14 July 2010

     Patches is currently on my lap "helping" me write this. Last night did not go well for the boys.

     After I'd cleaned Patchy's wounds and was sitting with him on his side of the barrier, Jack sat on his side doing his usual howling and swiping. Patchy decided to shut him up and leaped over the barrier and attacked Jack, who is about 3/2 Patchy's size and all muscle. I turned the water spray bottle on them to break them up, but they instead took their fight under the sofa. Patches eventually came out and started licking off his Neosporin and then Jack came out, causing Patches to hide by the book shelves. For hours. We eventually shut Jack up in the closet and Patches did come out around dawn and sat with us for a bit. Then he woke in the morning with his cold nose.

     Later, I put Patches in the bedroom, so that I could put Jack in the bathroom, and then move Patches into the closet, so that Jack could roam the house. It felt like logic puzzle. I have to keep them apart, since us being there is no longer enough to keep the peace. However, since they never saw each other get shut up in a room, they are suspicious that the other is lurking. Jack is now in the bedroom while Patchy Cat spends an hour or two loose. I can't wait for them to establish a peaceable co-existence, but at least they are both still comfortable around us. When Jack is around, Patchy growls at everyone and everything.