Dear Fisher,

I am Bella and my house mate is named Dante. Dante is an 18 lb gigantic sweet retard. I am a 9lb aggressive Tortie. We have been good friends for five years, but then I had a serious bout of redirected aggression the week before Thanksgiving and our people are very upset. I turned a scary situation around on Dante and now I’m the one afraid of him. He loves me but if I do anything to act out at him again, he will happily finish it.

Our humans have separated us and are slowly reintroducing us to each other. All is going slow, but well, and they think we will be OK together before they leave for Valentine’s weekend, but I can tell they are still scared to death to leave us alone. We do have a cat sitter coming in but our people don’t want us to get hurt if we backslide while they are gone. What should we do?

Bella

Dear Bella,

I have to surmise that your little bout of redirected aggression was an outright catastrophe (no pun intended). Your people are going to great lengths to keep such a display from happening again and they obviously want Dante and you to resolve your issues as soon as possible. I cannot help but wonder if injuries affected egos only or if bloodshed was involved. Either way, you must now help your humans regain their confidence in you.

The one thing to know about redirected aggression is that there is an underlying cause. Sometimes it is the result of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The “scary situation” caused your adrenalin pump to turn on and you acted out. The concern is not so much what you did, but what caused you to do it. Paying attention to the original underlying source and working to change it, will help solve the problem.
Some suggestions for your people to prepare for Valentine’s weekend:

1. Desensitizing your fear of Dante by leaving the two of you alone in the house for varying periods of time. If the house is intact and there are no injuries, reward with treat or new toy.
2. Give individual attention to each in the presence of the other. Then give pets to both at the same time.
3. If cats are not “getting it”, put both in time out, possibly through mealtime. If cats rush to food bowls in unison without confrontation, problem is close to solved.
4. If confrontation takes precedence over late lunch, contact pet sitter and extend getaway weekend.

I highly recommend your people take a look at Pet Wave. And for you two, remember Valentine’s is a celebration of love and friendship. Go ahead. Give peace a chance.

Your friend,
Fisher

I am so honored to receive The Scribbler Award from Marg’s Pets!
Marg, a wonderful and dedicated animal rescuer, shares her stories with us. Some days you laugh, some days you cry – but you always know a lost animal has a true chance of a better life when Marg is in the picture. Thanks for passing this award along to me!!!

This award has been going around since 2008. If you wish to read more about this award, please visit Scholastic Scribe.

Here are the rules of this award:
1. Each Superior Scribbler (S.S.) must pass the Award onto 5 most deserving blogger friends.
2. Each S.S. must link the author and name of the blog from whom he/she received the award.
3. Each S.S. must display the award on his/her blog and link to this post, which explains the award.*
4. Each S.S. who wins is asked to visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List (I am still working on this) so they can keep up-to-date on everyone who receives The Prestigious Honor.
5. Each S.S. must post these rules on his/her blog.

My staff and I have chosen to pass this award along to:

I Have Cat, Holy tuna! You are going to love this one.

Mr Hey U, a very smart cat who works tirelessly to inform us of animals with disabilities.

Sugar the Golden Retriever, a very feisty, fashionable, funny and fabulous Retriever!

Sparkle, the award winning author and super model cat with a great sense of humor.

Pet Care Education, for all pets, wonderful information direct from Sly, the Cat Care Guru

Please stop by and say hello to our fellow critter!

That’s the directive I have been given, anyway. Ran across one small foxpaw. Oops.
Your friend,
Fisher

Dear Fisher,

I have a small problem. I am a cat who likes to steal my mom’s shoes and bath mat. I will chew on them and then drag them to my food dish. Sometimes I will go months without stealing them and one day I just got to get that shoe or bath mat. When I do steal a shoe or bath mat my mother gets very mad at me. Help – what can I do to stop this?

Sid

Dear Sid.

You have quite a problem and I admit, one of the most interesting I have heard. I must disclose to my readers that we had a few more notes back and forth because my first thought was, how big are you? Then in a follow-up to that, I asked if your mother wears tiny shoes. To my surprise, you are a wee 4 to 6 pound cat, and no, your mother does not wear tiny shoes, and the bath mat is 12” by 32” with rubber backing! That, my friend is a fine example of what focus and intention can do for one small kitty.

People are often not aware that cats are very strong when they have a mission. The key here is determining the nature of your mission. Cats are by nature, hunter gatherers. Even when spayed, a cat may have fierce maternal instincts. Add to these the fact that cats really do know the value of their possessions. Yours are #1, your mother, represented by her shoes and bathmat. Your food dish, of course, is your #2 most treasured possession,.

If we look at each of the above, we can explore possible solutions:

1.Hunter/gatherer: Your mother could place little treats in odd places around the house, requiring much of your waking time to seek and destroy.
2.Maternal instinct: Shoes and bathmat could be replaced with small cuddly toys for nurturing.
3.Prized possessions: Move food dish into bathroom with shoes and bathmat – a shrine, if you will, saving your strength and her angst.

Two other possibilities are separation anxiety or boredom. Please visit Our Happy Cat Our Happy Cat to discover many great ideas for your entertainment.

In all my research, I found it is not uncommon for cats to haul around socks. Dirty socks are preferred. Some cats will choose all types of undergarments, and some have been known to clear out entire laundry baskets. This leads me to the conclusion that you, Sid, are definitely an over-achiever. Your mother may just want to appreciate that.

Your friend,
Fisher