Since coming back from the vet, Aspen and Laurel have been spending their time alone inside large dog cages. Although they are side-by-side, my fear, since they’re both females is that they’re going to get to the point where they’re not going to get along anymore.
A few days ago when I was cleaning out their cages in the morning. I cleaned out one cage of everything in it. I put them both inside that cage and stepped back, as I feared, they went to battle. Quickly I stepped in and separated them and put them back in their perspective cages.
So now the plan changes.instead of extending the introduction cage. We are going to have to make the extension bigger and turn it into a separate cage where one of the kittens can stay comfortably for as long as it takes for them to acclimate to the other kitties. It is far too soon for me to just release them within the population. Not only do they not have the body weight to stand up to any type of bullying, but it’s not wise to automatically assume that cats can get along immediately just because they’re cats.
If one of these kitties was a male, we wouldn’t be faced with this situation right now. For some reason, females in the cat world do not get along with each other. Sometimes, as almost was the case with these two, it can even turn into bloodshed. If I had left the building with them inside. I would definitely have had to call the vet and take them in.
Unfortunately, this means that they have to spend a little bit more time in these cages. Nathan is quite busy with his construction job. He is doing all of this work for us out of the goodness of his heart and his love for cats.
Right now my cats account is completely tapped. So they’ll have to spend an additional 10 days until next payday before I can go back and get additional lumber. I suppose I could finish the job with Nathan before the weekend but it wouldn’t be fair to the cat that would have to live inside this extension. It’s simply not big enough. So I did some planning last night and I figured if we hit it from the side and extend it and bring it around. It might look a little unorthodox, but it would certainly give the cat a lot more room than she has now .
This is the way of the stray. You can plan, you can plot, you can hope and you can pray. Sometimes it just doesn’t go as planned. Their presence within the enclosure right now is being felt within the population. There is a lot of negative energy, especially with PITA. I discovered her yesterday, she had Magoo pinned and she was biting his neck. This is not good. I will be getting a pheromone collar for her as well as for Aspen in a few days. No Feliway diffuser is going to take down the negative energy level because the outdoor enclosure is wire. The calming fumes are going to just flow outside and do no good. I am playing the CD.Harp of Hope continuously to ease some of the tension. But the best thing I can do is just go get the lumber and make the cage into two cages attached to each other. There will be a door that will allow both cats to eventually come through, and perhaps share the two cages together. That’s my plan, let’s see if they’ll go along with it. Time will tell.
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Do you have a list of what you need? We have leftovers from several projects, might be just what you need.
Currently we need 10 / 2 x 4 x 8
Two sheets of plywood or chipboard 4 x 8
Four small door handles
Four small sliding door locks
Eight sets of door hinges
One roll of small mesh chicken wire
I will check tomorrow. When you say small door handles, do you mean handles that you just grasp or door knobs that turn? And door hinges for full size doors? Or kitty size doors.
Unfortunately, none of the above. However, where is your preferred lumber yard/supplier?
My apologies for not being clearer about the size of the hinges, and the fact that these are not door knobs, but just handles that you can grasp. All of it is for kitty doors.
We use Spaeth Lumber in Lebanon. They are kind enough to give us a discount since we are nonprofit. We also use Home Depot, but they pulled their discount from us awhile, back with no reason given. Plus Spaeth is a lot closer.
I am looking to have surgery soon and the medication they have me on right now makes me a little blurry brained at times
Good Heavens, you’re right: changing plans is the way of the stray. Instead of a diffuser, what about a spray? I’ve found that better than a diffuser even inside. I spray it on items that are used habitually: blankets, beds, toys, etc.