Dr Sands asked me to try playing games with the cats and he would get a report with advice to me as soon as possible. He also took some photos of the three cats and I hope to put them on this page eventually. The following are the reports I sent to Dr Sands today:
Thought I would start with a report for you today. The girls spent
most of the morning and early afternoon in my bedroom. ...oh forgot
I woke up in the night and went to look for Max and Amber. I thought
maybe I had the cat flap set wrongly. I hadn't seem Amber who was
asleep where Candy has been when you saw her. Candy was on the bed. Max
was in the
lounge asleep on the armchair by the window! I fed the girls
in the kitchen and went through to the lounge. Max must have gone
back upstairs. He went out without food.
..Max came in this afternoon. I was in the kitchen and could see
him. I opened the door and brought the food through to the lounge and locked
the cat flap. I went and fetched some dry food and soon after Amber appeared.
There was no sign of Candy so I closed the door and thought play!
I had bought a couple of new things this morning. They liked a rope
with a bell on it, they must have been able to smell the cat nip as they
both liked it. I had something else call a CatCharmer by CatDancer
products. It was on a stick and behaves like the ribbons that
gymnasts use. Both cats liked the charmer. I let it go from
one to the other and they both played with it. Max did some hiding
behind the armchair and then again by the window, he checked that there
was nothing open. Amber did most of the playing but Max did come out from
time to time to have a play too, although he was never very near Amber.
I really enjoyed the session and hope the right situation will arrive again
soon. I
eventually needed to leave the room and didn't like to leave them locked
in together on their own. Max immediately went to the door and I felt I
ought to let him out even though it was raining.
I have warned Jenny and the family not to let Max in and to shoo him out when he does get in. Of course the son said he never let him in!!! Jenny says that Max has taken to sleeping on their car and she has noticed that when he hears me come home he often leaves straight away. She also said that when the children come home Max is usually close behind them.
Another neighbour tells me he saw Max fighting the other day in the field behind the houses. He said he was on a fence and he assumed it was candy or Amber. It wasn't. When the cat eventually appeared from the undergrowth it was another black cat.
7.30pm
Jenny came round with Max this evening. She seemed upset.
She said he had done lots of crying outside her house. She had had to close
the curtains and turn her radio up high. She even went upstairs to
try and drown him out. Anyway when she brought him in I hadn't fed
the girls. I picked up a tin and took it through to the lounge.
The girls soon followed me, although Amber was slower than Candy!
What surprised me was that Max came through too! He didn't stay very
long when he realized the girls were eating. I then fed him in the
kitchen. He obviously didn't stay long though!
I went upstairs to look for him. He was on the window ledge in my bedroom. I had taken my CatCharmer and he seemed keen to play although he never moved off the window. The girls soon followed us and so I closed my bedroom door and we played for half an hour. Every now and again the girls would take a rest. One the whole Max would play if I flashed the charmer near him and occasionally he moved where he could see the others. I opened the curtains slightly so that I could see him and he could see what was going on but there was still plenty of room to hide. A few times I thought the girls were going to join him on the window. They both also had a turn at going near the edge of the curtain as though they were going to come up against Max from the back. As I was still playing they never quite made it that far.
I rang the bell a few times with rewards as Max has not had very much
experience of it. This was the china one. Again I had fun and
I think the cats did too. Amber and Candy chased the Charmer together
and watched whilst Max had his turns too. I really didn't think I
would ever get the chance to play with all 3 without placing them where
I wanted but that is twice in one day now!!
I didn't see Max all day. I went round to see if Max might be at Jenny's. Just as I was leaving Max appeared. He was very nervous about coming in. He must have been starving as it was nearly 7.30.
The cats got together in the lounge but Candy firstly and then Amber
both had a go at Max. Candy did it a number of times. It was
over food and over playing. Max did come out a few times but was
very anxious. They didn't like Max playing with the CatCharmer at all.
It basically asked me to let Max take over my bedroom which meant that
I now lock the girls into the small bedroom at night. He is to be encouraged
to have the run of the house. I have to try and find opportunities
to play with the 3 cats together without forcibly putting the cats into
a room together. The cat flap is to be locked at night, which it
was before anyway. I am also to avoid too much attention with any
of the cats so I have not to cuddle and stroke too much. Max is to
be fed before the girls are allowed out in the morning. I have not
to allow too much rubbing up against me which is what Amber does all the
time.
Last week I wrote to Dr Sands as I was delighted to wake up and find Max and Candy asleep on my bed. I had just stopped trying to lock the girls up. I found that it was easy if Max was already established on my bed but harder if not. The girls always follow me into the bedroom and I like Max to be settled before we disturb him. For two nights Candy joined us on the bed and the cats stayed like that most of the night. Actually the second night Max had wandered around and come back to the bed when Candy was already there. Since then Max has tended to go back downstairs to his favourite armchair. It has been too difficult to stop the girls coming in my room. Dr Sands thought that this was a sign that Candy and Max were beginning to accept each other. I am not sure how much was caused by Amber being asleep somewhere outside the bedroom door!
This afternoon I have been cleaning and tidying the house ready for my brother and his daughters arriving. I went upstairs and found that Max was asleep near my pillow and stretched out too! Amber was asleep at the foot of the bed. A couple of nights ago both girls joined Max on my bed. They stayed there for a couple of hours before Max suddenly leapt off the bed and ran downstairs.
Max is still very worried coming into the house. He sits outside the cat flap thinking for ages before he comes inside. But there are still times when he surprises me by coming inside and not just to the kitchen but into the lounge. He has a good wander round but if he sees one of the others it is very rare that he will stay. He is more likely to stay a short while if he is in the lounge first.
There have been more occasions recently when I have managed to feed all 3 cats together which is one of the aims. Max still avoids playing if the girls are around but having said that for the last two days he has joined in for a few minutes. Like the girls he likes the cat treats he gets afterwards!
Dr Sands said that I and my cats are definitely being featured in his
Rescue book. He hopes to send me copies of the photos he took soon.
Hopefully I can them put them on here.
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