Zen kitty

The adventures of Chloe continue.  Ever since we moved to this house my only female cat, Princess Chloe has been a royal pain.  She screams, hisses,  swats and runs away if I even look in her direction.  She is a little better with me than with the boys (my 2 male cats).  She screams at them if they get too close, look at her, touch her or even follow her a little.  She's thinks everyone is out to get her.  If I look in her direction and walk toward her she screams and then runs downstairs and hides where I can't quite reach her.  And her screams are scary.  She sounds like a banshee or witch or something famous for screaming such as Courtney Cox.  An email friend told me about something called Feliway.  I had my doubts, but ordered some online.  It's not too expensive and cheaper than therapy (which her behaviors are forcing me into) so it's a worthwhile gamble.  She told me it might take a month before I would see a change so I wasn't expecting an easy or quick fix or even improvement.  But after 3 days of spraying it around (no order discernible by me) on the couch, rugs, all her favorite places including my bed and certain chairs I began to see a tiny improvement.  She did the nose touch with Seamus (the one who provoked most of her screams). She also jumped up next to him at the window and I've heard no more screams.

She still has a way to go, but she did let me trim her claws and she purred and followed me around and then lay on the floor for me to rub her belly.I am amazed because even these small steps are so much sooner than I expected .  She was sleeping on my bed snuggled up next to me before the Feliway treatment, and that has not changed. But she wouldn't let the boys on the bed. So that hasn't been tested because they are now trained to stay off the bed. The product is supposed to have pheromones in it that relax the cat through a familiar scent. She doesn't like it when I spray it, but I think it's the sound so I do it when she's not in the room.  I also bought some Bach flower remedies, but haven't tried them yet. I will keep my readers updated on any future, noticeable changes (should I actually get any readers).  I really want my kitties to like each other. They have always been OK with each other until we moved here. That was the first problem, then just as things were improving hurricane Irene hit, and the electricity was off for 5.5 days and I discovered that Princess Chloe is afraid of the dark. That led to screams as soon as the sun went down.  I had to sleep with her and leave a flashlight on all night (see earlier posting "Princess Chloe Meets Hurricane Irene" for more details).  So her behavior has significantly improved in 3 days.  I'm hoping she'll continue to relax, and I won't  stop spraying until both cans are empty.

Princess Chloe Meets Hurricane Irene

---

Princess Chloe is one of my 3 kitties (I like to call them kitties because cat sounds a little demeaning to them) 2 boys and one princess.  She lived a tough life before joining my clan.  Her mom was a drop off stray who delivered 3 kittens by herself alone outside in some harsh New England weather.  Her mom and 2 siblings were lost to the road before my sister was able to rescue them. She did rescue little Chloe at about 1year old who became a princess after she joined my group. How she survived that year is a mystery, but it had to be very hard on her.  She runs the boys who have either fear or respect for her.  I'm not entirely sure which. She also has rules for me.  I simply can't walk up to her and pick her up.  That is not allowed and she responds with a quick exit and manages to arrived at a place that is unreachable by me.  She also has some quirks.  She is afraid of change.  I know all cats resist change, but she wins the award for best performance of a kitty in a new house.  Hiding during the day and banshee screams during the night if she saw one of the boys or a shadow or lights from a passing vehicle.  I had to close her in the rec room with me and a litter box and leave some lights on, and needless to say I didn't get much sleep.  That went on for about 2 weeks.  Then my daughter and her family came to visit from FL.  Sleeping arrangements were altered and Chloe hid from them (espicially the kids) almost 24/7.  

When they left, she started to relax a little allowing me to pet her occasionally and chirping a little.  Then came Hurricane Irene and we went all the way back to square one.  We were without electricity for about 5 1/2 days.  So it was very dark at night and her anxiety level must have been high. The screams began again of course, and again I found myself sleeping in the rec room (which is in the basement) with her.  Fortunately it didn't flood, but I had to leave my flashlight on all night on the floor where she could see it from under the bed where she was hiding.  If I turned it off she screamed and the boys dived for cover. Well my batteries were getting weak from all the use.  So I decided to use my hurricane lamps and candles figuring that was their intended use (during the aftermath of a major storm).  That worked well for her, but not for me.  I was up all night checking them because I was afraid of burning the house down. The lamps also left an unpleasant smell in the house all day even after I turned them off. One night I didn't use them and managed to coax her into my bed.  She didn't scream as long as she was on my arm, but I wasn't allowed to move all night so that made sleeping pretty much impossible.  I went back to the lamps and candles. 

The power finally came on and the princess kitty calmed down now almost 2 weeks after Irene graced our little community. She is almost back to her querky little self.  Screams have stopped, but she still snubs the boys from time to time. She does like to sleep on my bed, and I'm required to leave night lights on all night.  That's not so bad, and it does get me a fairly good night's sleep. I'm a little concerned about the next change that might come her way. 

Cats know your every thought. They don't care,
but they know