How are all the cats?

This week, it will have been one year since we took Moki to the veterinary behavior specialist outside of Charlotte.  We changed our approach, we added drugs, we consulted with a non-vet behavior specialist by telephone, we added Spirit Essences.  Each of the changes we made had a positive effect on Moki - some big and some small.  She is no longer attacking us, or Lu. In fact, yesterday, while Norris was out, I was in the studio with Lilly and came out to get a cup of tea to find this scene.

They were snuggled up and sleeping on the bench right outside my door.  

We are extremely happy to have Lu. Every day, sometimes twice a day, Moki gets to be in the house which means Lilly is in the studio.  But Lilly panics if she's left alone.  If one of us is not available to be with her, we have Lu to babysit.  If it means he's locked in the studio, it works best if he's sleepy, but everyone gets treats when we have them swap places, so they don't complain.

Here is a scene from the dismantling of the Christmas decor.  Lilly still has kitten behaviors and occasionally wants to play beyond the limits of Lu's patience, but they mostly live harmoniously.

 Lilly is particularly challenging as a photo subject in the winter. With her pretty blue eyes, we get a lot of red-eye shots, which make her look quite devilish.  Here is one photo where she was not looking at the camera.  This box is just her size.

Just now, she tried a new perch and was looking very pretty there - but it's been dark and dreary so the flash was required for a photo. Automatic red-eye reduction with the camera has no effect on the way her eyes look in a photo. Automatic  software meant for human eyes leaves her eyes gray with red rims, but better than untouched.

Lilly has an endearing personality and we enjoy her antics. We'll keep working with Moki, and keep our steps at introductions to an extremely slow pace.  It probably took 4-5 months to get Moki calmed down, but she now has a better relationship with Lu than she had had in a few years, and she has learned to accept Lilly's presence in ways she previously could not.  As recently as a couple of weeks ago, she made threatening gestures at Lilly during a meal, but those are far less aggressive than they had been even last fall.  Another change is how quickly Moki recovers after she gets upset for any reason.  Formerly, any time she attacked in Lilly's direction, Moki would withdraw in anger then become lethargic for a day or two.  Now, she seems to be completely over it in a matter of minutes.  We have to measure progress in little changes like that to continue our efforts.