Re: Separating the kitty household

[Nina]

Steph, I like Hideyo's idea of the screen door.  Could you put one on your bedroom door?  That way poor lonely Chief might not feel so isolated.  I'd also rig him a wonderful cozy bed right by the door.  You'd be able to talk to him through the screen door too.  I understand not wanting to alienate Rosie, after all, she was there first.  I also understand the fears of mixing fiv and felv together, but I have made the decision that once someone is a member of the household, their a member all the way.  I would keep talking to them and watching their behavior.  For instance, when you see Chief blocking Rosie's path in the kitchen, (for whatever reason), I'd step between them and tell Chief to respect Rosie and let her pass!  Keep reminding him that he's lucky she allows him to share her home, that she's the Grand Dam and he needs to honor her majesty!  I'd talk to Rosie and tell her how important it is to you to have her help in smoothing out Chief's rough edges.  Ask her to help you get through to Chief that his behavior is not acceptable.  That you love her, but you want him to be happy too.  It may take a while, but you guys will figure this out.  If Chief doesn't back off, give him a time out, (a very short one, just a couple of minutes), behind a closed door.  Set him up with a room of his own, maybe a bathroom?  Make it comfortable in there, give him everything he needs and use that as his time out space.  Spend lots of time confined in there with him.  When you go in with Chief, (not after he's been naughty!), tell Rosie you're going to spend some time with Chief to try and help him understand his position in the family, (below Queen Rosie!).  When he's pushy with Rosie and doesn't back down when you tell him to, let him cool his heels in his room.  Then let him out and try again.  Keep telling him being in the house is a privilege, he has to follow the rules!  It took months for our socially retarded, cat hating, Kimba to get it, but get it he finally did. Nina Hideyo Yamamoto wrote: Oh... I am so sorry that you are torn... well.. one thing I can suggest is that do the introduction process start all over again. It will take a while, but it's very doable.. I have two cats who wanted to kill each other, (literally, one of the bigger one goes to a throat of a smaller one to kill), but after re-introduction, now they are completely happy! They don't groom each other or anything, they happily co-exist - I usually use screen door between rooms instead of solid door and/or a crate technique.. but never throw them into a room with no protection..what have you tried? -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Steph E Caldwell Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:05 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Separating the kitty household Hideyo Yamamoto wrote: I guess, I have a little bit concern regarding mixing FIV positive with FeLV positive together even if they got along well.. I tried total seperation when we first got Chief. Rosie lived in my room, had seperate food, water, and litter. But, she wasn't happy locked in my room unless I was in there. So, she pulled all her hair out that she could reach and started spraying things. has something that they are fighting against, I am concerned about the situation. I worry, too... She's vacinated for it, spent a good bit of her early life outside, so I think she's pretty well immune. Rosie goes to work with me everyday, so they're only together for a few hours. They do share litter boxes and a waterdish, but that's it. Right now, she's happy in my room at night, but now Chief doesn't have anywhere to sleep and he's unhappy with my door shut... Steph