Goes Somer * Goesomer * Gossamer

Up 'til tonight Coco has been nothing but a remarkably tolerant fluff ball whose only vice is attention seeking behavior, like sleeping on my head or lying down in front of my laptop keyboard for petting.

Until tonight; tonight, when Statan possessed Coco. 

It think it's multiple things. For one, Coco does not like hard food. I put it out for her along with several different food options when she was sick and not eating, including boiled raw chicken, ground beef, milk, and chicken baby food. This was in the hopes she'd eat something. Except now she's had the taste of deliciousness and doesn't want hard food. I've cut back on the special food and mixed the hard food in with the soft. She eats around the hard bites. 

So she's a picky eater. Not necessarily a bad thing. She's of a temperament to allow me to clip her claws, put drops in her ears twice a day, and shove two different types of medicine down her throat every morning. She's done all this without more than the customary protests and attempts not to hurt me, but merely to escape. The only scratches I've gotten from her have been from over-zealous kneading pre-clipped claws. And it's not like she doesn't know Ampersand's in the house. When I carry her from the bedroom I've got her quarantined in to the bathroom where I give her meds in the morning. The see each other. Does even an ounce of her body tense? Do they exchange angry words? Nope. They watch, carefully, but without menace. 

Except tonight.

I've been careful to try an split my time. After all, I work a regular job and am gone most of the day. I spend about half my evening eating, watching TV and playing with Ampersand, then the later part of the night with my laptop at the table in my bedroom with Coco. The door is shut to that room, and being Phoenix and summertime, it gets warmer than I'd like even though there is a vent. So being that the cats are surprisingly good, I cracked the door. Stupidly, I did not pay close enough attention and apparently, they were on either side of the crack. Coco had some strong words--angry meowing followed by hissing. But there was no exchange of blows and I shut the door very quickly. 

Coco wound down after that. I took out a feathers on a stick toy, we played. She hadn't touched any of the food. I hung out on the laptop, petted her for a bit. But I needed to shower and wanted to watch a little TV and spend some time with Ampersand. So I did. About 9:30, all of that was settled, so I took my laptop again into the bedroom and for awhile things were good. I brushed her, play with the toy more. Sat down to read some fanfic while petting Coco (or trying to read it around Coco lying down on my keyboard). Then I remembered that I needed to do her ear drops, so I left to get the meds and when I came back in the room Coco shouted at me (she's been doing this more and more). But she allowed me to put meds in her ears and I left again to return the meds to the fridge. Except this time when I got back, there was more shouting and when I sat down, she knocked over some of my dishes and I was all, 'well, fine, she's upset. Let's put this in the kitchen and since she's got to be hungry, bring her some chicken baby food' then when I came back there wasn't just angry shouting, there was a furious Coco, eyes dilated, her angry shouts evolving into full-blown hissing. I sort of tossed down the bowl of baby chicken food, which she delved into and gathered up my laptop to flee--between om noms she made angry meows at me. 

I'm not sure what to make of this. Coco is just getting her health back from a very bad week. Her stress levels must be sky-high. She seems like the kind of cat who needs/wants lots of attention. While she was sick, she didn't need as much, but now that she's feeling better and she hasn't been getting it, she's angry. And maybe it just struck home that there's another cat. That's getting all of the attention she deserves. Maybe she got more and more frustrated every time I left. 

I went back in there one more time to grab a sheet, a blanket, my humidifier, and shut off the light. And sprayed some Feliway around. There was some meowing, but it was of the variety I've come to expect from her upon my entrance. I googled some stuff on cat behavior and what I came across all says that for unwanted aggressive behavior, it's best to withdraw attention and affection. So. I'm sleeping out with Ampersand tonight.

At least I know she won't kill me in my sleep.