Update on the kids.

Chiyo's been with us for a little over 2 months now. Although it seemed she was adjusting quite well, there was one thing that remained unsettled: her relationship with Tifa.

This was something we had been concerned about since the beginning. Tifa is the baby of the house, and very much the attention whore. We were worried that Tifa would not get along with a new cat because that would mean our attention would be even more divided. Don't know if cats really think like that, but it seems that Tifa does. Every time she would see either of us giving Ellie affection, she would come running to make sure she didn't miss out.

Anyhow, for the last month, Tifa would start chasing and harrassing Chiyo during the late nights/early mornings. What I would hear is a lot of running, Chiyo's bell, Chiyo hissing and growling, and occasionally, Chiyo screaming.

Upon observation, Tifa would creep up to Chiyo. Chiyo would start growling. Tifa would keep trying to go up to her. Chiyo would start hissing. Tifa would make a sudden movement, and Chiyo would freak out a little bit. And so on. The scream would happen in the other room, where I assume Tifa landed an attack. Even if Tifa just wanted to play, we thought it made for a very anxious Chiyo.

First, we thought Tifa really just wanted to play, whereas Chiyo would much rather not.

Then, we thought that maybe Tifa really is jealous and is seriously harrassing Chiyo.

Either situation isn't good. And it would always happen away from us, so we couldn't discipline anyone. I would end up putting Chiyo back into the office with the door closed to give her a break from Tifa.

Then, Yubo had a thought. We finally decided to take off Chiyo's collar. So far tonight, there haven't been any fights since the removal of the collar. I wonder if the whole, "Tifa wants to play but Chiyo REALLY doesn't," was caused by the bell on the collar. And Yubo pointed out that Chiyo can't sneak up on Ellie or Tifa because of it, but they can sneak up on her, so she's been at a disavantage this entire time.

I must say she looks a little naked without the collar, but I wonder if she'll be happier this way. Now she's on even ground with the other two, and there's no bell to entice Tifa to play.

I hope it really does work better for Chiyo, and for everyone. I'd like to not have my sleep distrupted by their fights anymore. So we'll see how this plays out.