Grizelda stands near fat ‘Mo;
he trembles, growls, flees.
As some of you know, Grizelda broke in through the cat door on a dark rainy October night and became our adopta-cat. She and the other cats kinda-sort get along, but I’m sensing a lot of stress. Griz makes ‘Mo very nervous. All she does is try to stand near him and he trembles, growls and then runs off. Then, she follows him.
She doesn’t attack him, but I think poor ‘Mo could use some calming.
I read cat pheromones can help remedy this, but I haven’t tried them. Have any of you cat lovers given them a try? (I’m not sure I trust online reviews. Who knows who posted them?)
Anyway, if anyone can give me a very strong endorsement, I’m going to buy a whole three pack so I can use them in the kitchen, family room and the upstairs bedroom. I sort of figure that calming for 2 months is probably long enough to get the cats over this period.
If no-one knows if this works, I’m just going to try a one pack and see if the cats get calm in the kitchen where we feed them. It seems worth a try. (There are also assorted collars, various other sprays etc. But all products are sufficiently pricey that I hesitate to buy everything. If anyone has good experiences with the collars, I might put on on Grizelda. She’s the new cat and having her emit calming pheromones everywhere she goes might not be a bad thing. BTW: As usual, when the sample link is an affiliate link. So… yes, if someone buys, I make money. That said: I have no idea if this stuff works. I do plan to buy at least one product and I’ll let people know.)
Collars dont work ya gotta dip em. Sargents gold flea shampoo is the best but make sure to follow the instructions n start at the head n work your way down. Dont let the cat hear the water running, get into the tub (empty) with them and use cups of warm water or sponges. Be gentle n patient and beware of claws.
When ya gotta new cat in the house make sure to overfeed everyone a little and get some treats that they really like to reduce the competition for food. Attention is as important as food, try to get them on different sides of your lap on the couch when you’re relaxin n scratch em both on the face n behind the ears n stuff, you probably know how they like it already.
sorry, the collars in the comment above is for fleas…
This explains all.
Calvin– All that is true.
MikeC– These aren’t flea collars they are “I smell like a nice mommy cat, so calm down all you kittens” collars.
I once bathed a cat. We’d moved into an apartment that turned out to have fleas. OMG. We also shampooed all the carpets and used flea killing stuff on them.
If you saw ‘Mo, you’d realize that these cats aren’t starving. He’s so fat we’ve nicked named him “cat-a-potemous”.
I didn’t say he’s starving, I said give them extra and some treats to reduce the stress of the new competition… and I bet Mo isnt as fat as my Missy or Frankie…LOL
I use a squirt bottle and a hiss to dissuade the offender in my herd of three cats. It works because he knows I’m the big cat. Your mileage may differ, though.
You need to edit the haiku not to say Mo “grows flees” but to say “growls, flees.” Or is this a Christmas haiku because it has NOEL?
Lucia — you might have a look at the blog The Way of Cats. I don’t recall that she’s said anything about cat pheromones but Pammy there has lots of good suggestions about the project of getting cats to get along with each other.
Lucia
Off track but then after 38 years in the rail industry, not the first time either. Today is St. Lucia’s day. Our family became more aware of the holiday when we hosted a Swedish highschool student a couple of decades back. She is one of only three saints that the Scandinavians celebrate. As a saint, you would expect her story to not be a happy one. She is important to the Swedes as light and sight are precious this time of year. Our celebration has simplified after our boys grew up and left home. This morning it was fresh warm lussekatter (saffron buns, translated Lucia cat) with coffee, in bed by candle light just before dawn. We make our lussekatter in the traditional fashon of a figure eight with two raisins. They resemble eyes or perhaps a cat curled up. Thank you for your work! You have been most enlightening to me.
The trick I’ve used is to put one of the cats into a separate room, with appropriate water, food, and litter box. They will start playing under the bottom of the door. Given a few days, they are so curious about the other cat they forget to fight.
for grins
Also should be a press release tomorrow or Friday about
> the forecast for 2008 temperatures. La Nina looks like making
> it coolish – cooler just than all years since 2001 (including
> 2001) and 1998. Pointing out that 2001-2007 is 0.21 warmer
> than 1991-2000 which is exactly as it should be with ghg-related
> warming of 0.2 per decade.
Phil jones jan 2008
Charlie–
We’ve done the separate rooms thing! The cats aren’t fighting– it’s just that poor ‘Mo is such a fraidy cat. He’s afraid of lots of stuff. When we first got him from the shelter, he used to sit almost frozen and tremble during thunderstorms. You could feel him shaking. (He’s gotten past that now. )
So, something to help him get used to anything new might help.
Denis–
Indeed it was! We celebrated, but we substituted Pannettone which is easier to find. The real Lucia was an Italian saint, so it seems appropriate.
I took out my various Lucia statues with the candle on her head! .
Lucia
A few years back our Lucia statue with the little candles on her head burned a little too long and she went up in flames. Our current St. Lucia carries a tray with one candle on it and we see the Star Boy keeps his distance from the fire as well. My family is from Norway so interested that Swedes adopted a Sicilian tradition. But this goes way back and during the MWP Scandinavians plied the Mediteranian waters and brought home with them traditions from many distant lands.
Use tough love. Stick both of them in a cage until they get used to each other. It would be like Phil Jones and Steve McIntyre in a cage together at first, but eventually they would get used to each other’s smell and become buddies.
Lucia,
This is way OT, but I was wonderng what you think of Gitmo prisoners being moved to Illinios?
“So far, these rulings have not resulted in detainees’ being released in the United States. But that is only because, at present, the detainees are physically kept outside of the country. In the 2005 Real ID Act, Congress barred aliens who either have been members of terrorist organizations or have received paramilitary training in terrorist camps from entering our nation. Though one judge has tried to order detainees released here regardless, his order was reversed on appeal. Other judges have been hesitant to hold that their power to review detention rulings implies a power to order detainees released, much less released in the United States, in defiance of statutory proscription.
Once the terrorists are already in the country, though, that hesitancy will vanish…”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjhlYjVhZjBjOTU5NTMzN2ZlZTc2ZTMxOGQyYzRmNmE=
Andrew
“Illinois” I mean! 🙁
Andrew
Andrew_KY– I have mixed and conflicting opinion on the prisoners being moved to the US. On the balance I end up neutral.
Other than that, if they are moved to the US, I don’t have any particular concern about the choice being Illinois.
“When the Global Warmingist-in-Chief was done, Smith said breathlessly, “Wow. I’m so glad you read that…I’m happy to hear it in your voice.”
Readers are advised that Gore is WAY too busy to discuss climate change with John Stossel, and is WAY too busy to answer questions about ClimateGate.
However, he’s NEVER too busy to read poetry to journalists.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/12/15/al-gore-reads-poem-harry-smith-says-wow-i-m-happy-hear-it-your-voice
And I’m never too busy for a little Big Al. Especially if he is reading such instensely stimulating climate poetry.
Oooh, I almost fainted.
Andrew