Sunday, January 14, 2007

Muffin Spitfire

From the desk of Mama Piggy:



Muffin showing why he is called The Terror.

Kootoo and Milo were absolutely clueless as to why he is behaving like a deranged kitty.

We managed to "trap" Muffin and he is now isolated in our room.

If he calms down (which he did for a while when the other two cats were kept in the room), we'll try and bathe him so that at least he smells the same as Kootoo and Milo.

I am so stressed out by this behaviour of his that I am developing a cold. Dammit.

13 comments:

Singapore Community Cat said...

Perhaps the sounds triggered memory from the day when he was a stray kitten at the mercy of the elements, and at the mercy of human culminating in being splashed hot coffee.

Kootoo | Muffin | Milo | Mama said...

Hmmm, plausible explanation.

Anyways - we consulted Phyllis today and she advised that we wipe Kootoo and Milo with a towel, and transfer their new smell onto Muffin.

kuro.shiro.neko said...

oh dear, hope muffin calms down soon.

get well soon, mama piggy!

Kootoo | Muffin | Milo | Mama said...

Things have improved somewhat. Muffin and Kootoo can come into relatively close contact with one another, but Muffin would sometimes flare up and hiss at Kootoo. But Mama Piggy has come down with full-blown cold :(

auntie p said...

I hate it when they hiss like that...like they're being so ungrateful.

calsifer said...

Oh dear. Hope things smooth out soon.

Things may seem really bad now, but try to look at it with a bit of sanguinity.

If it helps, you might like our ordeal for reference. We went through a very painful and very pessimistic 8 months of reintroduction after Bam Bam tried to kill Teddy a few years back, when they were both about 3. Teddy had been in and out vet care for about 2 weeks for bladder stones before this. Bams surprised us with how vicious he was because they are littermates and we've had them since they were about 2 months old. But something did work in the end. There was truce. But things have never been the same. They used to be inseparable but now they only barely tolerate each other.

It was very difficult to go through the process of reintegrating them because Bams nearly crippled his mum, btmao, with a bite to the hand during the process during one of the attempted play-sessions, and nothing seemed to work. Our vet at that time couldn't offer any good solutions either. We tried all sorts of silly stuff, for eg, tuna oil on the forehead which only managed to give them bald and smelly foreheads for a few weeks. They looked ridiculous and they both knew it.

It was a horrible time for all, but at least we're still together.

So, if we can make it through that, there's hope for KMM to settle down again soon. =)

Take care, Mama Piggy.

Kootoo | Muffin | Milo | Mama said...

The thing is, why does Muffin "pick on" Kootoo? Muffin got cosy with Milo very soon after his initial nerves, and by last night, the two were playing catching. But put him together with Kootoo, all hell break loose. But I did think that Kootoo probably freaked him out. When Muffin first saw Kootoo when the latter emerged from the shower all wet and drippy, Kootoo DOES look like one giant rat. Rats.

KXBC said...

Is it my laptop but I can't hear Muffin Terror hissing in the video?

calsifer said...

Well, it could be a case of transfer/association of bad things to Kootoo due to his cries in the bath, and his new smell and look emerging from the bath.

"The Cat Who Cried For Help" by Dr Nicholas Dodson, or similar titles, may offer some insight. The book details case histories Dr Dodson, a vet has seen. It's about cats with behavioural issues that are seemingly inexplicable and unsolvable.

Quite a few of the cases talk about how a cat became viciously agressive toward men or women, or specific people, and the cause was deduced to be caused by frustrated territorial instincts that was triggered by a passing cat on homeground. Just so happens the person or a person was in the vicinity and the aggression was transferred to him/her/them... usually it wears off after the cat calms down, but for these particular cats, it just went on and on.

The prescription is invariably, behaviour training to dissociate the victim(s) from the cat's aggression and medication to facilitate and speed up the treatment.

With monster Bamster, we think it was panic and fear caused by Teds' sudden disappearance (before this, the only time they've been apart was when they were being pea-ed) and the strangeness of his scent when he came home. Plus Bams seems to have a suppressed ambition to be the cat in a one-cat family. That episode just happened to be the trigger for his inner monster. At that time, we had Joey and Milly in fact came some months after, but they were largely ignored by Bams. Bams used to terrorise Joey until he found the new target in his bro. Another side-effect was that Teddy, who used to babysit Joey and play with her on occasion, took to terrorising her. The dynamics were in flux and later it changed again when other events descended on us... Yes, we're a messed up bunch... but anyway!

I don't think Muffin's case is that serious. This is just rambling empathy for harrassed cat mamas. :)

Sure hope this helps in your getting a grip on what's eating Muffin. (can't decide if the pun exists or not)

Kootoo | Muffin | Milo | Mama said...

You keep monsters, Calsifer!!! Thanks for the info, extremely helpful for frazzled cat mamas :P

kxbc, the basic camera i used to capture the video has no mic. But Muffin does a mean silent hiss too :)

calsifer said...

My secret shame exposed. SIGH!
That's why our monster pics are always solo cats, and Joey is alone cos there was no couch for her psychological wounds. Well, now that we have the tabby clannies, it's not so awkward cos we finally get pics of bunches of cat :P

hee glad the info helps, even though it stirs the pot more

cat_aunty said...

Maybe Muffin is just jealous of Kootoo, who has a better physique, enhanced by the shower.....:-P

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