We just free feed dry food. Then, small amounts of wet food at two meals. Yes, Sammy might well hoover it all up, but that will stop after a bit.
The dry food might well be easier, but Bruiser doesn’t like it. Not to mention I just laid in a substantial supply of wet food destined for all three. Oh, well, I don’t plan to try to integrate the household until Barnaby is feeling safer with me, and while he’s now tolerating me being within a yard or two of him it’s still with deep suspicion. Also, I need to vacuum their rooms, which I’m sure is going to freak him out again and set him back. Two steps forward, one and a half back.
Another update:
Small progress: This morning when I went up to their lair Sammy as usual was in the doorway looking down at me as I walked up – but was that an ear I saw behind him? Yes! Barnaby was only a couple of feet away, and didn’t flee when I entered the room.
Now, to be fair, I was late, they’d eaten every scrap of food I’d left late last night, even the kibble, and wanted their food NOW, but still. Barnaby continued to hold his ground as I passed by him, to and fro, watching but not flinching as I did the morning chores.
I bought an eight-pack of cat toys a few days ago and tossed them out on the floor. Since then their positions have changed, and I hear scampering now and then. One or the other does use the litter box on the second floor but other than that they seem content to stay on the third floor.
I really, really need to vacuum that room, but I know that will scare the hell out of Barnaby, and Sammy will probably hate it too, so I’ll just have to wait. Monday the house cleaners will be here, and I’ll keep them confined on the third floor with the door up there shut, but even so the noise below will probably upset at least Barnaby.
I sincerely hope this thread runs longer than the “Trump is dying” one over in the pit.
Sweeping it might, or might not, be less disturbing. Of course, depending on what’s on the floor, it might not work as well, though it would probably accomplish something.
However, while it’s quieter, you’d effectively be waving a big stick around. Maybe try just carrying a broom in there first?
Or take the cats to another room while you vacuum?
Actually, neither one seemed bothered (beyond Barnaby’s basic distrust of me) when I did try to sweep. Not that the broom did much. It’s a soft-bristled house broom, though, so I should try the tough black broom I have in the basement, the kind I used to use for sweeping and stalls and aisles at the barn when I had horses.
Meanwhile, I can report on the cleaners’ visit:
B&S survived the invasion of the house cleaners. Their top floor door was firmly shut and their Fortress of Solitude was not breached. When I went up to check on them an hour or two later, they were their normal selves.
So I pulled out the stick vacuum on the third floor and started roaring around sucking up the fur, litter, and whatever on the rug. Sammy bolted down to the second floor, where he hid under my work table. Barnaby fled into the bathroom/kitchenette and huddled behind the litter box. I did not vacuum in there.
I got up most of the crud but will need to grab an old hairbrush to remove the stubborn twists of fur that refused to be sucked into the vacuum.
I put down fresh food and left the two sufferers huddled in their hiding places. When I went up again a few hours later they were back to catloafing in my reading chair and had licked the dishes clean (or at least Sammy had). I gave them their late supper servings, and Barnaby, ever watchful, nevertheless permitted me to walk within a foot or two to get by him as I was leaving, then joined Sammy at the dishes. So there’s that, at least.
Today they’re about the same, though Sammy is not as frantic about food; while he does greet me licking his chops and dives right into the servings, he seems less intense about it. Perhaps he’s realized that each meal will not be his last. Barnaby is still not fleeing when I pass within a foot or two of him, as long as I keep moving and other than speaking softly don’t try to interact with him.
All very encouraging.
If Sammy’s already getting less frantic about food, that problem will almost certainly go away with time.
All my cats (except the deaf ones) have always fled a room if a vacuum started running in it. As they’re back to normal in that room shortly after, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be a problem either.
I have one very large boy cat, who is kinda the Alpha, but he is a lover, not a fighter (his alpha domination is mostly pushing the other cats away and eating their food- when we are not looking). Anyway, either he thinks he has to look brave or he is just that laid back, he doesnt run away from the vacuum- unless you get reallt close.
My old guy Bruiser isn’t much bothered by the house cleaners, he putters around the house or goes and finds a napping spot out of their way but isn’t at all panicked.
Have you checked their hearing recently?
I do suspect his hearing is somewhat impaired by his crumpled ears (long-term mite infestation when he was a stray) but he can hear well enough to be aware of the vacuum. He’s also blind in one eye, but navigates his world just fine. His arthritis is well-controlled by monthly Solensia shots. Bruiser is just a laidback guy.
Yeah, the big guy can hear.
OK. I should know better than to think there’s anything that all cats will do!
There are always exceptions, but every cat I’ve ever witnessed around a vacuum in use has fled in terror, consistently.
Sounds like pretty good progress! Congrats, and keep us updated as things develop!
Your cats are probably getting better medical care than I am. I may (or may not) have arthritis in one leg but have been postponing diagnosis for more than than two years!
Unfortunately there’s no Solensia for us humans.
Today’s feline report:
Bruiser – still eating very well since his dental, pretty much everything I offer gets eaten, though not all at once; he’s a back-and-forth diner, but definitely consuming more at each meal. Normal litter box usage. He’s not happy about getting ear drops and eye salve but we’re both surviving the administration. I was given three syringes of pain med for oral administration if needed but he’s seemed so comfortable I haven’t given any to him. Currently camped across my shins as I sit in the recliner; he’d be in my lap if the lap desk and laptop weren’t in his way.
Sammy – Still camping at the top of the stairs, licking his chops, when he hears me come in on the second floor, and giving me a tiny near-silent chirp as I arrive. Lots of leg interweaving while I fix the food, loves head and jowl skritches. If I spend some time on the second floor working in my office he comes down to nag me about coming upstairs to feed him. Still very food-focused but not as frantic about it. Rejects any attempt to pick him up.
Barnaby – Not much change, though I can pass within a couple of feet of him now, as long as I keep going, and sometimes he’s waiting near the top floor doorway when I go up to them. Still slinks when he moves away from me and watches me the whole time I’m moving around.
I did spend a few hours yesterday upstairs with them, sitting in my chair and reading, with a few trips to the kitchenette to make another mug of tea. Barnaby spent the whole time in the cat cave across the room but after a bit relaxed enough to close his eyes and doze. Sammy catloafed near him. A couple of times Sammy came to me for petting but showed no interest in jumping into my lap.
And so it goes.
This is actually still early days. The feral cat that my friends turned into a lap cat spent the first year or so mostly hiding out in the rafters of their basement.
It’s possible Sammy just isn’t a lap cat. One of mine isn’t. Very much likes being patted, and will come and sit next to me; but hates being picked up, and doesn’t sit on laps. One of the others will climb up you if you persist in not picking him up. Lots of variation.
I have a lap cat who runs if you try to pick him up. But he feels safe if he climbs into a lap. I have a very cuddly cat who doesn’t find laps very comfortable, but likes to sit next to me, and likes being petted. And tolerates being picked up. I have a cat who sits on my shoulder and drapes himself around my neck. He likes to lie on his back in my husband’s arm and be held like a baby, but he doesn’t trust me as much as my husband. I have a cranky old lady who likes company but doesn’t much like being handled, not even gently stroked. But she wants to be in the same room as us.
It’s all over the board.