Karla's Kolumn: Life with Cats, Chapter 2

So I’m outside with the kids – you know all five of my fur kids – and we’re taking a walk and enjoying the weather this weekend.

I see Fluffy, one of our newest cats just sitting and enjoying herself and then I see Chuck, the oldest, start walking to her. They are friends so I think nothing of it until I see him open wide and just pounce on her biting her neck like some vampire kitty.

Fortunately, or not, Shadow was waiting to break up a kitty fight (I think she is disappointed when the cats don’t tussle on her walks) and she did just that. Fluffy looked perturbed at Chuck and Chuck looked perturbed at … well, everything. Isn’t that what cats do … look perturbed.

As you can tell by this writing, yes, Fluffy and Tigger were let loose from the loafing shed a little over a month ago.

We let them out for about a week but locked them back into the loafing shed at night, letting them just get used to the outside surroundings. Then we opened it up and brought them to the house to be fed. We feed them at the house so cat food is not left out, enticing skunks to come and venture onto the property. Yes, we learned from our last mistake when Buddy and Chuck came to our home about five years ago.

My husband said, feed them once at the house and they will know that is where they get fed. I thought to myself, no way. No way just feeding them once will work. Hmm. He was right. Next morning for breakfast there were three kitties waiting impatiently.

Tigger is the loudest of the bunch. The kid has a mouth on him that’s for sure.

But feeding three cats, even with three separate dishes proved to be challenging as it seemed each one was trying to prove dominance and in the end Fluffy and Tigger, being younger, sadly push ole Chuck around.

I have to admit that my heart broke a little bit when one morning I went out to feed them – giving them canned food every morning. Fluffy and Tigger were there so I fed them and hollered for Chuck. He comes running around the corner, sees Fluffy and Tigger and turns and walks away.

He went back to the back door so now Chuck is special and gets his breakfast at the back door and the other two are fed at the front.

I know I could try and force it and just let them work it out on their own, but well I can’t.

You try to talk to them about the importance of sharing, about not being a bully, about not eating other people’s, well I mean, other cat’s food, and well it just seems to go in one ear and out the other.

Maybe that’s why Chuck bit Fluffy that day – for her shoving him out of the way to get to his food. Payback.

On Tuesday at lunch, Chuck and Fluffy had a face off of sorts. Shadow and I were watching in case there was another tussle. Chuck was walking toward Fluffy and if cats could walk like the cowboys in the old westerns before a duel, well that’s what it reminded me of. Fluffy tried to stare him down but in the end decided it was not worth her efforts that day and she turned and moseyed away, tail flying high in the air (her tail does that, which I think is one of the coolest things I’ve seen from a cat).

So ends another chapter of Life with Cats. Tune in soon for Chapter 3.