Kitty Journal 49 - Sherbet, Salem & Slim

Oh my, I haven't written anything in quite awhile. It's been weeks since I last typed something in here. Oh well, let's recap what has happen in my household since mid April. After Slim got better from his neuter surgery, I still kept him in the cage separately. I still worry about feLv and FIP that he could have carried as a stray. Though he still makes a lot of noises (especially early in the morning), I endured it all for the sake of my two other boys. I have to say Slim is still the stinky boy in the house, phew his poo and pee could make my nose fall off (laughs).

One nice morning, I was boggled-eyed to see Slim running around with my two cats. I practically woke up and caught him and put him back into the cage. Male cats are so energetic, he even manages to open the cage door ..

Another same situation happened while I was preparing canned food for them, suddenly there were three cats by my feet mewing for food. I was taken aback for awhile and laughs later on. Seems somewhat harmless since all of them were eying the plates of wet food in my hands. After handing everyone their meals, I put Slim back into his cage.

April 28th, I took Sherbet for his 2nd vaccination and Salem the next day for his annual booster. It all went well, but the next day Sherbet had watery eyes. I thought that maybe something got into his eyes but after some examination, nothing was there and his eye kept on oozing clear liquid. On Saturday, I brought Slim and Sherbet to our vet for checkup and 2 in 1 (feLv & FIP test). The good new is that Slim is negative on for both disease and Sherbet had a mild case of fever (suspected from the side-effect of vaccination). Bad news was, it sure burned a deep hole in my pocket! (smile sheepishly). Upon the good news, I decided to let Slim out of his cage and mingle with the crowd at home.

At first they avoided each other but when I whip out the dangling toy, Slim and Salem forgets about everything else and played to their hearts content. Though I noticed Sherbet shying away every time Slim pounces the toy near him. After awhile, I had to go out with my family and decided to leave all of them in the cat room. Less than 5 minutes, the cats broke into a fight. The sound was almost alien in my house it took me a few seconds to realize it was coming from the room. I quickly open the door to the kitty room while my family stood aghast. Salem ran out, disoriented and fur standing on all ends. Sherbet was engaged in an all out battle with Slim, wrapped in each other ignoring everything else. I armed myself with my trusty fly swatter and a spray bottle. A squirt at them and they broke apart, Sherbet ran under the bed in my bedroom while Slim hissed madly and bared his fangs at me. I closed the kitty room door and braced myself for a showdown. Slim was spitting mad, from his body language I can see he was aggressive defensive. Touch him and he will swipe at me. I hit the fly swatter on the floor to scare him and after awhile, sprayed water on him at an angle. He dashed into the cage and I put in his litter box and close the cage door. Let him calm down.

My bf who came over helped me calm Sherbet down and called him from under the bed. The rest of my family was laughing at cute Salem with his fur standing on all ends, going back on forth in front of the room. Seems like he can't make up his mind either to help big bro Sherbet or ran for his life. We all agreed Salem is always the cute one. After thinking for awhile, I realized Slim has to go through a series of rehab. He has been on the street for quite awhile and god knows how his last owner treats him. I decided I will let him out of the cage on days I am free, to watch them mingle and accept each other. But Slim will definitely be in his cage when I am not around the house or sleeping. It will take weeks or months for them to accept each other but it's the only way. My bf asks me if I want to give away Slim but I told him firmly if Slim is unsociable, giving away is useless. He might get aggressive with new owner, their household, other pets, gets thrown away or send back to me. It's better for him to stay with me so I can train him and care for him.

Today is the 3rd day I let him out of his cage. He seems to mingle well with Salem, they chased each other around the house and tag each other. I don't see any aggressive behavior between those two so far. No hissing or standing fur or even wide swishing tail. Salem is a very friendly cat and always looks for a new friend. Sherbet is somewhat reluctant. I figured he would be tough to accept new cat in the house since he's the first cat in my home, and he knows it. Although I'm not sure whether he sees Slim as a prey or a predator. Slim would try to get closer to him but he'd run away of growl (I heard it once). I'm guessing Sherbet would need sometime to realize Slim is another friend and family. It will take some more time for them to accept each other. Integrating an adult cat to another adult cat is not an easy task in my opinion. They can be somewhat territorial and defensive. I guess it will take some patience and love to make the integration smooth. I wish them well and I hope this will wield a positive result in the end.

Oh yes, these are the latest picture of Slim. Though he's no longer 'Slim', he's actually a bottomless pit. I had to hide all the kibbles from him whenever I let him out of the cage. He'd eat any food he sees..