While I lazed around after a horrible root canal two weekends ago, my incredible husband was busy building a cat wall in our bedroom as part of my continuing efforts to change the dynamic between ShiShi and Haku.  Since we first introduced four month old ShiShi to ten month old Haku, sibling rivalry has been the name of Haku's game.  ShiShi, on the other paw, always seems to tread extra carefully around him - just in case something set him off and he chased her screeching under the armoire.  Again. 
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My goal with this cat wall was to create enough variety of prime viewing/napping spots in my bedroom that Haku would stop his efforts to claim ShiShi's new sliding door perch, and hopefully finally let her be in our bedroom again in peace. (Non-climbing Haku had actually started making  the tall climb up to her new window hammock perch that I put together a few weeks ago, just so he could claim it.  Unreal! )
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It's not the most gorgeous decoration that has ever graced my bedroom, but shelf brackets plus an old kennel sling and a scratching post that has been very popular with both ShiShi and Haku have helped to turn our boring wall into a kitty palace.  Especially when coupled together with the sisel rope covered tree branch/hammock perch that I put together on our sliding door for ShiShi.   By this time I had become very picky about what I thought the cat's needs might be  -  I wanted to create an ease of climbing (for Haku), a comfortable variety of napping spots so that they wouldn't be fought over, all the while keeping the profile narrow so that we human's would still have use of our room.

Happy cats decorate my bedroom best of all!  I love my cat's company, and was sad when they first started carving our house into separate territories a few months ago.  And the improved situation between our cats is much better than I even imagined.

What we ended up with after a long day of drilling holes in the wall and cutting boards to fit has worked beyond my wildest dreams.  Haku is quite comfortable with the short climb to get to his new favorite cushy window perch, and ShiShi seems to have no problem with simply choosing another spot if he is busy claiming wherever she last slept (common territorial behavior for Haku). 

The reason that I say things are improved beyond my wildest dreams, though, is that the change in both cats' behavior over these last few weeks since that cat wall was built has been nothing short of remarkable.  With Haku's eating spot already moved to another room a while back, and with the addition of several prime new napping/perching spots in the bedroom, ShiShi's level of confidence around Haku has somehow soared.  And in wonderful synchronicity, he seems to be feeling less of his usual need to dominate her at the same time.

ShiShi is also obviously feeling extra loved and secure, because she has begun asking for cuddles much, much more frequently.  And over the last week especially, I've seen her frisking and chasing Haku when she wants to play!  The tables are dramatically turned there, because chase-time up until now has meant Haku chasing poor ShiShi until she was yowling for help from underneath the most convenient hiding spot.  Needless to say, Haku seems a bit befuddled by ShiShi chasing him instead and the invitations to play, but he's also still his same happy-go-lucky, cuddlebear self.  Just definitely less troublesome in his behavior with ShiShi. 

And in case anyone is wondering, ShiShi and Haku can still be found together like the Wonder Twins whenever there is any kind of mischief to get into!  If anything, it happens more than ever now.

It turns out that I have been nurturing a Houdini-inspired escape artist in my house, and her name is ShiShi.  I adore my dear cat with all my heart, but she has given our family several nasty panic attacks in recent weeks especially.  All but one resolved within a few minutes, but Tuesday night's ordeal will be living in our memories for a long time.  

Miss ShiShi has become frighteningly adept at hiding by the very edge of the front door (usually after dark) and then sneaking out in the shadows as we open the door to come inside.  She also keeps a close eye out for new openings in the aging screen that cages in our screened patio, and has snuck out while chasing lizards several times.

On Tuesday night she was missing for a horrific and terrifying 45 minutes before we finally located her - spotted mid-pounce on a lizard (of course!)  I'm all about learning from experiences like this to mitigate or prevent them in the future, and there are definitely a few improvements that we will be making in our cat security measures from now on.

I honestly believe that there is a good chance that we might not have found ShiShi this time if she hadn't had so much prior harness training around the perimeter of our house.   This belief stems partly from our own experiences with our last cat, Max.  Also, very sadly, from the many 'lost indoor cat' notices that I see posted throughout the year on lampposts, at the vet's office, and at the cat rescue I volunteer at.

