So it's day 3 now with all the critters in the house. Things are starting to get better. HOORAY! Well except getting ALL of the doggies outside for the feeding routine, that's more like a chinese fire drill. I think it's easier to herd cats personally.
Got home last night from work all the dogs were outside and my brother was starting the supper routine for me. And my 2 kitties were sitting on the stairs with very confused expressions on their faces. They finally went in to eat when I went back there and called them. We got the doggies dishes all ready and set down. Now, his doggies didn't eat breakfast really and we withheld free food during the day so they would be hungry for supper and pick up the routine that much easier. Hey it worked! Once the initial confusion died down where Corny's and Biscuit's bowls were and who got what, there was much smacking of doggie lips and slurping to be heard. No one left a crumb anywhere. Polished dishes and they all went out fairly orderly after supper. YAY I thought.
My brother had gotten the Feliway during the day and we plugged that in to settle the cats more. And so far that seems to be helping.
After we let the doggies back in, my two kitties had returned to the upper levels. We played a bit with Corny who is obssesive about toys and playing all the time, we finally got him to settle down. Djinn decided to brave coming downstairs, but lo and behold there was a very large black and white scary beast laying on the floor between the stairs that he was on and his mom, me. I thought perhaps he was trying to figure out how to get past the fur to get to the litter box. So my brother put Corny outside. Djinn quickly figured out the fur was outside and made a beeline for me for loving. That worked until we let the dog back in, then poof cat disappears or teleported. It was so fast I am not sure which.
Last night worked much better with the dog / cat situations. But last night Yummy and Chronic had another discussion, verbal, no fighting, just lots of talk. Then Yummy came back upstairs and slept with us. But my brother reported this morning that then Chronic, who is more nocturnal than my two, got very active and explored everything and played with anything he could in their room, disturbing their attempts to sleep.
This morning was an adventure unto itself. I let my pooches outside, fed the cats, and had planned to not bother my brother and his wife trying to get his dogs outside with mine. I figured he could feed them outside later if need be. I know, lazy of me right? Well my brother woke up, and brouught his dogs out to put them outside, of course my crew thought it was time to come back in and I hadn't even gotten to setting up the dog food bowls yet. After much wrangling, and us pleading with the dogs, we got them all outside. Got their dishes set up, opened the door and let them in, and it was that damn chinese fire drill all over again! Everyone had to find their bowl and check each other's to see who got what and if we wanted to be a piglet and eat a bigger portion, well you get the picture. Got them sorted out with minimal fuss, they chowed down, checked each other's bowls looking for leftovers before we could get them back outside again. "Sigh" I can see this will still take a few more runs to get them down pat. But overall it was all good natured and worked out ok.
Good news this morning, my two kitties are doing much better about coming downstairs and while wary of the 2 new dogs, they are much better about them and are realizing they aren't going to be eaten or chased.
Hope supper this evening goes smoother, so we'll see.
