because 12" cutting pads are available.  I use this for my Cuttlebug alphabet dies.

These dies are Sizzlets on the left (black or red plastic) and Cuttlebug (metal back with a foam front).  They will fit in all the die cut machines on the market.  I use my Cuttlebug and Sidekick for these two types of dies.

This is a thin profile die.  You can also use this die in any die cut machine with the appropriate sandwich.  A sandwich is the way you place the die in the machine along with the cutting pads and shims.  Sandwiches for all machines and all dies that fit them can be found on the web with a bit of effort.

Steel rule dies:  These are some of the original dies on the market.  They are extremely sturdy and can cut many layers of paper at one time making them wonderful for schools.  These dies won't fit in the Grand Calibur but will fit in most of the other die cut machines.  Tim Holtz still makes steel rule dies as does Sizzix.  The bottom picture is an XL die, they make 3D paper containers and cards, and can only be used in the Big Shot Pro.  These dies cut and make crease marks so all you have to do is fold and glue.

I purchased the Big Shot Pro because with the proper cutting pads, it cuts every die I own and it has the Grand Calibur's capability of cutting many large dies at once.  I realize the Big Shot Pro is expensive but when you add the price of all the smaller die cut machines you could buy for each type of die you cut, it kind of evens out and I like knowing that any die that comes on the market, I can cut.  Every once in a while I see a good deal on it and it's so well made I don't think it will ever break.  The downside:  it's huge and heavy so it needs a permanent place, it's hard to move.  I do love my Big Shot Pro.

There are other die cut machines on the market, I think Accucut has one and I know Tim Holtz has the Vagabond.  I haven't tested either of them, I'm really happy with the three I have.

Prayers...

Our prayers today are with our friends on the east side of the Illinois River.  Yesterday was a frightening day in Central Illinois.  We had black clouds, high winds, tornado warnings and really heavy rain, but other than a few tree branches down, suffered no real damage.  Thirty minutes away to the east, however, the destruction was widespread.  We have friends in Washington, IL that we managed to contact - they are ok, no power but their house is still standing while around them people have lost their homes.  Pictures on the news are heart wrenching.  Coming into the holiday season, please remember those that won't have a dining room table to gather around for Thanksgiving.  We are thankful that so few lives were lost.  I am trying to locate an address for $$ donations and will share that with you as soon as I have one.  I understand that volunteers are swarming to the affected areas but money and gift cards can be placed in the hands of people that have immediate needs.

On lock down...

Sassy starts lock down tonight in my craft room.  There was another mess in the spare bedroom just a foot from the last one and a foot from the litter box.  She's comfortable in my room and has a litter box up here so I'll just put in a dish of dry food and when I go to bed, she goes to the craft room.  I really hate to do it, but we're tired of cleaning up the mess.

Craft room 95% done...

I'm amazed that craft stores still have paper left.  By now I'm thinking I own all the paper in Marshall County, Illinois.  I've been working three days on consolidating the paper into the new storage system my husband built me.

Before

After

I had paper all over my craft room and some stored in the linen closet in the guest bathroom. 

I have 12x12, 6x6, 6x4, 6x8, 8x8, and 8.5 x 11 paper, perhaps 20 years accumulation.  It doesn't help that I have a daughter who works at Michaels.  By the end of today, all paper will be organized, labeled and in it's proper place.  Only one area left to finish.  One side of my closet is deeper than the rest and filled in with shelves.  This is my last storage area to organized and will also be done today.  To my wonderful husband: thank you so much; you are now officially fired and can return to your regular life.

Lots of junk in here and a tight space, I'm not looking forward to cleaning it out.  And one more big surprise.  My husband came home from an estate sale yesterday with something I've wanted for forever:  a small typing stand on wheels for my sewing machine.  How cool is this:

And it fits beautifully under the bottom shelf of my baker's rack.  My room is now officially perfect.  And....I have room for more paper....

Heartbreaking....

Three days of peace, quiet and no messes - until this morning.  Someone used the corner of the spare bedroom and while cleaning it up I noticed there was a tiny something there that was dried, as if it had been there a while.  That bedroom carpet had what looked like rust spots on the dark cream color when we moved in.  We have always planned to put new carpet in, we just haven't done it yet.  I can see where we would have thought that spot (less than the size of a dime) was just another rust stain.  I know I'm reaching for excuses here, but if there was a drop there and one of the cats smelled it, it's possible they thought it was ok.  Of course, it was less than 12" from the litter box.  I cleaned it up, put the mess in the litter box, scrubbed the carpet and deodorized it, covered it with two large Easter baskets I use for Craft Shows.  Soon, every square inch of our carpet and furniture will be covered with something...

Deep breath, new plan...

We found dabs of poop in the living room window seat, a dab on the floor and a pile in my craft room on the carpet.  So, we're taking a deep breath and forming a new plan.  The next mess of any size we find, one cat gets locked up. We're pretty sure it's Sassy so Sassy will get locked up first in my craft room at night.  We are also stopping the evening feeding.  We'll leave the dry food down but no wet food after early morning.  All the messes have occurred at night with the exception of one so we'll start with Sassy, lock her up when I go to bed and let her out in the morning.  If we still find messes in other parts of the house at least we will know who's doing it.  Sadie used my craft room box this morning and her elimination was round and firm, what I found on the carpet was fairly soft and runny, leading me to believe it was Sassy.  If we have to, we'll keep Sassy locked up until she's regularly going in the litter box again.  It's beginning to look like the closer the cats get, the more messes we have.  We're not having any fights or altercations, this morning they were both next to my chair, Sassy on the footstool and Sadie on the floor below it.  I've been playing with both of them regularly and we often show them affection.  I can't pass either one of them without rubbing ears and I have the scars from Sadie to prove it.  We're saddened to think we have many more years of trying to solve this problem and since both cats are relatively young that seems to be the case.  Where is the "Cat from Hell" guy when you really need him?

