Coping with a combattant cat

Last week, we took Moki on a long trip to see a veterinarian specializing in companion animal behavior. We like our local vets, but this kind of advice was beyond the scope of their practice.

Since our return, Moki is taking a small dose of fluoxetine to relieve anxiety. It may also curb aggressive outbursts. It can take 1-2 weeks to have an effect, but 60 days for full potency. She's been on it one week, and other than some lethargy for a couple of days, we are not seeing much effect on her. She's over the lethargy now.

We had kept the cats completely separated since the first week in January. Last week after the consultation, we started feeding Moki and Lily on opposite sides of a closed door, just as we did last fall. This time, we are to make sure Moki is comfortable with it for at least a week before we move to the next step. For this reintroduction, there will be a lot more time at each step for desensitization and counter-conditioning. For now, we are preventing Moki and Lily from having any visual contact other than mealtimes.

Here is Lily, eating outside the door. We have taken away Lily's Kitten-only feeding station so she is hungry when we set these meetings up, currently three times a day. The cardboard box to Lily's left fits behind the green carrier on her right, and covers the crack under the door when the cats are not eating.



Notice the markings on the large box just delivered, sitting in the foyer. In this next photo, Lily is checking out the new box - it's about one foot by two feet by three feet, and quite heavy. Some assembly required.
Another change Moki's specialist emphasized was bell collars on all cats. This will make it hard for any cat to sneak up on another cat, for the day when we finally can put all the cats in a room together. Moki now makes a pretty jingle wherever she goes.



Lily is still a little too tiny for the adult collars we found, and the kitten collars are made of elastic but don't have the same kind of safety release. Lily was catching her toes or lower jaw in the collar, so she gets a temporary reprieve. Lu pounds the floor when he walks, so we probably aren't going to bother him with a bell. Lu gets along fine with both Moki and Lily and doesn't even stealth-attack lizards.

Lastly, we continue to take Moki outside for walks at least every other day, and we swap cats: Every couple of days, we let Moki have the run of the house for several hours, while Lily stays in the studio with someone, as she does not like to be left alone. We always use the cat carriers to make this swap so there's no chance of an altercation. Moki now asks to be let out of the studio by going into the carrier.


Unfortunately sometimes during these swaps, Moki just worries about Lily and wants to come back in the studio. We can only do them when both Cheryl and Norris are home.

Moki's specialist told us we will have to be very patient with Moki - it could take nine months to get her to accept Lily.