Cats
I’m fairly certain that Molly would have preferred to live out her twilight years in tranquil solitude. She has not forgiven me for bringing Casper into the house, and reminds me of this every time she sees him. She is just too old to accept anyone new, and she is still carrying a hate-on for other cats from her early days. The shelter warned me all those years ago that she must be an only child, and boy were they right. We tried for about nine months to integrate Casper and Molly using all the proper techniques, but to no avail. Casper, ever the gentleman, took numerous beatings from Molly and never raised a paw to her. He also suffered through her hissing, swearing and derogatory comments in the hopes they would become friends in the long run, but it was not in the cards. Much to his dismay, our attempts to assimilate the crazy calico and his mellow moggie self ended after Molly bit me badly while in a blind rage during one of their supervised encounters. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, but she was panicking and I tried to soothe her by putting my hand on her back. Casper was in front of her and she probably thought there was some danger coming at her from behind so she lashed out and bit my hand, hard. As I left the after hours clinic on my way to the pharmacy to fill the prescription for TWO kinds of antibiotics, I looked at my throbbing, bandaged hand and said to Robert “no more”. It was just too hard on everybody, Molly was terrified, Casper was confused and now I was injured. We had given it an earnest effort and it just didn’t work. After the hand episode Molly went happily to live in our master bedroom alone, and Casper roamed the house alone. Her food, litter and toys are all in our bedroom, which may not be the ideal situation but as Robert says “you do what you have to”. I mean really, she's almost nineteen with 1/3 functioning kidneys, how much longer could she have...five years tops?
Casper has been introduced to three different cats since operation “meet Molly” failed. Each time I waited for the fur to fly and each time he welcomed another kitty into his warm embrace. Not one single hiss, growl, or snarky remark emanated from him, only loving acceptance and friendship. He took each newcomer under his wing and showed him the ropes. He really is our Goodwill Ambassador and almost solely responsible for the harmonious atmosphere amongst the boys. I thank my lucky stars everyday for Casper; our gentle giant.
Don't feel bad for Molly, she loves her bedroom oasis. Every single one of the boys has strayed into her territory at some point where they were summarily dressed down and informed in no uncertain terms that they were not welcome. She is a formidable old dame who "wants to be alone", and the boys have learned not to mess with her!
- White Wednesday
When Robert and I first started living together about eight years ago we had a cat crisis straight away. I had calico Molly who at the time was ten years old and at the height of her orneryness before she mellowed into old age and Robert had a white...
- Boys In The Bedroom
The boy’s lives changed dramatically after Molly died. Because she was very old and frail and sometimes ornery, she lived in our master bedroom exclusively. She did not like the boys and did not want to fraternize with them one bit. On the other...
- Versatile Blogger
The terrific TK and Squashies from TK-Furrever Home AND marvelous Meowmeowmans from Animal Shelter Volunteer Life passed the Versatile Blogger Award this way and we thank them both very much for thinking of us. As I did it earlier this month, the cats...
- The Name Game
Last week I saw a really neat post on House of Cats called The Name Game and I thought I would play too. So, here are the explanations of how my babies got their names: Molly – I always just loved this name. I had an Aunt Molly who was very close to...
- Molly And The Toenail Caper
I have the hardest time cutting Molly’s toenails. The other cats don’t seem to mind it that much, in fact Casper is so mellow that I can hold him on my lap and clip his nails by myself. Ben and Archie are a bit squirmier and require a twosome for...
Cats
Molly in the Bedroom
I’m fairly certain that Molly would have preferred to live out her twilight years in tranquil solitude. She has not forgiven me for bringing Casper into the house, and reminds me of this every time she sees him. She is just too old to accept anyone new, and she is still carrying a hate-on for other cats from her early days. The shelter warned me all those years ago that she must be an only child, and boy were they right. We tried for about nine months to integrate Casper and Molly using all the proper techniques, but to no avail. Casper, ever the gentleman, took numerous beatings from Molly and never raised a paw to her. He also suffered through her hissing, swearing and derogatory comments in the hopes they would become friends in the long run, but it was not in the cards. Much to his dismay, our attempts to assimilate the crazy calico and his mellow moggie self ended after Molly bit me badly while in a blind rage during one of their supervised encounters. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, but she was panicking and I tried to soothe her by putting my hand on her back. Casper was in front of her and she probably thought there was some danger coming at her from behind so she lashed out and bit my hand, hard. As I left the after hours clinic on my way to the pharmacy to fill the prescription for TWO kinds of antibiotics, I looked at my throbbing, bandaged hand and said to Robert “no more”. It was just too hard on everybody, Molly was terrified, Casper was confused and now I was injured. We had given it an earnest effort and it just didn’t work. After the hand episode Molly went happily to live in our master bedroom alone, and Casper roamed the house alone. Her food, litter and toys are all in our bedroom, which may not be the ideal situation but as Robert says “you do what you have to”. I mean really, she's almost nineteen with 1/3 functioning kidneys, how much longer could she have...five years tops?
Casper has been introduced to three different cats since operation “meet Molly” failed. Each time I waited for the fur to fly and each time he welcomed another kitty into his warm embrace. Not one single hiss, growl, or snarky remark emanated from him, only loving acceptance and friendship. He took each newcomer under his wing and showed him the ropes. He really is our Goodwill Ambassador and almost solely responsible for the harmonious atmosphere amongst the boys. I thank my lucky stars everyday for Casper; our gentle giant.
Don't feel bad for Molly, she loves her bedroom oasis. Every single one of the boys has strayed into her territory at some point where they were summarily dressed down and informed in no uncertain terms that they were not welcome. She is a formidable old dame who "wants to be alone", and the boys have learned not to mess with her!
- White Wednesday
When Robert and I first started living together about eight years ago we had a cat crisis straight away. I had calico Molly who at the time was ten years old and at the height of her orneryness before she mellowed into old age and Robert had a white...
- Boys In The Bedroom
The boy’s lives changed dramatically after Molly died. Because she was very old and frail and sometimes ornery, she lived in our master bedroom exclusively. She did not like the boys and did not want to fraternize with them one bit. On the other...
- Versatile Blogger
The terrific TK and Squashies from TK-Furrever Home AND marvelous Meowmeowmans from Animal Shelter Volunteer Life passed the Versatile Blogger Award this way and we thank them both very much for thinking of us. As I did it earlier this month, the cats...
- The Name Game
Last week I saw a really neat post on House of Cats called The Name Game and I thought I would play too. So, here are the explanations of how my babies got their names: Molly – I always just loved this name. I had an Aunt Molly who was very close to...
- Molly And The Toenail Caper
I have the hardest time cutting Molly’s toenails. The other cats don’t seem to mind it that much, in fact Casper is so mellow that I can hold him on my lap and clip his nails by myself. Ben and Archie are a bit squirmier and require a twosome for...