She can be bought

Amber the Elusive Kitty will come downstairs only out of necessity, to get water. She will also come down to nag EG about the cat food bowl being empty and to complain if the litter box is getting disgusting. She does most of her complaining somewhere near the stairs, as the baby gate and radio fence prevent the dogs from getting to her.

Amber doesn't like me, as I am the dog wrangler. Plus, if I pick her up, it is to administer a flea treatment, cut her nails, or take her to the vet. In her kitty brain, I am not a Nice Person.

However, I have discovered that even Amber has a price. So, every couple days, when the kids and EG are gone and we are alone except for Dirty Harry, I put a tablespoon of milk in a saucer and put it down for Amber here in the kitchen. Then I hold Harry while she drinks her milk. She is skittish, jumping if the rabbits move in their cages or the furnace kicks on, but I notice that she also has taken to sitting across the living room and staring at me, apparently sending powerful suggestions to me to "give Amber some milk", suggestions which I am too dense to get. Or not. Maybe I am just channeling cat and refusing to acknowledge what she is saying. Two can play at that game.