September 18, 2005

• *mumble* *grumble*

  Fog, in my head and out
  the window… leaves falling, and the ones still on the trees are
  spotted with brown, decaying before they fall.  Not the yuckiest
  time of the year, that title goes to breakup, the season that passes
  for spring in Alaska, but yucky enough.

  At least it is peaceful in here right now, because Doug took Hilary and
  her extended family into his room with him at 4 AM when he went to
  bed.  In a comment on my recent blog, my sister-in-law, SheWhoRemembers,
  said that Hilary’s aggression toward Koji is showing that she wants to
  play with him.  Yeah, right, the same way cats like to play with
  their prey.  I will cut her some slack because I know she is a cat
  person, not a dog lover.  I will also give her the benefit of the
  doubt and assume that she didn’t read the two earlier blogs in which I
  described Hilary’s aggressive behavior.  She has said in comments
  that reading my blog is a waste of her time.  I’ll even say thanks
  for the laughs.

  Doug and I both got a good laugh out of that comment, but for Koji it
  isn’t funny at all.  After he was traumatized from being stomped
  by the moose, he suddenly became protective of his food and water
  dish.  Now he has not only the four adult cats freeloading off his
  rations, but there are four kittens nosing around his dish, too. 
  At one point last night while Koji was out on his chain, two kittens
  had their heads in his water dish, one was pawing the kibble out of his
  food dish and the fourth was batting them around on the floor.  If
  they get near his feeding station while he is in the house, he growls
  and charges over there and scares them away.

  Any time Koji comes near a kitten, or one of them goes near him, or
  when the kittens wander away from Hilary so that Koji is between them
  and her, she attacks him hissing and clawing.  His snoot is scabby
  from days of wounds, and is so tender that he won’t let me touch
  it.   I’m thinking that it might be a prudent move to turn
  Hilary and her family into outdoor cats before Koji loses an eye. 
  But for right now, while they are all locked in Doug’s bedroom, all is
  quiet here.

  I enjoy quiet peaceful birthdays.  I have had a few horrendous
  solar returns in my life, enough to make me a little apprehensive as a
  birthday approaches, wondering what’s in store for me this time. 
  Numerologically, the coming year is a seven for me:  initiation
  and metaphysical goodies.  I’m prepared for that, have seen it
  coming.  My inner life has taken such a big turn that I  have
  a sense of dislocation or disorientation sometimes when I come down to
  earth and notice all this old “outer” stuff still here.  I guess
  I’ll adjust.

  UPDATE, about 2 PM:

  Thanks for the birthday wishes, and thank you BettyC for the laugh:

  “Animal boundaries and issues are fascinating. We
  have a gigantic neutered male house cat who is easily three times the
  size of my dog who is a senior citizen and he is scared to death of my
  old dog.”

  Yeah, ferocious little Hilary can’t weigh much more than 3 pounds, and
  Koji is about 70 pounds, but she’s determined to make life miserable
  for him.

  Doug got up a few minutes ago and let the cats out of his room. 
  Koji was asleep on the bed, and Hilary went right over and started
  whacking him with her claws.  He growled and snarled in response,
  she backed off briefly, then jumped right up on top of him and whacked
  a few more times.  Her attacks are swift and sneaky, and every
  time he bares those teeth and growls she backs off. 

  She just doesn’t stay backed off very long.  Maybe if he’d bite
  her… but that could be fatal and he won’t do it anyway.  When he
  was a pup, Doug and I taught him bite inhibition.  When he feels
  threatened he will make all sorts of growly noises and snarling faces,
  but his bite is just a gentle mouthing.

  He’s over there on the bed now, looking alert, puzzled and sad.  He doesn’t understand what’s going on.
  

  • 2:58 pm
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