Beautiful kitchen! What did it look like before? I'm curious because I just gutted an old kitchen, too, and am 95% done with the remodel. Our old kitchen was not very functional -- our family of four couldn't eat in it, it had hideous, stained melamine countertops and backsplash (though underneath was gorgeous subway tile), the radiator was under the sink and not very effective, I couldn't open some of the drawers, and the cabinets were falling apart. I really wanted a vintage kitchen with hex tile countertops, but my husband overruled me.

The integration of the cats is coming along well. He's out of isolation now. Might have kept him separated a bit longer at least when we weren't home but for the fact he started going crazy being confined once he'd been out. He did quite a bit of damage clawing at the trim around our bathroom door so that was no longer an option. Fortunately they are all tolerating each other pretty well - gets noticeably better each day - though it got a little exciting when all three of them ended up on the bed around 2am last night.

jasdip - I agree that a vet visit is in order. I would probably start with an eye check just to rule out failing eyesight. Actually on a pet board last week a woman was beside herself because her 8 year old Shih Tzu had started to bite her (and her husband, but she was the favoured one and her dog had never exhibited any antagonistic behaviour towards her) whenever they stroked her dog with just one hand - with 2 hands - not a problem. It would appear that the pup did not see the one hand coming - but could see two. Then I would move on to perhaps dementia or other physical ailment. I definitely know what it is like to have 2 pets going after each other and it was not pretty. You mentioned that you have a third cat - hopefully Bud will not team up with the other cat and both go after Smudge if in fact Smudge is losing his eyesight, hearing or suffering from dementia. Your regular vet is unlikely to have the super magnifying eye checking equipment that Guelph or the Toronto McMurrich Clinic has. (I know this because like many others our dog was first diagnosed with conjunctivitis that was really an ulcer in the making that turned into an abscessed cornea - we caught it day one and this story has been going on since May 24, 2011.) We have been seeing the board certified eye specialist who travels to Toronto twice a week since July of 2011. So just in case I thought I would mention this to you. I would watch the cats closely and perhaps if you go out in the evening you might separate them until this issue is resolved. Obviously the vet visit will cost but hopefully an answer can be found quickly.

I feel for you bpath. They can be such little stinks. Some of by cats never scratched a thing, but into adorable Siamese tore into everything. I tried catnip on scratch posts, catnip on cardboard -- you name it. I see a couple of solutions. Along the artsy lines, you could take some strands of yarn and attach them to a sort of header to hold them together and then I fix that to the areas that are already gobstoppers (I spoke the word gouged up, but out came gob stoppers – whatever they are). Then the cats can just enjoy the rest of their days playing with already cut sections of yarn and he could be a conversation piece. Yes, another conversation piece. Or you can take something like plaster of Paris or wax and form a sort of shell over that area - like a cast, but in color. You can paint it or add different colors of wax or clay. I just saw one of these amaryllis bulbs in a clay-like "pot" molded over the bulb. It looked great. I bet something like that could actually look kind of cool along the edge of your couch -- like a molded pottery patch. Then there is another solution.