Ancient Greek poetess famed for .. well … romantic poems aimed at .. umm .. well … for a hint her home island was Lesbos! Go on google her!

Um, as if sapphic sex was a new thing?

While saving up for a telescope the past seven years, I’ve worked as a veterinary technician (in retrospect, another career might have been quicker) and I know of a few things you can try to see if she integrates faster back into your household, if you’re interested?

#1. The pride that hunts together, stays together. Try getting all the cats in the same room with a toy/toys that really get their attention (like a catnip mouse or feathers attached to a small fishing pole, or even better, a laser pointer) and let them take turns “hunting” the toy(s). A couple of play sessions a week should help them get used to each other and develop a mutual respect (especially if Dinger is as good with her claws as I suspect).

#2. Happy hormones. There is a product called Feliway that uses feline hormones to promote a calm and stress free environment. It comes in a spray (which we use at our clinic) and a plug-in diffuser (better at home). You can read more here: http://www.feliway.uk.com/feliway_uk.nsf/Page?OpenForm

#3. Hey you smell like me! If you soak one of the other cats with water and dry it off with a towel, then take that towel and rub Dinger all over with it (neither cat will like this), then Dinger will have the other cat’s scent on her. This will cause her to seem familiar to the others and therefore be more easily accepted. This can work both ways, you can use the towel on Dinger and then rub it on the other cats as well. This is sort of a last resort, in that cats don’t like to be wet and you may sustain injuries.

#4. Time. Most cats, given enough time, will adjust to a new member in their pride. Even if they don’t, they will settle in and develop a non-confrontational lifestyle. Dinger may always have special places to relax, like closets, but she will find her place in your home and in the pride’s hierarchy.

If you need them, I hope these suggestions help!

Underbreath (Frak computers are frustrating!!!)

Anyway, I suppose we could count Leo and Leo Minor too as cat family constellations - & they’d eat dogs (& ppl) for breakfast!

Yet still … I’d like to see the domestic cat constellation - Felis - placed back in the sky as Lalande’s (or was it Lacaille’s?) enduring joke on the heavens!
PS. Hope ‘Dinger’s come out now & is all alive & purring. Give her a stroke from me.

why can’t we edit …. arrrrgggggggdhhhs!
Source : ‘Collins Guide to Stars & Planets’, Ian Ridpath & Wil Tirion, Collins, 2007.