I suspect there are two issues at play here. First is the overstimulation that many cats experience during petting and active play. In my experience, intact toms are likely to respond to this sort of overstimulation more aggressively than are females or neutered males, though all cats can express it to some degree. The trick here is to allow the cat to initiate all physical contact, then keep the petting very quiet, gentle, and brief. Watch the cat carefully for signs of intolerance and stop petting immediately. The second issue is separation anxiety. The fact that Murphy has been trying to get into the house indicates that he used to be a housecat who is probably also accustomed to a great deal more human contact than he is getting in his current situation. I expect that Murphy is attacking you when you try to go into the house because he doesn't want to be left alone outside. Cats aren't known for their subtlety. Murphy is demonstrating his displeasure the way he knows best. Allow me to relate a story about one of my own feline kids. Last summer delivered four new cats onto my farm, expanding our pride to a whopping fourteen. From whence these newbies came remains a mystery. Of the four, one was completely tame, one was completely feral, and the other two fell into that netherland between timid stray and semi-feral. Feather was one of the middle-grounders. I live-trapped him (he wouldn't let me anywhere near him outside), had him neutered/vaccinated/tested/etc., and put him into the master bedroom/bathroom to begin his integration into the family. He was extremely skittish but could be handled and was very loving within the context of his own timidity. He was with us for only one week before he dislodged the window fan, ripped the screen out, and escaped. I caught sight of him numerous times over the next month, but he would not reenter the trap, and he wouldn't let me get close enough to touch him. A month to the day after he escaped, he cried to me as I brought horses out to the pasture for the night. I approached him slowly, and he slowly walked away from me, crying softly the entire time. After what seemed an eternity, I was finally able to coax him within touching distance and was able to pick him up and carry him back to the house. By that time, I had already captured one of the other toms who was now in the bedroom/bathroom, so I had to rearrange things to give Feather the bathroom and the other tom the bedroom. Feather seemed very relieved to be back in the house at the all-you-can-eat buffet and was extremely affectionate. After a day or two, however, he had what I can only describe as an emotional breakdown. He would hiss at me when I entered the bathroom, then run up to me and demand attention the whole time I was in there with him, then viciously attack me when I tried to leave. It became very clear that the month he spent outside alone stressed him to the max, and he was NOT going to allow himself to be left alone again! Fortunately, Feather worked through his trauma while I still had some blood left in my body, but it was a frightening period for both of us. Bottom line is that cats are easily stressed by change, and that stress can be expressed in very unpleasant ways. My suggestions to you are to take Murphy to your vet ASAP, have him neutered if he isn't already, tested for communicable diseases, treated for fleas, ear mites, and internal parasites if necessary, and vaccinated. Then start the process of integrating him into your household so that he can return to the life he apparently knew and loved at one time. Trust me, Murphy can be integrated into your family without the cat fights you have experienced so far. Integration needs to be done slowly and carefully in order to be successful. First, though, you need to get those male hormones out of his system so that he and the other cats won't be so reactive to each other. I'll be happy to talk you through my integration techniques if you decide to give it another try with Murphy. He sounds like a very loving boy who desperately wants to be part of a family again. Laurie

No not even close to a genius. Yes it was just a regular spray bottle. I did get the idea if I was to do it again without a Wagner that I was going to try one of those pump air into bottles. Like I said though my paint was very thinned out. Almost to the point of seeing no colour but with repeated coats the colour would show up. I was using black at the time and when it went on it had a gray tinge to it.It took many coats to receive the absolute black I wanted. You might have to thin your paint a little more. A little experimenting maybe till you get just the right consistency. If your bottle starts to get gunked up you could dump the paint into a another container or spray bottle and then pour some spirits or varsol or whatever is needed for cleanup and spray onto cardboard or something. This is what we do when we are using the Wagner so I would imagine it would work as well. Worth a try I would suppose. I also wonder if I had a lot of spraying to do, if a fertilizer sprayer would work. That bottle would be able to hold a LOT of paint and you could pump it up and adjust the sprayer to a very fine mist and just spray away. But for the price of fertilizer sprayer a Wagner would only cost a few dollar more.

I own a 1960s tract home in Southern California. One would think, based on its location, that I would have an abundance of light streaming in. I don't, though, because of the orientation of the house and the location of the rooms and windows. I agree with David and others that you've got to look for a plan that solves this issue first. Given that your front door faces south, it seems to me that your garage should be in the southwest corner. Then use the southeast corner for your main living area (e.g. your great room). The kitchen and dining areas could be in the northeast corner. I would move the bedrooms to the back (north) side of the house, and perhaps the master could be behind the garage in the northwest corner. It would be very secluded there. With Tamara's plan, while better than yours, the bedrooms are still clustered in the south and east sides of the house, and the main living spaces are all of the north side, where you're not going to get much light during the day.

Melissa R - yes, we were thinking to paint around big windows, weren’t sure, because some like natural wood color. exterior color - I like blue tone one… Jennifer Hogan - thank you for your research, some good points, some I would not agree with. the location is what sold this house to us, the road although it is county road, it is not that busy or loud, and in the winter, we get plowed first ( it IS pretty big deal). On the back of the property is a corn field, on one side neighbors - we have nice family, on the other side of us, big house that is being nicely updated/renovated , ( read - no neighbors, they take care of the lawn, house , but no one is there day to day. basically we have only people on one side and they are good family. I felt so peaceful on the property/ back yard, next day we put in an offer ;-)