When we moved to our current house with Max, we almost lost him just a week later.  He managed to slip outside and, even though we went looking very quickly, he had already roamed five houses up the street and was hiding in bushes, a silent shadow when we called to him from only a few feet away.  To this day, I bless my oldest son's profound determination and intuition in finding Max that night.  It almost didn't happen.

Max was already 12 years old at the time, and I wasn't even aware of harness training for cats.  (If only I had been...)  After that horrible night, we did our best to give him very short (minutes!) of supervised mini-escapes around our back yard/ sides of the house so that he would know where he was if he ever got out on his own again.  It appeared to work - when he broke through porch screens chasing a lizard, we found him waiting to be let in through the door.

Things got a little dicey around here with the kitties recently.  Haku (who has always been the dominant one) suddenly began doing his best to keep ShiShi away from my bedroom - a most unhappy turn of events.  It took several weeks for me to catch on to what was happening too - partly because a first his behaviors mostly looked kind of cute on the surface, but they weren't cute at all once my cat-besotted eyes opened to the problem. 

To be fair, Haku's behavior really did resemble the whisker kisses that those two have always given each other when they've been apart.  But, this time it actually was Haku laying his 'big boss cat' scent on her head by licking her whenever possible, irritating her into moving along if she was sitting or laying down, and finally chasing her to the other end of the house whenever he could instigate it.   He also began guarding the bedroom door, and would instantly lay claim to any spot in the room where she had happened to sit.  

Needless to say, once I figured this all out I was NOT happy - but I also wasn't sure what needed to be done.  It took some 'think-like-a-cat' time before it all came together in my head.  Or, in this case, think-like-Haku time.  And what does that cat care most about (besides cuddles?!) FOOD!

Both kitties have always been fed (twice a day, raw diet) in my bedroom - it was easiest to feed them there for various reasons.  Only now the always-insecure Haku was guarding the source of all his favorite foods, and making ShiShi completely depressed and anxious in the process.  Not to mention ruining my evening quiet time with both of them.  I crossed my fingers that changing the food dynamic would change the behavior.

So, I instituted Plan Bring ShiShi Back to the Bedroom- a double-pronged attack on the behavioral issues at play.  First, I moved the cat tree that Haku is always served his meals on into my dining room - instantly taking away his biggest reason to guard the bedroom.  Then I worked on creating a space near my bed that ShiShi would love, but feel 100% safe from her pain in the fluff-butt brother.  Since Haku is hampered at climbing and jumping by his club foot, I made a window perch that can only be accessed by climbing a rope-covered log.  Then I sprinkled it generously with catnip and treats to let ShiShi know that it was now her own special spot.

And... The Plan worked!  Haku only rarely guards my bedroom now, ShiShi adores her Haku-free view at the window seat, and I have a two-cat bedroom again.  Amazingly, moving Haku's food station also seems to have changed the cat dynamic overall - *gasp* ShiShi's been scaling his cat tree to check out his food while he eats, and Haku is instigating chases around the house much less frequently.

If you're wondering if all these positive reinforcement/fix the cat surroundings ideas could work on cats other than ShiShi and Haku?  The answer is definitely yes!

Environmental Change Win:  When  cutie pie Dorothy was first rescued from the streets, she would sometimes do her business on the lid of the litterbox. Her mom tried filling the litter higher, lower, scooping it out  twice a day, once a day...  You get the idea! Eventually though, after some great advice at the pet store, she bought a bigger litterbox with a wider mouth and hasn't  had to deal with sticky smelly messes ever since.  Dorothy was just communicating a problem, and her mom did a fantastic job listening.

Positive Reinforcement BONUS - And here's another great story that her mom sent:  I’m a first time cat owner and at first was very skittish about petting or holding my kitten because she would bite or scratch me whenever I attempted to touch her. After reading a few cat training articles on lovecatbox.com, I started to offer her treats whenever I want to reinforce a positive behavior and this is working! Thank you!

If you want to know more about Dorothy and her story, you can check out her special post on her mom's blog at https://moggyacademy.com/dorothy/ or find her on Instagram @thedorothydiaries ❤