Sunday,

Shelby hasn't been particularly conciliatory to anyone who visits here until this eve when my friend Dar came over and sat on the lounge chair with her. She let him pet her and sweet talk to her without flapping her tail in the process

My niece came over later with her 3 little ones, ages 9 mo, 2 yrs and 3 yrs. I was worried. But the cats seemed to be very interested in the kids, especially Sky. Tonight the two boys are sleeping on the mattress and Shelby is curled up between them.

Sky has discovered my LR closet and somehow gets on to the highest shelf and watches us all from this secret spot. We were all worried that he had somehow gotten out and went to search for him. After about 20 minutes I saw Keli head toward the closet and growl.

As soon as I saw him I asked him what he was doing up there and he leaped down. Keli thought he was rude and walked away ignoring him.

Sky Shel and Boo chased little plastic wiffle balls aroubd all night as the little boys threw them in all directions.

I finally got tired of all the excitement and hid the balls, but one. My grand nephew threw that one high into the air and it landed inside the 20 gallon dry fish tank. Sheby went after it. She was very persistent in trying to get to it. She could see it through the glass but since various other things were piled in there she had to poke and dig for it. After a while about half and hour I got it out for her and she chased it again

Sky and Shel still wont go into their cages. Maybe they are enjoying their freedom too much.

Getting Ready to Move

Saturday

Getting ready to move, Xavier put his single bed mattress in the dining area/study, standing upright against the wall. Shelby took one look, climbed up and perched on top, so she could have perfect viewing of her bird friends.

When Keli saw this, since she has no claws, she was very frustrated and tried to leap up directly to the top.

Shelby wasn't the slightest disturbed. Keli gave up in disgust and went to pout on my bed. Shelby couldn't figure out how to climb off the mattress though and came down face forward, which was very awkward for her. She realized we were laughing at her "gracefulness" and she made it a point to climb down backward from that point on.

Keli and Shelby occasionally will come face to face with one another in a doorway and neither one will back down so they can pass by. So they stare at each other, hurl a few hissing insults at one another and pretend to attack. There's a lot of paw slapping on the floor about 3 inches from each other. Shelby never extends her claws in these episodes. She could take one serious clawed strike at Keli and that would be the end of it. Since Keli is so insistent on establishing her superior position as the alpha cat, I frequently remove her to my room so everyone can co-exist in peace.

Skylar has let me pet him often and rubs against my legs when I'm seated. Then I pet him a while. He rolls onto his back like a kitten to have his belly tickled, but it must be done just so, otherwise, he hits me with his paws and we play. I don't want to encourage rough play until we are all bonded better so I just rub under his chin and he turns into contentment... the dead cat look.

Sylar shares his window occasionally with Shelby and Boo. He does most of his pacing on the sill in the evenings when he presumes creatures of the night are out there. At these times he would rather have the window to himself as he seems to feel he is on guard.

Keli sneaked up behind him and when he turned around to come back she met him halfway. They faced off, stared each other down, gave polite growls, but neither would give their ground. So they laid there nearly nose to nose in a staring contest softly whining at each other.

Suddenly Keli squinted her eyes and Skylar bounded off the window ledge as tho he'd ben struck by lightning.

I wonder what she said to him.

Not too long after, Keli was bored with the ownership of the window and climbed down. By this time Skylar was on the massage table giving Shelby a bath... washing her face.

Cat Babysits other Cats

Friday,
Skylar, Buddha and Shelby, all peaceably stayed together overnite in the LR, Kitchen, dining area. Keli slept with me in the bedroom, of course.

I put small paper cups on shelf with water in them so that Shelby would leave the birds alone. If she gets near the birds, she would have to bump into the cups which would tip over and she would get the water shock treatment that most cats hate. How many times can that happen before the cat decides to leave the birds alone?

In the morning several cups were on the floor and Shelby was lying cosily on a chair nearby, licking her wet fur, and carefully birdwatching.

Skylar shows no interest in birds except yesterday when I was cleaning cages and one flew out right beneath his nose. Sky would have flown right after the bird if he could have. But by this time all four cats were on bird alert.

Thank heavens, birdie was easy to catch... for me, that is.

Arrival of the Standish Cats

Skylar and Shelby Standish have arrived in their cages this evening. Their people are going away and we will be caring for them. They came out to play immediately, as they have been over to visit before. But, their cages were left open just in case they wanted to go back into them and rest on their own blankets.