Well I don’t see many chipmunks but I know they are very cute. You had 5 of them? And now you have zero. I think it’s rude of the owner of the cat to do nothing about it. As you can see on my profile picture I have a cat and he also Kills birds. In fact, I have saved numerous birds form him. If the lady won’t do anything about it I suggest that whenever your chipmunk goes outside you should go with him/her just to be safe, another option is keep your chipmunk more indoors than outside, yes I know he has to feel the nature but you should get it like some toys or like some nature in your house. The last one is get a large cage and put it outdoors, also make sure the cat can’t squeeze it or stretch the wires of the cage.

The only way to regulate Clyde's portion is to set regular feeding times and feed the cats separately. I, too, always used to free feed dry food and offer canned occasionally as treats. As a result, I live with a house full of fat cats (and a few leans ones). It wasn't until one of the fatties had a diabetes scare a couple of months ago that I finally made the decision to get serious about reducing kitty weights around here. I started out by researching foods and finding ones with minimal carbs (Innova Evo dry and Wysong au Jus canned). As I was slowly switching them over to the new foods, I also took away their "communal dry food silos" and started feeding them three times a day - dry (which they prefer) in the a.m. and midday, canned (which they don't much care for) at night. Because the new foods have a much higher protein and fat content than the foods they were receiving before, several of them actually put on weight even without free choice access, so I switched the feeding schedule to dry a.m., and canned at midday and night. Several still experienced weight gain, so I cut out the midday meal altogether. At that point, everybody either held steady or lost weight. That was a couple of weeks ago, and I'll be doing their regular weigh-in on 9/1 to see how they're doing now. I purchased a digital baby scale off of eBay and weigh all of the cats every 2 weeks to check their progress. I'm keeping a database to track kitty weights so I can make dietary adjustments as necessary. Since I have 13 cats, it would be exceptionally difficult for me to try to separate them all and give each one measured portions of food, so I simply let them eat their fill of dry food at communal bowls in the a.m. until they all walk away, then I put the bowls away. I do the same with the canned food at night. If I only had two cats, however, one lean and one not, I'd definitely be feeding them portioned amounts separately to meet their individual needs. Laurie

I'm sorry that it didn't work out between the two -- but you certainly tried your best, and gave Jayden a shot at a better life. My two still get into scraps daily -- 10 months after Chloe moved in with us. Nothing as severe as what you've described, but they do pounce and roll and scream and kick. Clumps of loose fur floating in the air, but I've never seen any blood on either of them. I break them up with a shout or a tossed pillow, and occassionally - if they seem bent on a pattern of destruction - one or both have to go to their room for a time out. I've recently re-evaluated my feelings about the "fighting" when I watched them lolling at my feet on a relaxed Saturday afternoon recently. They had been peacefully lounging for about an hour or so when Chloe rolled over, gently took Frank's tail in her paws -- and bit it. And the chase was on! Sounds like your two were a lot more serious about it. Glad you're back to a calmer household -- and it sounds like Jasper knows how good he's got it! Do you think you'll try a second cat again? Perhaps a younger cat, or a female?

I will be going to Thailand for a month in the July/Aug time frame, and am still undecided how to leave my two cats Prescilla and Max. Max is 3.5 yrs old male persian cat with dog paws that still eats out of my hand every day. He is the main concern, as he has taught me over and over that he will starve himself to dehydration otherwise. But the last 3 months have been better for him in the sense that I recognized the need (as someone mentioned above) to have a daily routine when at home. Like having a set time when leaving for work and coming home. Like not studying or spending too much time on the computer while at home. Don't know why other than it's complicated. So it is Max who joined "the family" of Prescilla and I at just 6 weeks of age, and ever since has been intimidated from eating by Prescilla who hisses at him. So the last 3 months, since moving into a B&B with a view, and about 1500 sq ft of play space, and 5 litter boxes, that my cats can be seen playing and sleeping together often. And lots of windows too. But Max soon figured out that he didn't have to let me off the hook so soon, and was starving himself every day while I was at work so that I would have to hand feed him when I got home. So I realized that what he needed and wanted, was for me to show Prescilla that he was important. So I decided that I would hand feed Max with Prescilla present. And wha la! Max feels important in "the family" structure, and now wants to cooperate. Another thing I found helpful is leaving for work at the crack of dawn (here in Vermont it's 6am), and not spending too much time in the morning getting out the door (prepare the night before). Also not spending too much time at home. Also putting the feeding bowl back in its central location in the kitchen after feeding him in my bed (which is just placing the bowl next to me, instead of having him eat directly out of my cupped hand). As far as spending time studying or on the computer, I think it's a problem because (a) I'm their sole provider and am single, and (b) they take it as being selfish (they expect attention). On the other side, they do fine when I am away during the daylight hours. Don't know why. Leave for work at crack of dawn, and return just before dusk. If I need to study, I leave and either go back to work or find a book store. I return and go to bed immediately. It is an intermediate step until Max and Prescilla get to "re-know" each other. Prescilla has never seen a healthy Max, and neither have I. Except one time when I went away for 2 weeks when Max was one yrs old and I placed him and Prescilla in a vet/boarding place. Max came back all healthy looking and confident around Prescilla. His coat was healthy and not dehydrated-looking. I eventually concluded, after a lot of thought, that Max was eating in front of Prescilla, either in the same cage, or in a cage nearby, and with the constant protection of nearby humans, was freewilled to eat as he pleased. On another note, this whole thing of mess Max found himself in, could most likely be due partly to having been taken from a breeder's house, run by a couple (ie TWO providers), and taken from his remaining sibling sister cat. He was from a litter of 4 and had probably seen his other siblings taken just days before. All just to go into a home where the sole provider was not home much, and the other "kitten" was a large mature spoiled street-smart female (I got found her in the streets of San Diego). Well, you get the idea. I started the hand-feeding the next day, as soon as I saw the dueling between them. And promised to myself I'd do it for a year max(imum). Oh well. Anyways, I can't bet that I will have 3 years of neglect fixed in 6 months. I put an ad up on craigslist for free room and board for free petsitting services, and have gotten a dozen or so responses. Just not sure if Max will go into hiding from seeing strangers in the house, thus increasing his chances for not eating. Boarding for a month seems long. The landlord lives next door, and has pet-sit before, so it might be doable to have her pet-sit again. Taking the cats with me to Thailand is scary, especially with the hot weather there and the plane-sitting-on-the-tarmac thing. And the H5N1 thing. Vermont is much cooler weather. And yes, I paid $$$ for Max from a breeder, and yes his coat is off white with hints of grays browns and golden browns. Why are the cats you pay money for so difficult? Prescilla was free, but she's the plain nothing-fancy black and gray tabby. Standard stray cat formula there. Any thoughts/ideas would be most appreciated. I'm pretty sure that a paid petsitter for an hour a day would do just fine, but was hoping for something cheaper. Even then, I don't think a petsitter would be able to hand feed twice a day, or if Max would let a stranger do it. Probably not an issue, since (a) Max now knows he's important, (b) Prescilla knows to respect him or else, and (c) Max knows the handfeeding thing is a control gig, that won't work if I'm not around (I know he eats out of the bowl when I'm not around for like more than 14 hours or so). I know, it's complicated! Stephanie