Kitty City: Population, eight

September 19, 2008 by Phil Barron · · · Post a comment ⋅

There are times when we all seem to be doing well, and other times when we would just as soon sell off the lot of them for medical experiments.

This leaves Leon, the former stray garden cat and current prisoner in the TV room upstairs. Our efforts to find another home for the little lion have failed utterly, leaving us moderately ~~pissed off~~ disappointed but no less anxious to make a good home for him. Leon is anxious to enter the general population downstairs.

(Note: I am happy to report that Leon will have a permanent home with us. Leon is happy about it too.)

Jack’s yowly attitude toward Leon makes that a bit problematic (it takes just one angry or insecure cat to upset the whole feline group), so we are approaching things with care. We do let Leon out of the room when Jack is sequestered in the basement, and occasionally even let him outside (with our supervision). He also receives visitors, though the visits are not without the occasional dose of drama, as during this debate over rightful ownership of the top of the wardrobe.

On this occasion, Leon and Venice agreed to disagree.

And that’s the state of things in Kitty City. There are times when we all seem to be doing well, and other times when we would just as soon sell off the lot of them for medical experiments. Much patience is needed, and expended, on a daily basis. Fortunately, we are often reminded of how much we enjoy our furry charges and the companionship they bring.

Things will definitely improve, though, when we don’t have to schedule a week in advance to watch a DVD together.

Late add: Hi, Shakesvillagers! Thought I’d add that we purchased yet another cat tree - yes, that makes three. This one is for Leon upstairs. He likes it. I didn’t bother asking any PetSmart folks for help this time around. Went to the back, got the dolly, loaded the item, pushed it to the front, paid, loaded it in the car. We are becoming old hands at this.

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Filed Under: Featured
Tagged: Ars Domestica, Cats

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Comments

CommentsKitty+City%3A+Population%2C+eight2008-09-19+18%3A06%3A10Phil+Barron to “Kitty City: Population, eight”

Bitty on September 19th, 2008 3:54 pm

I’m exhausted just reading this!

My house is about 1000 square feet, and I once housed 8 cats: 7 inside, 1 outside. Two in my bedroom, two in my office, three had the run of the rest of the house. (The sequestered four were foster cats.)

Scooter has done his best to bully Jack out of the house, but Jack confounds him by utterly refusing to be intimidated.

I’ve experienced this. One of my late cats, Shadow, was the alpha guy. When I brought home (the also late) JJ, she was only a kitten, but she’d been living on the streets and I suspect gained some skills. Her first look at Shadow brought her love at first sight, but he was having none of it and started his usual belligerence and posturing. She responded to all his bullying by rubbing against him affectionately: Love me! Love me! Love me! He soon gave up and gave in. He bullied Molly to the end, but JJ was his napping/cleaning pal.

Jack’s yowly attitude toward Leon

Maybe Jack and Leon know each other from The Outside.

I’m down to one cat, a new one since all the others died, and it occurs that I’ve never blogged about him even though he’s one interesting dude. I need to get on that.

Have the cats all claimed specific perches on the cat trees, or do they share?
Phil Barron on September 19th, 2008 4:17 pm

Eight cats? That makes us look like slackers. You are then more than familiar with the cat shelter lifestyle.

Love me! Love me! Love me!

Awww! I love that!

M has wondered if jack and Leon have a prior relationship. Hard to say, though, and the carts aren’t talking. (Or maybe they are and we just aren’t grokking it.)

About the cat trees: Roxy has dibs on the top of the north tree, and sometimes uses the top of the south treee. Otherwise, the top of the south tree belongs to Baxter. Scooter never climbs, but will occasionally sleep on the bottom of either tree. Venice takes whatever level she feels like. Jack usually goes for the middle level of one tree or another (assuming that some other cat doesn’t complain about his presence), when he bothers with the trees at all. He seems to prefer the back of the sofa in the front room.

You should totally blog about your kitty. And your post about Molly really was moving.
john on September 22nd, 2008 8:52 pm

you are a genius and a friend to all the feline world- always heard they needed their territory, but who would think vertical. Maybe we can send Cheney and Palin vertical…
Phil Barron on September 22nd, 2008 9:09 pm

Maybe we can send Cheney and Palin vertical…

John, there’s not a tall enough cat tree in the whole world…
Kathy G on September 23rd, 2008 11:27 am

I thoroughly enjoyed your post. We only have TWO cats, and sometimes that’s more than enough!
Phil Barron on September 24th, 2008 9:25 am

Yes, even two cats can be a handful…if they’re the right kind of cats!
SplendidMarbles on September 25th, 2008 5:52 pm

Don’t I know it. We already have two cats, and are thinking of adding another two. The younger of the two brats would probably like a little girl-critter to chase him around the house, but my older fat bastard is just mean as hell. He used to beat up Little Man when I first brought him home but now that they’re both older the tides have somewhat turned. We’re hoping that the appearance of two little girls may confuse him so much they’ll have a fighting chance. And, yes- that book is great!
Phil Barron on September 25th, 2008 8:27 pm

The idea of adding two girls to balance your two boys (as opposed to two more boys or a mixed pairing) sounds good to me - but beware! Four cats can be more than twice the work of two. Of course, it does depend on the personalities. Good luck with the family additions!

In addition to Cat vs. Cat, we also have Johnson-Bennett’s big book, Think Like a Cat, which we’ve dipped into many times. I used to visit her forum at iVillage during the five years she was the resident cat behavior expert there.
Andrea on October 8th, 2008 9:15 pm

Eight cats . . .Wow, I’ve had three in one household and that was . . . Exciting.

I want a cat, but nahhhhh I don’t think Jim will go for it. *wry look*

I’ll just have to visit you and M, instead :-)

And speaking of that . .I am looking forward to meeting you two this weekend!

Andrea
Phil Barron on October 9th, 2008 9:49 am

I want a cat, but nahhhhh I don’t think Jim will go for it. *wry look*

Yes…I don’t see Jim and cats on the same page, not on a regular basis. :-)

Looking forward to seeing you two as well!
amandaw on October 11th, 2008 10:16 am

aahhhhh! i love the picture of baxter with the four other cats on the window behind him. lord of the manor, indeed.