On cats

[bunn]

This weekend we had not one but 2 cats with hairballs - Henning and Footie. This bears special mention because I can't remember the last time any of them had hairballs - ages ago, certainly. I think the food they are on now has helped: it's not an anti-hairball formulation but none the less the number of hairballs has gone down to almost 0 since we switched, even for Henny, who is hair enough that you'd think he'd get them often. Apart from this weekend of course.

I held Henning down and brushed him all over, removing a small Henningsworth of fluff to prevent a recurrence. He likes having his beard groomed, but not his stomach or back legs, so he was not happy about this, but I gave him no option.

This sudden display of firmness seems to have brought dividends - this morning Henning was at full tilt chasing poor Footie up the stairs when I shouted 'HENNING! NO!' To my considerable surprise, Henning stopped and ran the other way, leaving Footie to make good his escape. Yay, I am Master of Cats. At least, momentarily...

Our cat hierarchy has switched again. The Bengals have been demoted. I think it now looks something like this:

Perl
Henning
Yama Suma
Kjetil
Footie

though actually I'm not sure that works, because it doesn't take into account the 'pairs' system - Perl and Footie are a pair, despite being at the top and bottom of the tree respectively, and Henning and Kjetil are a pair. Also Kjetil will assert himself against Bengal lunacy if sufficiently provoked, though it doesnt' come naturally to him.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Somewhere or other I've got a huge book of photos of dogs interacting, with interpretation of their interaction by a behaviourist. It's strangely fascinating.