Hey you guys, don't forget, if you see a good-news story to submit it to [link]

Yes, please make me stop looking up cheerful(ish) things. That's not who I am.

Suzi, I'm glad you're getting a nurse to look at it! Hope it's nothing major.

Fred Pete, that's one lucky kitty. May s/he bring much joy and love to your home.

Which reminds me, I could use some advice on integrating cats. We just got a new kitten two weeks ago, and he has charmed everyone he's met, except for our other cat, Worthington. New kitty (whose name is Chesterfield) is somewhere around 3-4 months old and very affectionate, playful, and well-socialized. Worthington, on the other hand, is not so well-socialized, despite having lived with other cats when he was younger. (It's been three years now since he lived with another cat.)

We kept them entirely separated for two days, then let them interact with supervision. This seemed to be going great for a week, until W. attacked C. last Wednesday. No one got hurt; I was right there and pulled W. off and shut him in the bedroom, but now I'm nervous that W., who can be pretty high-strung, will attack again. We've gone back to very limited interactions, and we put C. back in the bedroom at the least sign of aggression, and I guess we'll just have to keep doing that for a while, and hope we can gradually increase the amount of time they spend together. Is there anything else we should be doing, O Hivemind? Has anyone had a similar situation?

(Dr. Google led me to a site that told me that "once things go wrong between cats, they rarely go right again!" so I think I'm also looking to be reassured that we can eventually make this work. Can't we? It's only been two weeks -- surely we haven't screwed this up already, right??)

Heh. If it's left up to me, it will turn into a food, cats, and Sesame Street blog, which isn't quite the same thing.

If it's truly up to me it'll be shirtless men and bacon. Fighting my nature--well, you see what it's led to.

Suzi-OUCH! Healing~ma.

Cat integration..we've had a house guest since September 1 with a non-social cat (Billy). There was hissing and baring of fangs, but Billy and Elpheba were tolerating each other over a shared bowl of kibble this past weekend. So...just over two months of adjustment time.

Condolences, Anne.

One thing that can help when they are in the same room,is that whenever you pet one cat, say the other cat's name in a loving voice.

Also, some jumping-on is to be expected. If it's a sudden jump or a dominating stance (grabbing the other cat by the back of the neck) then W is trying to tell C whose house it is. C may cry piteously and drmatically but it's just them working things out. However, if there is lots of stiff-legged staring and low-throated growling and hissing, then a REAL fight is in the offing and that can be dangerous.

As long as no blood is drawn, I would let them work it out for themselves. If it gets more serious, then a handy water bottle and spray every time anything untoward happens.

Is Toastmasters a cult?

PS I AM SRS

Yay! That is one lucky cat.

My thoughts exactly. Yay for new kitty, FredPete.