Shadow is no longer skin & bone and her fur is getting softer. I suspect
that she might be prone to being a very 'fluffy' cat as she vacuums up all
food put in front of her, whilst the others two are happy to free-feed their
portions. This works out because Shadow wont go into the laundry (where the
food for the other two is) and the other two don't have the opportunity to
eat Shadow's food because she eats in all in one sitting.

She has had two big fights - one with Pickle, one with Suki. She has a small
scratch on her nose, as does Pickle. A day or so after her fight with Suki
(which produced *lots* of white fur but no injuries) she touched noses with
Suki and then sniffed Suki's nether regions. She no longer hisses and growls
alot at Suki (although she wouldn't understand that its pointless anyway,
because Suki, being deaf, has no clue about the hissing & growling),
although will do so if she's surprised or if Suki looks the wrong way at her
food bowl.

Shadow is still hissing & growling at Pickle, though. I am hoping that they
do eventually sort things out between them.

Shadow continues to go potty in the smaller of the two kitchen sinks. In one
way its easier than a litter box - just flush :-). Just wish it was the
*bathroom* sink rather than the kitchen one. She has not gone near the
litterbox in the kitchen, so we've pretty much given up hope.

She no longer seems particularly interested in the Out. She sometimes comes
out of the kitchen (her territory) and makes her way to under the dining
table, as this is her second favourite haunt. This morning I caught her
exploring the bookshelves, but she skuttled quickly back under the dining
room table when I came into the room with that "I've been caught" look. Poor
cat, what life did she have before coming here? I was *happy* she was
exploring the bookcase - thats what cats *do*! She's still not overly fond
of Joel, and will hiss and attempt to bite if he picks her up. She doesn't
always do that to me, but it also depends on how I approach her and what
she's doing when I try to pick her up. Woe betide if you try to touch her
whislt she's eating!

Out of allt he cats, she's the one who winds around my ankles when I'm in
the kitchen, and is the most annoying when cooking or dishing up food - no
matter how many times I remove her from the counter, she returns straight
away, like a yo-yo.  Anytime I walk in the kitchen she throws herself into
upside-downy headed cute poses, and loves having her chest rubbed (I'm still
not going to touch that belly!). She loves being petted, but is easily
overstimulated, and doesn't just nip, she really has a good go before
stopping, shaking her head, and then demanding perts again. I've learnt the
hard way that her tail (which I think perhaps is missing a bit, because its
quite short compared to Suki & Pickle) is the best indicator of her mood,
and if it starts to thrash, then its time to turf her off my lap before she
tries to attack me.

I can somewhat understand why she was abandoned, she's not an easy cat to
live with. Not everyone would put up with a cat that used the kitchen sink
as the litterbox, nor one that was forever on the counters whilst preparing
food, or even one that savagely attacks suddenly whilst clearly enjoying a
pettin's. Given these three things, I don't think i could surrender her to a
shelter, because I think she'd be given back pretty quickly. She does need a
person who understands the Way of Cat and is prepared to put up with her
quirks. Thats not to say I will necessarily keep her forever either, because
I can see quite clearly she'd be happier as an only cat, but until such time
as I find suitable slaves, or until she settles down and announces my place
her foreverhome, she's still got a place with me. Perhaps not the 'best'
place, but better than being on the streets, and better than being rejected
again and again via a shelter.

Yowie