A hair's worth of progress...

We're still having problems with the elimination outside the box.  Sadie is still peeing around the doors although not as much, we do see progress there.  Sassy goes from carpet to mat to litter box with no reasons that we can find.  Last night both girls pooped in the same box, but I cannot find any pee from Sadie, perhaps it's in the basement, I didn't check that box.

We have noticed two things:  one is Sadie is carrying her tail up once in a while.  She's NEVER done that before, her tail is always dragging the ground.  Our research says a tail up belongs to a confident cat.  Sassy is 70% tail up and 30% tail down.  Sunday will be the end of the 3rd week for Sadie's meds, so we still have three more weeks.  Also, it's the end of the first month for the Feliway, we just put in two new bottles in the two of the diffusers.

Something else we've started - giving treats only when the cats are close together and in our bedroom which has pretty much been Sadie territory since we got her.  So, if the cats are within three feet of each other and no hissing or growling, I have two silver bowls I keep on my dresser with a big bag of treats and I put treats in both bowls and set the bowls in front of the girls.  So far, so good.

So, baby steps....

Busy, busy, busy...

I've managed to get myself into a world of busy.  I was commissioned to make glass blocks and tumblers for a fundraiser to raise money for the Washington, IL tornado victims.  I've just come up for air and will be starting a new project in just a moment.  I never feel more helpless than at a time like this.  The devastation was widespread and it happened within spitting distance of our home.  We know people who live in Washington and our hearts go out to them.  If you are feeling charitable, there are plenty of organizations that could use your help.

Two days of quiet...

On November 9th we started Sadie back on her medication.  The  ASPCA website says that it needs to be administered for at least six weeks before behavior change.  Sadie has been marking the doors in the house; our front door, garage door and on occasion the sliding doors to the deck.  Females marking could be caused due to territorial issues or issues with other cats in the household.  Sassy doesn't have a mean bone in her body.  We've never seen her aggressively go after Sadie.  That's not to say it doesn't happen when we aren't looking but it's been almost two years we've had them together.  We're not sure what Sadie's issues are, but we're both tired of cleaning up after her.

Sassy seems to have regressed, also.  She had been doing so well with the litter boxes that we quit looking for messes and now she's started making them again.  95% of the time her messes are on the mats we put down under the litter boxes, but one was actually on the carpet.  I purchased three bottles of essential oils:  lemon, eucalyptus and lavender.  We've cleaned the areas that both cats mess on and then sprinkled them with one of the three essential oils.  We started that about four days ago.  Today, for the second day, we have no messes, both cats are going where they are supposed to go.

Sadie has been a little aggressive since we restarted her meds.  You have a 50/50 chance of being able to pet her.  First she will growl, then hiss and then put out her claws.  I'm usually gone at the growl but she did walk up between us in bed last night - a first since 11/9.  She used to wake us up by licking our hands or, in my case, my hair, but she hasn't done that since we started her meds.  An adjustment period, to be sure. 

I - quana show you some pictures....

This little guy used to live in our local hardware store.  A friend of mine who is iguana crazy asked me to take some pictures of him because she couldn't afford to buy him.  I never realized how many gorgeous colors an iguana has.  All though not my cup of tea, the photos turned out well.

Our junkie cat...

Day three of Sadie's meds.  We haven't found any marking in the last two nights but Sassy is still using the litter mat to poop on.  At least it's consistent and always on the mat which is easy to clean up.  Sadie joined us in the living room, stretching out on the couch this morning.  She's not very social as a rule and doesn't like to be anywhere that Sassy is.  Sassy walked up to the couch and Sadie growled and slapped at her.  While the medication decreases Sadie's stress and tension, I do believe it increases her aggression.  If it continues, we will find out if there is another medication we can put her on.  I really wish I knew what happened that changed everything, we had been doing so well.