My kind of dog

Ruru the Cat here.  So we had a weird visit this week.  It was a dog.  Another dog.  Seriously?  As if I don't have enough dogs around here already.  In fact, I kind of remembered her smell from a few months ago when she visited before.

It wasn't a bad visit.  She came along with two old people.  I think I heard the words "grandpa and grandma," whatever that means.  The people weren't particularly interesting since they didn't offer me food or snuggle me.  I was able to steal a bit of their milk after breakfast, but that's beside the point.

The really interesting part of their visit was that dog, Skittles.  She was SCARED of me.  Of me, a cat.  And all the other cats.  And the dogs.  Especially the dogs.  We cats sort of steered clear of her since we didn't know what to make of this stranger with funny, fluffy hair and a long, curly tail. I actually like her better than the two dogs we have because she showed us cats the respect we deserve, none of this chewing on cat heads or eating from their own bowls nonsense we get from dogs around here.

Best of all, Skittles didn't seem interested in her bowl of food at all.  Toothless got in there and went to town on her bowl before he got kicked out.  But what kind of a dog doesn't chase cats or even bark at them, finds cats scary, and lets cats steal all their food?  That's my kind of dog, I'll tell you what.  Too bad she left as quickly as she came.  I wonder when she's coming back.

Grumpy Puss

Ruru the Cat, here.  I like to be happy.  My favorite place to be in the entire universe is inside the arms of my person, being snuggled tightly as I purr myself to sleep.  

But there are some things in this universe that make me made...really mad.  One is the puppy.  She tries to chew on my head.  I do not like my head chewed on.  I also don't like that she tends to steal my food and stand between me and my favorite foods, namely cheese and meat.  She perches at the breakfast table and gets my bowl of milk.  She stands at the stove and steals my tidbits of meat and cheese that fall to the floor.  Can you believe the nerve?  She sometimes even steals my mice.  MY mice!  A dog!  What is her problem?  

But I can handle all of that when my person is here. Yesterday, she decided to stay away for a whole night.  She left me!  I had to seek love and affection from other people.  They gave it to me, which is nice, but it's just not the same.  Sometimes, she squishes my face or squeezes my body or yanks on my tail.  That makes me sort of grumpy, but nothing makes me grumpier than not having loving from her at all.  

I'm good with everything and everyone else.  I'll let other people hold me.  The other cats will snuggle me and be sweet to me.  The other dog ignores me.  It's just those things that drive me nuts.  Otherwise, I'm as happy as a purry kitten on a warm, summer day.  

Dog-like Cats and Cat-like dogs

Hi, Ruru the Cat, here.  I've been watching my fellow four-legged people in this house here, and I've noticed not everybody seems to see others in the same way.  See, for me, everybody is pretty much the same.  I'll take dogs, cats, people and snuggle up to them.  As long as they treat me okay--and fill my bowl--they are all right with me.  Of course, my special person is all rightER.  I will sit and let her rearrange my face, drag me around by the armpits, play with my tail, whatever as long as it means I'm getting her love.  I won't let just anyone be that forward.  In fact, I'll let others play with me, even the puppy now, but then I have to clean off their germs.  Except my person.  I like smelling like my person.  It reminds me of her when she's not holding me.  Maia's kind of the same except dogs are scary to her.  Maybe that's because Daisy would chase her.  But other than her special person, everyone else is pretty much the same to her.  We're the dog-like cats. Scoutie is even more extremely like this.  He will take love from anyone, anytime, but he never looks so happy as when he's in his people's arms.  We're the dog-like cats.  We're loyal and loving to just about everyone who is loyal and loving to us.

See, Daisy, the dog who just left us, and Baby, the cat who looks like me but doesn't act like me, seem to see everyone else in the universe as beneath them somehow.  They only want attention when they're good and ready and in the mood.  All other attention is unwelcome because everyone is inferior.  Now, granted, for Daisy, she embraced any baby animals and treated them as something special.  We funny looking puppies who were raised by her are definitely superior to the one and only cat she didn't raise.  She never chased us.  But pretty much everyone was inferior to her.  Daisy is a cat-like dog while Baby is very much a cat-like cat.  You can't get more cat than that.

Then there are Toothless and Dodger.  Toothless is a black cat like Maia, but he doesn't act like Maia. Dodger is a pomeranian.  Both of them act cat-like and uninterested in everyone else but their person.  They are very dog-like and loyal to their person.  Everyone, according to their estimation, is an inferior being to their person, even themselves.  That's a kind of dog-like-cat-like-ness that I find weird and confusing.   Are they dogs?  Are they cats?  who knows.  They are just worshippers of their person.

Then there's Harmony, that weird puppy.  She doesn't seem to get there ARE different breeds.  She's dog-like and devoted to everyone because she sees everyone as equal.  She doesn't seem to understand why she can't eat at the table or get her own plate.  She's a person just like we cats are people.  There is no difference to her.  Except mean meanie heads.  Big people, people who walk through front doors, and people who wear hats are scary mean meanie heads that make her bark and pee herself.  Otherwise, everyone is loved alike and equal.  It doesn't matter who they are.  I can see being loving.  I'm loving to everyone.  But that is a bit over-the-top.  One has to have some sense of descrimination.

Well, there you are.  Now, you can look at the pets you know.  Are they dog-like cats?  Cat-like cats?  Dog-like dogs?  Cat-like dogs?  Or something in between?  How do your pets view the people around them?

Sharing my Person

This is Ruru the Cat.  I know I whined about the puppy a few weeks ago, but I guess she's not so terrible.  She seems to like me and wants to play with me.  I even let her do it sometimes.  But unlike my silly brother, I will NOT be her chew toy.  It trips me out.  The puppy comes along, and he just lets her CHEW on his HEAD.  His HEAD.  Or his legs or back or whatever.  He TAKES it.  The rest of us lay down the law.  She tries to chew on our heads, and we show her with our claws that this is a great way to end up DEAD.

So I have to sleep on one side while the puppy sleeps on the other.  That's not so bad.  And my person still seems to snuggle me and hug me and play with me MORE.

There are problems.  Here, I thought when Daisy disappeared, I wouldn't have to compete for every piece of cheese or meat when our person mama is cooking.  But that stinking Harmony the Puppy is twice my size.  They go to feed ME a piece of meat or whatever, and that Harmony gets it.  She also has a thing for chewing on our litter box leavings.  I don't even know what that's all about.

But over all, it's okay.  I can handle sharing my person.  Sometimes.  As long as that puppy remembers who's boss.