New Friends

When I got Steve, I had a wonderful cat named Oliver.  Oliver was a 25lb ball of love.  He talked, he fetched and when I was considering bring Steve into our lives I thought more about how it would affect Ollie than how it would affect me.  On Steve's first day in our home, Oliver took one look at him, whacked him across the snout and walked away.  From that moment on, Oliver was the boss and Steve knew it.  City dogs were ruled by cats.

Well, as we all know, having a pet opens your heart to a lot of unconditional love, but also a lot of pain.  Oliver died about 3 years after Steve came to live with us.  Steve was sad.  I was sad.  I was very lucky to have had him in my life.  I love cats but I haven't been about to open my home to a new kitty.  Every time I try I get sad, so I know it's not time;  BUT...I have opened my home to kitty sitting.

Digsy is my friends' Emma and Grant's cat.  He is white and grey and is just the cutest thing.  Emma and Grant are living abroad for a while and after much worry about Digsy living with a dog, they decided to let me have the honour of taking care of him.  Digsy was quite shy when he first got here and hid under the bed and in the back room for quite a while, but now he and Steve are great friends.  Well, Digsy is friends with Steve, but Steve isn't so sure.  He knows that cats are the boss.  Steve gives Digsy anything he wants.  Digsy snuggles on Steve's bed and Steve sleeps on the floor.  Digsy wants to walk through the door first and Steve steps aside.  It's very funny and very cute.    Sometimes Steve looks at me like "What have you done??" but he is happy to share his mom and his house with this wonderful kitty.

Well, things got even more exciting last Friday.  I have taken in another cat.  This time it is Brandon and Tamara's Muffin.  For those of you that know me, you know Brandon is my brother and Tamara is my Girlfriend-in-law (GIL).  They are on vacation.  I am on cat duty.  Muffin is an old lady.  She is not well and so skinny.  She takes medicine and eats like a horse, but doesn't gain any weight.  Steve would love to eat her food.  So would Disgy.  Anyway, you should have seen Steve's face when this little black critter jumped on the bed.  You could just tell, he was thinking, "Another one??!!???".  The funniest part was Digsy's reaction.  The nervous, shy furball, who was afraid of coming out from under the bed, ran right up to Steve as if to say,  "OMG, another critter!  We have to stick together!".

Well, we are 4 days into out 3 animal house and there is peace.  Digsy and Muffin have staked out places on the bed and Steve is just trying to stay out of their way.  He knows he`s outnumbered and out-clawed.  I can tell he is waiting for his peaceful life to return, but that is never going to happen.  It`s never peaceful when you`re a dog in the city.