DH suggested we try an experiment last night. We locked Ringo out of our room, locking Waffles in (because she sleeps with me). That ended the occasional late night cat fight under the bed when Ringo attempted to come or go from under the bed. He was left in the rest of the house with Misty (dog), Louie and Culley (cats). For the first half hour or so, he scratched at the door in an attempt to get back in, crying. He eventually stopped. All was well all night until Misty barked a few times early in the morning. When I got up and opened the door, Ringo cautiously came out from next to the couch and came in to say good morning. He smelled of Rosemary, why I don't know as he's wearing a lavender calming collar and I don't have Rosemary in the house. He seemed happy, tail up. I fed him and he was starving! I locked Waffles in the cat room while Ringo ate and everyone seems "normal" right now, although none are doing their normal morning stuff (Waffles is usually in her heated cat bed, Louie asleep on the top of the cat tree, Culley sleeping beside the couch and Ringo under the bed. Well, Ringo is under the bed.) I bought one diffuser and have that in my bedroom and I have a few more on order from Amazon which I'll get tomorrow. I'm thinking of putting a calming collar on Waffles.

Sounds like a good experiment, Allison. Good luck with the continued calming.... Animals are so funny....

I'm reading a fascinating book right now that a coworker lent to me called Merle's Door: Lessons from a freethinking dog-- it is awesome so far... true story about a writer who lives in the wilderness and he adopts a dog that has been living in the wild-- very insightful about how dogs think and behave, nature vs. nurture, etc.

Allison - sounds like some success with the kitties. Hope it continues to help.

I mowed my lawn yesterday in an effort to wind myself down tired enough to sleep. Enough with the pollen already.

I had a little more kitty success last night. I decided to put a calming collar on Waffles. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being asleep and 10 being kitty crazy like they do from time to time, she was around a 7 at the time. I put the collar on her and she suddenly became a 3! She stopped hissing and chasing Culley (Ringo was still in hiding). She was relaxed and stopped running when we approached her. Amazing. That said, Ringo (probably afraid of being locked out of the bedroom again) refused to come out from under the bed last night. We'd already decided not to lock him out. Now I feel bad--like we punished him.

Anymore kitty updates, Allison?
Good thing Waffles will wear a collar-- my Charlotte won't. We put one on her once and she acted like she was paralyzed. She literally refused to move for almost 24 hours until we gave up. Needless to say she rushed to the litter box and the food bowl immediately!

I got my pheromone diffusers yesterday and put them around the house. I'm not sure if they're helping or not. Last night, I pulled Ringo out from under the bed for his nightly brushing session. He disliked being pulled out, but loved the brushing and attention. Then we went to bed to read and Waffles jumped up with us as usual. Ringo jumped onto my nightstand, so that is a good sign. There was a little confrontation, but nothing serious. When we turned the lights out, Ringo continued to move about, jumping on the nightstand and onto the bed and off again, clawing from time to time on the bed skirt--basically being a noisy nuisance. Waffles didn't seem to be bothered by it, but it kept me awake. Yeah, it kept me awake, but it also made me feel better that he was moving about instead of staying under the bed.

This morning, when I brought his food in, Ringo was on top of the bed instead of underneath and later DH said Ringo was up and sitting by the sliding glass door. Both good signs. Today, the housekeepers come and I wanted to be home to watch the cat interaction as they usually all hide under the bed together, but my office assistant has to go home early to prep for an emergency colonoscopy scheduled for tomorrow.

Allison - random question - do you have a pair of Tieks? My FB keeps telling me you like them, but have you actually worn a pair? Glad the kitties are doing well.

Nope. I may have at one time followed an ad for them from Facebook but I don't own a pair nor have I "liked" their page (if they have one).

Thanks, Allison!

I had some cavities filled this morning. They numbed me at 10:15, and I still can't feel my face from my lips to eyes. It is most uncomfortable. I really thought it wore off faster. Meh.

We have a bit of a turnaround with Ringo kitty this morning. Thursday evening, he peed on DH's pillow (good news, no crystals and a lot of pee, so the only issue is peeing in inappropriate places). So we decided no more bedroom for him unless we're in there. Friday morning, we got him out from under the bed and closed the bedroom door so he had the rest of the house with the other cats (also closed DS's room because he has peed on the couch in there). He went berserk. He actually went outside via the dog door, but sat on the patio and cried. I finally brought him in and he sat by the now closed dog door pawing at it to go out. When I got home, he was under the family room couch but seemed okay. Last night, at about 2:30 am, he came into the bedroom "singing". It was a happy noise as if to say "I'm here, I get to go under the bed again." This morning, we pulled him out and he didn't like being shut out of the bedroom, but he's not hiding. He's drinking water and actually asked for his paw gel--something he hasn't done for over a month! Waffles came in the room and there was no hissing or growling!

Allison, that's great news about Ringo. For me it is always a lot of extra stress when one of our animals is sick or somehow not right. It's a big relief when they get better. I bet you are feeling good about it!