Good news, bad news, good news...

Carl forgot to cover my chair last night and the good news is it was clean this morning.  Whew!  We moved furniture over the spot in the living room that is being used as a litter box and left the gate open last night - one of the cats used the towel we placed on the window seat for them.  Drat!  When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was turn on the light in my craft room to see if someone had messed in it and Sassy was on my chair and Sadie was in the window.  Carl said for two cats who seem to hate each other, they keep a good eye on each other.  And, Sunday while I did laundry, I had both cats in Carl's chair - Sadie was on the arm and Sassy was on the seat, both playing with the red raffia.  Ups and downs, baby steps.

I washed the towel from the window seat, rearranged the debris on the floor of the living room to allow greater access to the litter box, left the gate open and said a tiny prayer.  I'll check in tomorrow.

A house divided....

Slowly the house has become divided.  The living room, family room, dining room and kitchen are neutral zones but the craft room belongs to Sassy.  She spends most of her time here and while Sadie came up in the summer, for the last several months she's pretty much stayed out of it - and the top level of the house.  Sadie sleeps in the spare bedroom and I haven't seen Sassy in there in weeks.  Both girls come together when one or both of us are in any of the neutral rooms.  Sassy right now is sitting on my desk, oops just got down.  Sadie had been in the family room while we had coffee and read the paper, I assume Sassy was in the craft room because she was when I came up.  We've had no accidents since Friday but the chair is covered when my butt isn't in it and the living room is gated at night.

Sadie is an enigma.  Sometimes she's amenable to affection and sometimes she's a growling, hissing ball of contrary.  If you reach for her, she will growl and move away.

Sassy has been really active, running through the house, stealing our seats when we get up (she thinks that's a game) and being generally playful.  She's back to coming into the bathroom with me, hiding behind the shower curtain and playing with my fingers.  She quit doing that for quite some time and I'd missed it.  It's a little awkward leaving the bathroom door open all the time but easier than trying to open it when she paws at the door - she won't stop until I open the door.

On a worrisome note, this morning I discovered a nearly bald patch over her right eye.  I'm going to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse, we'll be off to the vet.  I've heard of cats losing hair due to stress and I'm sure her excessive grooming is because of stress but we keep hoping that spending time playing with both of them will relieve some of that. 

Someone also has been throwing up again.  It was in the basement and this is the second occurrence.  Last time it stopped after we found two huge hairballs that obviously belonged to Sassy.  We don't know who this one belongs to because we haven't found the hairball yet.

On a good note, Sadie is using the cat scratching post in the family room.  We've told her "no" in a firm voice so many times when she uses the chairs or couch and "good girl" in a soft voice whenever she uses the post that she's decided she likes the "good girl" the most.  We haven't seen her use furniture for over a week except once when the post was blocked by the pet carriers we place on my chair and footstool - our bad.  We're aware of that now and make sure she can get to the post.

Everyday we don't have a fight or an 'accident' we consider it a good day, so up to 7:08 am, it's a good day.

Posted too soon...

I knew things were too good to last, must be pay back for pretending to be normal for a day.  We found poop in the living room in front of the entertainment center, long a problem space.  Back to closing off the living room at night.  It's funny that Sassy continues to be more interactive with us, she's usually in my room, on the platform or on my chair, she's frisky, bright eyed and fun to play with.  Sadie, however, has taken over the spare bedroom and I rarely see her except at feeding time.  It will be good to get her off drugs and find out what her real personality is like.

The craft room is 90% done...

First, let's review what we started with:

This is what we have now:

 My Fiskars cutter and Big Shot Pro are on the back counter, dies in the right corner.

Some of the individual storage:

Punches

Re-purposed medicine cabinets.

 My computer.

My desk.

 Embossing Powder

 Glitter

 Embossing Folders

Spellbinder, Memory Box dies

My re-purposed Cricut cartridge boxes, Windstorm, stamps in CD cases and adhesives.  This is where I emboss

I can't tell you how much more organized I am than I used to be.  I have a ton of counter space and can't wait to start working here.  The last little bit is the closet.  My husband is going to building 12x24" cubbys to stack my paper in.  Three or four of those will hold all my paper and take up less room than the 12x12 trays I use now.  I'll take before and after pictures of the closet, too.

Eight days and counting....

I know it's a mistake to put this into words.  Eight whole days without an incident.  One tiny dust up with the girls, over in a heartbeat.  Sadie has taken up residence in the spare bedroom on the sewing machine case and Sassy is spending time in my craft room.  She's been up here helping me unpack, underfoot, locked in the closet twice, and finally napping.  She has a wonderful recirculating water fountain in the dining room but they both use the small bowl of water behind her in the first picture.  No accounting for cat's taste, right?

I'm still putting the pet carrier in my chair at night, I'm not a fool, but we're not blocking off the living room anymore.  All the litter boxes are still being used and we're planning on weaning Sadie off of the Prozac in December when we come back from Florida.  Hopefully, she will be fine without it and I double hope that writing about this hasn't jinxed their behavior.