before and after

So, I bet you want an explanation for this! With great cats, comes great responsibility. (I might have stolen part of that line from Spiderman.) Lily, the princess and most dainty kitty on earth had a matting problem stemming from our Christmas vacation. You can't see the mats, but oh you could feel them when you tried to pet her. They grew, and I cut, shaved, trimmed, brushed and drove her crazy. She started to avoid me and I realized that I was losing the battle. We knew she had to be uncomfortable trying to sleep on the lumps (or tumors as we affectionately called them) and it's obviously not good for her skin. Lily had to be knocked out and it was an emotional event for us. I picked her up 4 hours after I dropped her off and I tried not to giggle when I peered into her kitty case. I asked her if they beat her with the 'ugly stick' on the ride home. She was drugged and I'm sure doesn't remember the conversation. I was so relieved to have the mats gone! She's quite soft and has been enjoying the attention since she's been home.
The problem that we didn't foresee was Marshall. ; Marshall and Lily are BFF! He cried all morning for her and waited by the door for her return. Well, guess what... He's scared to death of her. He stalks her and hisses at her, every chance he gets. I assumed that cats knew each other by scent and that appearances were nothing to them, but boy was I wrong. He stalked her through Alicia's room from 3am until 4am until Alicia came down to tell us that she was wide awake. (No worries, I confined the cats and let Alicia sleep in this morning.) I am hopeful that Marshall will get past this animosity. Lily is acting like a spring chicken and is really excited about her new body. She has been prancing, springing, and occasionally pouncing Marshall, like she's a kitten. Marshall has hissed at least 10 times while I've been blogging. Seriously, take a chill pill, cat!