We had talked about it for the last six months or so, but Andrés and I finally made the decision to give Salem back to the Humane Society last Monday and yesterday we had to drop him off with the cat coordinator for the Kansas City area.

Salem was a great cat and he kept me company for a little more than a year while I was desperately lonely after moving to Kansas City. Andrés worked opposing shifts to mine and I spent a lot of evenings alone. Having someone at home eager to see me made my days much more pleasant. I could never explain how much I needed that little kitty in those early days.

Since we brought Alliclaus home, however, Salem has never really adjusted. He is apparently one of the many cats who don't do well living with children. We've always been very strict with Alliclaus about leaving Salem alone, but his stress level seemed to skyrocket anyway. He began peeing on my clothes and the baby's and also increased his scratching/biting even as he got older and farther away from his kittenhood.

I've been desperately sad about the decision since last Monday, when I first contacted the Humane Society. They've been nothing but nice and confirmed that we had tried all the options they generally recommend (both Prozac and Feliway pheremone treatment). Still, Salem is a black male cat, notoriously difficult to place, and now he has a behavioral issue as well. I feel like we should have tried something else or otherwise learned to live with his behavior.

Our vet believe that Salem will be better off in another home, one without children, but I'm fearful he won't find one. The guilt is extreme and my hormones are not helping.

More than anything else, though, I just miss my first baby.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 02:13 PM | Comments (4)

Salem has decided not to get over Alliclaus. He keeps thinking we'll send her back. He continues to pee all over our bedroom. In spite of our best efforts, our bedroom is unlivable due to the smell. He had his checkup last week and in addition to Advantage Multi, Salem is now on Prozac.

He's all grown up.

We're changing the location of his litterbox(es) and locking him out of our bedroom. Hopefully, that will be enough to end this issue.

The vet promised she'd tell me if it was time to consider another (childless) family for Salem. I'm dreading that discussion, so I'm just going to keep squirting the anti-depressants down his throat and hope for the best.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 02:48 PM

I'm writing this entry in tears.

I had to drop Salem off at the vet to be boarded while we are in San Diego this week.

I planned all day for it so that I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of the receptionist, but she caught me off guard with something about feline leukemia and I started to cry right in front of her. Luckily, I'm looking pregnant now and so I think I got excused for my behavior.

I hate having to leave him in a kennel for Christmas. I wonder if anyone is even going to see him this weekend. Do you think they'll just free feed him for the weekend and then start actually seeing him once the holiday is over?

Okay, I'm overreacting now. I'm sure he'll be fine.

How I ever going to get an appropriate babysitter for Fefe?

Posted by Bethiclaus at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

Dear Santa,

Please bring me a very big box of Q-tips. Mommy doesn't have any more because I have taken them all out and spread them all over the apartment. If she doesn't get any more, what will I play with? Also, please make her stop yelling at me about them.

Love,

Salem

Posted by Bethiclaus at 03:59 PM | Comments (3)

Salem loves to hang out in our laundry bags. Even if they're mostly empty and he struggles to get out of them. He just loves it. Which is how I got this very cute picture of him.

Anyway, today, without any coaxing or bribing, Salem came out into the living room to check stuff out. It seems like what he's really afraid of is the ceiling fan. He stares at it the entire time he's in the living room.

It isn't on or anything, so we're not sure why he's so frightened by it. Oh well.

He's definitely getting braver and that makes me happy. When the vet said he might never get used to the new place, I started to have a nervous breakdown. This is much better.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 11:50 PM | Comments (6)

After more than a week, Salem made his first visit to the living room of our new apartment. We had to coax him out with treats and even then he only came out about four feet, but this is a huge improvement from his Super Stealth Salem routine of crawling from our bedroom to the office and back.

This is a very exciting day in the Claus house. We're hoping this bodes well for Salem's adjustment to the new environment.

I'm mostly concerned that all our progress will be lost when we board him for five nights at the vet while we are in Phoenix. Only four days left! Whee!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:32 PM