I originally posted the following on the emigrant.ie's discussion boards in response to a question about cats, dogs and the grander meaning of life. I just found it and thought some of you might enjoy reading it. The original posting can be found at the link associated with this posting.
We currently have (along with assorted kids, fish and "wild" animals roaming the property) 4 cats and a dog. Three of the cats are older (10 to 14 years old) who have not gotten along with each other in all the years we've had them (since kittenhood for all of them). The 4th cat is the latest stray...about 3 - 4 months old and quickly learning not to bother the other cats.
The dog was a "drop-off" we took in as a puppy back in March. She's part of the family and has come to an uneasy truce with at least one of the cats. She is constantly trying to "play" with the kitten, but her size, noise and exuberance seem to scare the kitten (who's a bit skittish, as strays often are) away.
Since my wife and I are also all too often "all-too-pragmatic" people, we set certain rules that limit interaction between the species within our family's pet population - carefully watching the interactions to ensure no one ends up dead, mangled or too emotionally scarred for life.
On the other hand, since we have heard stories of cats and dogs living together in harmony and, since we are also eternal optimists in this area, from time to time we attempt to "forcibly integrate" the family pets - putting them into (heavily controlled) situations where they are forced to interact with each other. It is rarely successful from an integration standpoint, but it is (almost) always entertaining.
If you've read this far, you're probably beginning to wonder what all this has to do with answering Wildside's initial question.
The simple truth is - I don't know.
I was actually hoping that the act of documenting these experiences would bring some earth-shattering, universal truth to light for me...and that by relating these truths in this message, I would become the "hero of the thread" (a position which actually exists when I'm "in my happy place").
Unfortunately, all this has done for me is to highlight the fact that I have no answer to any of this and that the only thing I know to do is to keep slogging through each day - trying to contain the violence in each situation and celebrating the small victories (like the fact that at least one of our cats can now sit in the same room as the dog without constantly trying to scratch her nose).
Ouch, my head hurts now!
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I'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave a comment here or e-mail me at: TomFawls@Council4SmallBiz.com.
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