Cat Drama

Why, oh why, did the happy feline peace that existed on our farm turn into kitty WWIII?

We have, against our better judgment, three indoor kitties in relative bliss. We also have two outdoor barn cats that each had separate buildings to thrive and enjoy chomping the heads off small scampering critters. All's well, right?

Not anymore. Barn kitty number 1, Bagheera, is a black, spayed female. To simply state that she dislikes other cats is like saying Osama Bin Laden disliked Americans. No, this little beast HATES other cats with malicious intent. However, she had the big hay barn all to her spiteful self.

Barn kitty number 2 is Ginger, our sweet, older barn kitty.  She is a professional barn cat that actually came to us from a larger barn where she was in a managerial position (you should see her resume). This was definitely a step down for her, but she wanted a quiet job to enjoy semi-retirement. We had just built our horse barn feed room with a built-in cat door. Ginger adapted well and ran her side of the yard with expertise. Ginger also came to us with her own cat tree, (her office) which we placed in her domain.

Well, this summer, Bagheera noticed certain perks about living in the tack room versus the hay barn and she pulled off a rather nasty takeover.

Ginger, instead of moving into the hay barn, hid under the tack room floor and insisted on being fed by the horse stalls, even with the risk of suffering from Bagheera's wrath. We were plotting as to how to coax her into the hay barn when she relocated herself to our back porch. She now wants to be an indoor kitty really badly. As in, the little creature is holding a kitty vigil by our sliding glass door and giving us cute looks while we eat our meals. We are currently feeding her on the back porch, but, now what? We don't want to upset the indoor environment, nor do we want to risk the indoor kitties starting to spray because of her presence just outside.  My husband, like all men, is somewhat preoccupied when he comes home at night, but he CAN count.  Three cats suddenly turning into four would be a little obvious.  Unlike many men, he actually knows all the cats' names. 

Arrrrgh! Why don't cats honor peace treaties?