Cat's out of the bag... or rather, the cage.

A few days ago, we decided to stop putting Chiyo in her cage at night. The decision seems to have worked out well. All three cats are still alive, and there are no noticeable battle wounds aside from random tufts of Chiyo's fur that Tifa has always been good at snagging. And those are sparse enough occurences to not be alarmed or concerned.

Hissing and the occasional yowl still happen, but not as frequently. Tifa still doesn't know how to back off, despite her earlier injury. However, Chiyo is now chasing back instead of simply cowering and hissing and yowling from her scrunch up position in a corner.

So it's very encouraging to us that one of these days, everyone will be able to get along peacefully.

One funny thing that has come out of this is Chiyo has learned to close the bathroom door to avoid Ellie and Tifa. Unfortunately, she has yet to learn how to open the door to let herself out.

I was out to Karen's for a few hours and came home to find the bathroom door closed.

To avoid that, we try to remember to close the door. She loses a hiding/play area, but she won't get trapped while we're not home.

Most likely due to Chiyo's newfound freedom, Tifa has grown in her angst and neediness. I try my best to give her more attention and affection, but there are times when that simply isn't enough for her. Unfortunately, our sofa has gotten the brunt of her angst, and I have contacted someone to get an estimate to get rid of her urine.

With these three, I feel I won't want a child until all three pass, or until by some miracle I feel comfortable enough to have a child with an overly-needy cat and a cat that scratches and bites (Ellie saves us from insanity, I think). Considering that they're only about 4 or 5 now, I wonder if children will ever come back into the picture. Well, we'll see.