Cat crazy

No, this does not mean we're crazy about cats. I mean, we are, but that's not what it means here.

The two feline representatives in this household - Truffles & Rosemary have been with us since September 2001. They have done everything together, from sleeping on the couch to chasing birds in the backyard to traveling 4,000 miles across the country inside the same cage. They've always been loving, cuddling, playful friends. Until now....

Something happened inside Truffles a few weeks ago. Truffles begin to get to agitated everytime she sees Rosemary. Well, not everytime, but only some of the time, which is even more confusing. When it happens Truffles would growl and snarl at Rosemary, and at time outright attack with a fury, a few times chasing Rosemary around the house. Poor Rosemary, always the delicate one, has retreated to her sanctuary on the 3rd floor and peeing around the house. She is also carrying various battle wounds. Big A came house recently and found one of Truffles' claw lodged in Rosemary's nose. Ouch.

We guess one reason is what over educated people call ''misdirected aggression''. We get a lot of critters through our backyard and a specific band of raccoons really gets Truffles going, who wants nothing less than to go outside and tear them to pieces. Well, we don't allow that of course (the result would be quite the opposite, if you know raccoons). So the theory goes Truffles has all this aggression built up inside and is taking it out on Rosemary.

We consulted friends including La Gringa who gave various advice on how to keep the raccoons away. We also saw the vet who does what vets do - gave us drugs. Specifically kitty prozac for Truffles to help her ''feel happy''. I'm a bit suspicious but we're giving it a try.

Meanwhile if anyone out there has suggestions please holler!