[Jkpal]

Let me start by thanking you for your indulgence in this seemingly endless post, but I need help.

I don't know what to do anymore. Piper, true to her breed, is obsessed with my 94 yr old mom's wonderful white cat, Alice. We've been living here for a month and in that time have tried separating them; letting them 'have at it'; tried aversion (i.e. letting Piper bark incessantly at Alice when Alice is safely out of reach); have allowed Alice to growl, hiss, scream and throw jabs at Piper. And nothing, but nothing is lessening Piper's drive for Alice or alliviating Alice's fear and loathing of Piper. It should be noted that Alice does not have front claws (she came that way) and Piper is missing many teeth so in that regard, the two are somewhat well-matched. But this is all becoming out-of-hand. Alice hides 23/7 which is bad in that she is a very social, well-loved feline--very sweet and and playful. My mom loves her cat and has been incredibly kind and patient and understanding and has been putting Piper and me first, but I can see that Teddie's (my mom) concern for Alice's mental/emotional well-being is starting to affect her peace of-mind and she's now worried about Alice. Piper has gotten to a point that with food, I can usually shift her absolute single-minded, laser-beam focus off of Alice, but that usually takes several seconds and then I have to make sure Alice has time to hide before 'turning Pipe loose' at which time Piper does a fast, intense search and when unable to find Alice, returns to family room and things settle down--until Piper glimpses or hears Alice moving about.

I moved in order to make sure Teddie could remain comfortably and happily in her own home, doing the many things that make her life worthwhile...Alice being chief among those...Teddie is thee most selfless, loving little human you can imagine. She reassures me that she and Alice are okay and they will adjust--that we all will, but I don't see that happenin--not unless we get some direction or someone can provide us with workable training or the like. Mom has seen the sweet/funny side of and adores Piper. So I'll ask again in closing, is there any hope or possibility of making our fierce female foursome functional?

Quick aside, as far as Piper is concerned, her new home is Disneyland, Alice is the best plaything everrrr and Piper's new backyard is Yellowstone Nat'l Park. She's oblivious to our angst and remains one happy pooch!