The return of kitty "time-out"

/sigh

She looks so cute. But cute wears off rather quickly and I'm not sure why.

She's been charging and attacking Mija lately. I broke up two fights yesterday. Pilchard was the instigator and, at least 3 times, she would stalk down the hall after Mija. This could get ugly as I am trying to move their food from the back bedroom where it started when they were brought here to the kitchen where I want them to eat. Mija is now a bit scared to eat as the food and water are at the junction of the hallway and the living room. I'm taking a few feet backwards today while I try to figure out the charge and attack scenario.

Shakespeare used to attack Carole. She would be happily playing on her floor and he would suddenly stalk and lunge at her. She was scratched and bitten more than a few times by this. In every case, he would be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and tossed into the bathroom. This is "kitty time-out". There's a water dish in there but the door gets closed and the cat isolated for several minutes. Once, I forgot about him and he was in there for an hour. As cats have no concept of time, it had to seem like we'd forgotten him. But the point is made, you attack, you're in time out.

So, Pilchard has spent a total of 20 minutes in the bathroom. This morning, I found the rug balled up because someone had peed on it. Maybe the litter boxes weren't as clean as they want them so I did that. It's not as onerous a job as it used to be, thank goodness.

Still, this has to stop. Now I'll worry that Pilchard is going after Mija while I'm at work. Maybe it's good I didn't go anywhere this weekend. I remember Half-Pint, when she was around 7 months old, picked on Penney just once too often and Penney took a chunk out of her ear. That was a quick vet trip, with Carole in tears. No, I didn't put Penney in "time-out" because I could see it coming, although not the ear chunk part. Annoy a cat long enough and they retaliate.

Is this a bid for attention? Is Pilchard jealous? Or is this a territorial thing? Or are they still settling down, still reacting to the random scents of passed on cats? I just know it's stressful for me and I'd rather not worry during the day that my house is now a battle zone.

Here's Mija this morning in the sunshine.

Beverage: China Black Tea

Deb