Hamilton the Best-smelling Cat and His Asthma

Hamilton and Fritz came to us with our house. Laurie, the wife of the selling couple, had said to me when we were viewing it for the second time,"So, we think we're going to leave the cats with the house." I responded along the lines of That's okay, I love cats!, never dreaming that she meant it (how could anyone leave their cats?!). But we moved in with 2 cats and 3 dogs and found 2 other cats already in residence.

Hamilton the Giant weighs fifteen pounds and it's all muscle. He is the biggest cat I have ever known, and the best-smelling one; he smells like cedar and outside and fresh air with just the tiniest hint of smokiness. He seems to have allergies and gets very asthmatically wheezy at times. He is also Death On Paws to birds, and we have a special morning regime because of him. I get up at 5:30 or so, before dawn, and read for a bit, till Ham and Fritz appear at the door to come inside for breakfast. Then Fritz (Mr Loud) is allowed to go back out, because though he chases after the occasional bird, he never seems to actually catch one (and also because he will sit at the door and endlessly, loudly meow if not let out; hence his nickname). Hamilton is kept inside, but put out of the bedroom, because otherwise he starts to eye Loretta's food and she gets very noisily growly at him. Usually this is about the time that dogs start deciding that they, too, must go out as well, and they don't usually coordinate with the cats, so there's a little bit more traffic through the bedroom till finally I manage to snooze for another hour or so before getting up to go to work. Ham is kept in until after noon, when the birds are done with their heavy morning activity and seem more alert to cats. So far this strategy has been successful.