I have a cat who has taught me a valuable lesson… a lesson about how our small, daily choices affect our lives in very big ways.
My cat, Preena, is a beautiful, petite little kitty. She has always been sweet as sugar to any human but less than gracious to most of the four legged citizens among us. She'll purr, snuggle, rub and talk sweet to humans, but she's most comfortable glaring and growling at other animals, including her own offspring. I also have another cat named Silver. Silver is a mellow, easy-to-get along with guy. We also have two dogs, a rescued poodle and a rescued chow-chow-labrador mix. Both dogs have lived with cats successfully most of their lives.
When we adopted a third dog, a cocker spaniel mix from the Humane Society a couple years ago, both Preena and Silver had choices to make. They could accept the new dog and live in a peaceful pack, or not.
Silver was mellow. He met the new dog and went on about his way, minding his own business. After almost two years of living together, Silver and the cocker spaniel are good friends. They snuggle together on fleece blinkies. Silver enjoys the warmth and comfort of the much chubbier cocker spaniel. He also enjoys the game of throwing unauthorized scraps of food from the kitchen counter down to his other friend, the poodle, and gets to share in the food bowls anytime he wants. The cocker spaniel also licks and nuzzles Silver, and cleans his ears. They're good buddies.
Preena also made her choice. At first she was just her same generally grumpy self when she met the new dog, and for awhile she was able to get along fairly well. But as she saw the cocker spaniel get more and more of my attention she became less and less amiable. At some point she decided her best strategy as a 9 pound cat was to growl, whine and occasionally spit at the 38 pound, very protective and jealous cocker spaniel. They could no longer share the long ten foot sofa. Preena, the hard-to-get-along-with cat, would whine and growl at the dogs, especially the cocker spaniel, from as far as four feet away and for absolutely no reason at all. The poodle, who is always up for a new game, started becoming neurotic about the cat and began provoking her anger for entertainment. Unfortunately, Preena the cat was always there with some type of untowardly behavior and never disappointed the poodle, so the game continued.
It's been two years since we got the cocker spaniel from the humane society. Both Silver and Preena have made a lot of decisions.
Silver gets his ears licked and gets to snuggle next to a chubby cocker spaniel with silky hair all winter long, and Preena lives downstairs, isolated and alone, in the cold basement. Preena and the cocker spaniel both officially hate each other and the poodle thinks it's a lot of fun. Preena cannot sit with the rest of the pack on the comfortable sofa, even though there's plenty of room, because she doesn't have the good sense to stop hissing and whining. She can't even come on the main floor of the house because the poodle will spot her, alert the cocker spaniel, and the both of them will chase her until she goes back down through the cat door to the cold basement where they figure she belongs (and they do have a point).
I did make Preena a secluded safe spot on the main level where it's warmer. She enjoyed outsmarting the poodle and sleeping there, alone, on a plush fleece blanket until she peed on it and lost that, too. (Another bad decision.) Now she still has the warm, safe spot, but not the fleece blanket.
The dogs are proud of themselves for having rid the pack of that hideous cat who couldn't get along with anyone.
Preena, who lives an isolated life in the cold, banished from the main floor of our house, is still mean, stubborn and anti-social, except to humans. I go down there to pet her and give her treats, (all meat, natural treats, of course) but I wish she could share the main floor with all of us.
So the lesson is this: If you want to live alone, isolated in a cold basement, you can be mean, too. If you'd rather have your ears licked, stop whining and hissing.
Do YOU know someone who could learn a few lessons from your pet? Maybe a friend who could use some natural doggie breath mints or a boss who's a little too alpha? Post them on our Facebook page or email them to me! Maybe I'll include them in an article.
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Humane Society a couple years ago, both Preena and Silver had choices to make. They could accept the new dog and live in a peaceful pack, or not.
I did make Preena a secluded safe spot on the main level where it's warmer. She enjoyed outsmarting the poodle and sleeping there, alone, on a plush fleece blanket until she peed on it and lost that, too. (Another bad decision.) Now she still has the warm, safe spot, but not the fleece blanket.
