What a wonderful thread to read. Did not reply at first as Oscar is an only child and I really have no experience to offer on the subject. What struck me is the wonderful, kind advice freely given and the determination of Fifi28 to use that advice to get the right outcome. Just love this forum, it literally changes cats and owners lives for the better By the way Sherry, think that is the very first pic of the famous and may I say very gorgeous Raiden I have ever seen. Hendrix and Jagger look so soft and cuddly together.....were they coming down from catmint heaven?!! Hope 'The Blondes' (Gracie and Blondie) are still enjoying their cat cloud paradise!

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Melissa, thanks for your comment on Raiden. To me he looks like most other bengals. What has impressed me with Fifi, is that they aren't giving up! I know that the women who wants to rehome her bengal in California could work things out so that everyone could live happily with the new baby, however, she has her hands full with a baby -- and I just don't see how she could take the time to work on things. Fifi admits it's been a rough road, but at least things are moving fairly fast for them. Sometimes these things can take months and months.

What lovely, lovely replies to this thread. You have all been amazing with me and for that I give you all thanks. I am determined to make it work, because of the support I am having on this forum.

I am very, very dedicated to the animals I own. I was a vet nurse when I left school so have a massive passion for all animals. Any that I have, I train and give 100% love and commitment.

It is incredibly important for my children to have animals in their life as I did as a child. I want a bustling happy family life. Olly is an incredible cat. He is so loyal to me and follows me everywhere. Kiara is a little angel and together they bring so much happiness.

I will write an update when I get back from the vets! I am in a bit of a rush, so chat a bit later when I get the kids to bed and the cats seen to.

Thanks again!

We all do our best here to be supportive and offer the best advice we can. Many posters come on here frantic and stressed and need answers. Most of us only have experiences with our cats to go by. We don't want people to give up so easily. There are solutions to every problem. I do watch My Cat From Hell and learn a lot from Jackson Galaxy. Almost all the problems posted here have been spotlighted in one or more shows. A lot of it is common sense as well, but many cat owners can't see that for all the stress and problems. Our job is to bring the common sense back to the cat owner. I think "time and patience" is the #1 thing we say. Much more can be accomplished if you're not in a rush and you're determined to make the effort. You are a prime example, Fifi!!!

I have had cats my entire life, but none more challenging than the two unusual kittens I adopted last September. This forum provided me with all the answers I needed to raise my 14 month old kitties. They are the happiest cats I have met, and i credit this forum for all the great advice that helped me raise them and provide them with the essentials they need to flourish.

Jill, we always appreciate the advice you offer as well! It's a total group effort here.

Sorry guys, been mega busy. Just at work at the mo so will give an update later but olly will be ball less by Monday night! Poor wee guy. X

Well, Olly may not feel like playing much for a couple of days -- which will bide you some time. I guess next will be Kiara getting spayed! Your vet should recommend that you keep Olly fairly quiet and not let him jump everywhere -- and pain pills, if you get any, are pretty fun to administer to a cat! I've tried everything including the pill poppers and for me, it's easier to pop them in their mouth and make sure they swallow the pill.

Good luck on the pill front! I am sure we have all read the funny 'How to give a cat a pill' ! I must have read it loads of times and it still make me howl with laughter at how true it is! Good luck Olly with the op

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Hey guys, right I have a spare 5 mins! Lol so olly is more easily distracted now but he still love playing with her. They greet each other with a mutual groom then he plays. But she can't always be bothered so I Seperate them but when she is in the "mood" she has great fun with him.

They where both at the vets last night and discussed it with her and she was really good and said he is a boy and they like it "rough". She said she has a few cats and her toms are by far the naughtiest and extremely rough however she did say that neutering will help calm him down with her as will maturity.

He gets way to excited and it's time to time out. However it's becoming a little easier now. But I am still working really hard with them. I need to be there to protect kiara until she is big enough to give him a good slap when she has had enough.

I have a day of tomorrow and will get pics up. I took them on my iPhone and they are mb rather than kb so need to re size them. Not quite sure how to do that. Desperate for you all to see them.

This forum and all you lovely people have helped so much. It's wonderful and slightly addictive! Hahaha! I just hope that I can help you in the future.

My next thread will be a discussion on how cat proof my garden! Lol

Xx

Time.... time is all it will take. Neutering should calm Olly down just a little, although you probably won't even notice a change. Kiars will continue to grow and mature -- and she will definitely smack Olly good when she feels like it. Just the fact that they can be together is great news.

Cat-proofing your garden is a wonderful idea. Cats love being outdoors and it's best to have a safe environment for them to be out there. Google is your friend and you can get a ton of ideas. I know a guy who apparently enclosed his entire backyard for his kitties. That's a little much. They need only a small area with bushes and grass and a way they cannot climb to get out in the open.

Well sherry, olly is out in the garden at the moment as I have 6 foot fences all the way round, however it won't be long before he can scale them. He loves it and plays out there all day. Took the little one out in my arms and she is desperate to get.out there. After weeks of research, by far the best and cheapest way to do it would be to run hanging basket brackets around the garden fence and run nettting to give it an over hang of about 30 cm. I can then run solar lights and feed pretty stuff through the netting to make it look pretty. I don't want my brand new garden looking like a prison. The threads I read had great sucess with it so I.hope it's enough to keep them in.

Cats can be great escape artists! Make sure your two are microchipped in the even they eventually get out. Nobody wants their garden to look tacky, but try to do as much as you can to make sure the kitties stay inside the garden and cannot get out. I don't know if the Purrfect Fence will work with wood fences. You might want to check. All you do is add the pivoting unit to the top of the fence and the cats cannot get out!!! Google it and read up on it.

Well had my peak, now I am having my trough. Olly is driving me nuts now. He just won't let up in her company and it's driving crazy. He is back to hurting the hell out if her and pounding her. Seem to have taken a step backwards. He is destroying my livingroom when he is harrasing her. So feeling a little deflated.

It's cooler today so maybe some of his energy was sapped by the heat we've had in the UK and now he's a bit hyper! I've been here as well but your vet is right, things will get better with maturity and of course tomorrow he has the snip!

I would actually give myself a timeout, shut myself in a room for 15 minutes if mine were driving me bonkers. You could go into a room with Kiara and give both of you a break. You will be removing his stimulation and he may quieten down. When I did this, when I went out of the room I was giving myself a break in, I'd find them curled up together looking like butter wouldn't melt.

It may be worth giving him hard play with flying frenzy before he interacts with Kiara each day, use up some of that energy of his, or give him some playtime in the garden. We sometimes take flying frenzy out in the garden as you can really throw it around out there, or we'd run round the garden with it and get them chasing you, hang it from a tree out of their reach and they'll spend ages jumping up at it. It's all about draining some of his energy before he gets time with Kiara while she's still smaller than him.

You will still get good and bad days, but you definitely are getting there so don't get too down.

He may get the zoomies after being at the vet and the anaesthetic. I can remember Hendrix needing an x-Ray as a kitten as he had fractured his paw. Obviously he should have been resting it, but he went totally crazy and charged around and beat up Jagger, who actually hid from him in the end. So you need to see how he reacts to the anaesthetic when you get home. Hendrix was better the second time he had an x-Ray to see how bad his loose kneecaps are, but we got him back much later that day and he was older, so it's hard to say how Ollie will react. So a good excuse to keep him confined and give you and Kiara a break!

Keep your chin up, and keep us informed. You'll have another good spell soon I promise!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK