Harper Makes A Mistake

On Tuesday Ramona and I went to the vet to have her gums looked at. Ramona had some acupuncture (she fell asleep in the vet's arms) and we were told she should have a dental and no more Fancy Feast or any food with grain in case she is allergic to something in it. After a dental we could start trying a regime of herbal remedies and maintenence.

We were goine a couple of hours.

When we came home Harper came in and walked up to Ramona and...

He didn''t recognize her.

She must have smelled different, all those smells of other animals from the vet. Our vet is very much hands on and after an hour of being held on her lap, Ramona might just have smelled like a ......dog.

Harper turned into a growling monster. His tail expanded to four times its normal size and he went after her. Poor Ramona fled to a spot under the washing machine but Harper struck at her and hit her in the head. She quivered under the stairs while I got Harper into another room. When I got Ramona out she had a claw stuck in her head and she was indignant.

I gently removed the claw.

"My brother is an idiot," she said.

Harper was adamant. We had removed his sister and returned with a stranger.

That night we shut him out of the bedroom and kept Ramona with us. Harper came and howled miserably at the door when he wanted his middle of the night hug.

The next day he hadn't come to his senses. I put him in a crate and let Ramona come up to him. He growled and hissed and she growled and hissed back,

The situation was ridiculous and we worried that we would have to keep one of them in the studio for the rest of their lives. I put Harper in a harness and tied him to a chair in the living room where he and Ramona could stare and growl at each other.

I left them and went upstairs to watch TV.

Suddenly I heard the sounds of racing, hissing, growling cats and I ran downstairs.

Harper had slipped out of the harness and cornered Ramona under the living room stairs. And then..

She turned into a growling, hissing, spitting fireball of furious feminine tigress.

He not only backed off, he suddenly realized he had made a huge error.

This was his sister, his beloved sister, he had attacked.

And she was PISSED!

From that point on he backed off and began to work on getting back into her good graces. And Ramona saw that she was now in charge of the situation. She would growl and Harper would slowly slink away and then creep back as close as he could get to her. He would sit under her glacial stare and wash his paws, trying to say "See, I'm just a nice guy sitting here washing."

Ramona decided to make him eat a lot of crow. She wouldn't let him on the bed with us. Harper was miserable.

Then the next day as I looked out the window I watched as she played along the rock wall in the garden. Harper was watching. Ramona knew he was watching. She let him come close to her and give her a sniff while she pretended she didn't see him. I let them alone to work things out.

That afternoon Olof and I went to sit in the last warmth of the autumn sun in the garden. Both cats came up to join us and they were playing at walking along the top of the wooden fence along the garden's edge. Then Ramona made a play leap at Harper. He sat down with a happy, surprised look.

"She's going to forgive me!""

And carefully he hunkered down in the carrots and wiggled his butt, then gently sprang at her in a play attack. The two of them ran off and then continued to leap at each other.

And when Ramona had had enough she just said so.

Now things have changed a little here. Harper no longer disturbs Ramona's sleep by licking her until she comes and wrassles with him. The family has a new Top Cat.

Ramona is in charge.

"It is good to be Queen," she says.