Cutting a Deal

I think all parties have come to an agreement. We humans are just not going to mess with trying to get them together again  - for a long time. They have both adjusted to the new routines; there is only minimal howling about it, both cats seem happy, healthy, and content, and there is hardly any fighting at the door anymore. So why fix something that's taking care of itself?

They obviously don't want to hang out anymore and we have the space to respect their decision without having to give either one away.
So there you have it. A kitty divorce that could have been so much worse.

Solitay Confinement and Weight

Ever since Idi doesn't chase Flecki  through the house anymore, they've both put on some weight. It does Flecki really good because she was kind of bony before. Idi often wouldn't allow her to eat and chase her away from the food bowl. It's only now that we realize how much it impacted Flecki. :(
Idi on the other hand is looking more and more like a Rugby ball. We tried to encourage exercise (running the stairs up and down - she usually follows me wherever I go) but she looks like me like I have gone mad.
I guess it's time for some dietary changes. Flecki will continue to have access to food 24/7 and Idi will just have to put in some fasting time throughout the day and the whole night. Hopefully DH is going to add some play time again as well. I am no good at that stuff - they get bored with me.  
Both felines are otherwise content at this point - even though there is the occasional paw-and-scratch-episode under the door if I don't pay attention. I think they both just want to be single. Kitty divorce is what we're dealing with here!

Who will be Sleeping in the Basement?

 

For a while we kept one kitty locked away in the basement over night, mostly Idi. There is lots of room down there and much to explore so we thought we did her a favour.
But she didn't really like it very much. She was crying and scratching for hours.
So we decided to set up cat-shop in the master bedroom and ensuite. Less room but nice and comfy.
The first couple of nights there was still a bit crying - this time outside the door, but now they both got used to the new arrangement splendidly. We took turns to see how both cats would adjust and I can say that both are quite content. You don't find one sitting right at the door anymore like we used to. There is no meowing and scratching and they just go about their daily business as usual, only by themselves. Sometimes we have to search form them now, because they've found new and unusual hiding spots.
Things are looking good!

(We don't let them near each other, though. The grudge still seems to be unresolved. I am just not in the mood for another Lara Croft experience, thank you very much.)

Miss Goody Two Shoes

Well, turns out that Flecki is not the sole victim in this whole mess. Whenever she gets a chance and thinks about it, she sneaks up to the door where Idi is locked up to start a new round of Cat Fight.
I guess it's true what they say: it takes two to tango.

How it all Began

It was the summer of 2002 when we adopted Flecki and Idi. We had just moved into our first house and I really, really, REALLY finally wanted to surround myself with feline energy once again. Growing up I always had cats but once I left home I lived in smallish apartments that wouldn't allow pets. Plus I was just so busy, adopting a furry friend hadn't really occurred to me.
I was so eager to go pay the Humane Society in Toronto a visit to see what's what. I kept nagged and pushing DH because I had this feeling that we would miss out on the two cats that were meant to live with us. "Let's go, let's go, let's gooo already!!"
So we finally did.
Looking around in the cat section of the shelter was heartbreaking. So many friendly felines looking for a good home. Some kennels had short bios attached to them. I tried not to look too closely as I would have taken all of them home. Suddenly DH shouted - and I'll remember those few words forever - "there's two in that kennel!" Bulls eye! Those must be ours.We took a closer look. Aha. Uhum. Crystal and Patches. Crystal likes to be brushed. She (who is now Flecki) paced back and forth in the little space, saying hi to everybody, doing all the "marketing". Patches aka Idi was one level below, just sitting there with eyes closed. We asked the staff how they ended up here. They wouldn't say, only that they "came as friends".
Long story short, we took the two home.
Little did we know that Idi was severely sick. She started puking and drooling about 12 hours after we brought her home. She wouldn't eat or drink. I guess that's why the staff at the shelter asked us numerous times to take them to a vet straight away. They did not tell us that Idi was sick. Kind of not nice. But we wouldn't go and return her now. It turned out that she had a severe inflammation of the uterus, most likely because she had been fooling around with some stray cat-lover. We took her to the vet who said that she was in really bad shape. She had to stay at the animal hospital for about a week and the staff there was very worried that she wouldn't make it. One of the girls even went over to the clinic at night to check up on her. How sweet of her! But what a nightmare. $ 2000.00 and 7 days later we decided to take her home. She was clearly suffering at the hospital, locked away all by herself. She is such a social cat and the staff noted how gentle she is and even though she was so sick she would always say hi whenever somebody entered the room. When we went to see her, she literally had tears in her eyes. I've never seen such a thing on a cat. She was miserable, lonely, cold (damn air conditioning cranked up to the max) and she just had to get out of there immediately, no matter what would happen.
Since she wouldn't eat or drink, she needed infusions and had to be force fed. DH and I shared those duties. The force feeding really got to me after a while. I felt that it was wrong, that no one should be forced to eat. But we also couldn't just let her starve. DH had better nerves and took on feeding duty. We must have done it for about 10 days and finally she started eating on her own.
Hurrah! She'd made it! It was a close call and I still refer to her as our miracle cat today.

Here a few photos of the two of them when Idi had just returned from the hospital. They hadn't seen each other for quite a while and sure had been through a lot of upheaval.

 Wow... they were so small and frail back then...

I almost forgot how affectionate they were with each other in the beginning. I still can't believe what's currently happening. Never, ever did I see this coming.

Cat Barn!

So I spoke to a friend about my predicament and she suggested the Cat Barn!
I didn't even know a thing like that existed. There seems to be a nice lady up north who takes in difficult cats. She has a large barn with lots of cages and a lot of room. First she tries to get them adopted but when that fails, the cat just stays at the barn.

Weeeell, thank you for the suggestion, but no one in my house is going to the cat barn. It's a nice threat to use on them, though! ;)

The Beaten Ones

We've never had wounds like this in our house. This is no fun, eh, Flecki?