The Journey of a Thousand Licks Begins with a Single Swat

In the weeks leading up to September 19^th, the day Mart and I brought home Joey, the bundle of puppy joy we had dreamed about and named probably long before her great-grandmother was even a twinkle in her great-great grandmother’s big brown eyes, we were troubled by the upset her arrival may cause our other bundle of joy:  Tao, our one and a half year old, indoor-only, spoiled brat Siamese.

We spent hours poring over the literature on best practices in introducing a dog into a cat’s territory, and we carefully plotted our plan of slowly moderating Tao’s exposure to Joey so as to avoid any long-term disdain between the animals.  Yes, we are over-thinkers.  Actually, allow me to revise that statement:  I conduct the over-thinker train; Marty has a season pass and hops on and off at select stops for the ride.

On the long journey home from the breeder in Pennsylvania, with Joey curled up on a blanket on my lap, we talked about our plan.  We would first enter the house with the blanket Joey was sleeping on and allow Tao to sniff it in.  We would then take turns going into the house and holding Tao so she could smell Joey’s scent on our clothes.  Next, I would bring Tao to the open window to watch Joey as she played in the yard and soon after Marty would hold Joey up to the window and let Tao get a feel for her from behind the comfortable barrier of the screen.  Next, we would slowly bring Joey into the house and allow the animals to familiarize themselves with one another while Joey remained on the leash.  And then, finally, when cat and dog seemed like they could be within a ten foot radius of one another without exposing teeth or revealing claws, we would release Joey from the leash and let them have at it.

I am a creature of plan.  And the plan was executed without err. 

Within hours we went from a curious but timid dog antagonizing and getting swatted at by a curious but timid cat (see below)...

  

 

  

...to this:    

  TAO WATCHES OVER HER LITTLE SISTER AS SHE SLEEPS

In the five months that have followed, Tao and Joey have created a very sisterly-like bond. They taunt each other, steal each others' food, nab each others' toys, and on occasion, deliver a swift swat to put each other in their place.  Yet, wherever one is, the other happens to be just a few steps behind.

   

SHARING LUNCH

 

SNUGGLING

 TYPICAL SISTERS 

One minute it's pure love and the next they're at each others' throats (love the look of sheer terror in Joey's eye)

But just last week something quite miraculous happened that showed us we might not be doing so bad at this raising sisters thing: 

I was upstairs taking a bath when Marty ran in, cheeks red from the cold and holding Tao, breathlessly delivering the following story:

He was in the kitchen checking his email on the laptop.  Joey was doing the usual --wandering around the house looking for something to make a mess out of-- when all of the sudden she began to bark.  Odd - as she seldom barks inside.  He told her to stop and went back to his email.  Joey’s barking continued, however, and she began to pace the house in a clear effort to get Marty’s attention.  Marty went to the living room with the intent to calm her down, but her barking just got louder.  All of his “Joey, stop" and "Joey, no!” wasn’t doing much, and being that she is typically quite obedient, her behavior piqued his curiosity.  He approached the window, where Joey was standing with her front legs propped on the ledge, and began to pet her.  That’s when he noticed Joey’s gaze fixed upon something in the road.  He followed her point of vision and his eyes locked on our wimpy, exceedingly human-dependent, indoor-only Tao! (who must have slipped out more than a half an hour earlier while Marty was busy repairing the front screen door.)

Within seconds Marty was out in the snow, cautiously approaching Tao, who was frozen in her Halloween kitty stance – hair standing on end, tail fat and sticking straight up.  He grabbed her and dashed back inside where she was met by an ostensibly grateful Joey, who welcomed her with a sloppy lick to the face.  Tao paid her back with a swat to the head.

When all was said and done, Marty and I sat down together and assessed the situation over dinner.  The anthropomorphic side of us wanted to believe that Joey had looked out the window, seen Tao, and thought:  Oh no!  My sister’s outside.  She will surely die in the cold.  I must do something to save her! However, we concluded that, sadly, our pets aren’t human and that it was more likely that Joey thought Oh no!  That soft white thing that belongs in here is out there.  She better get her prissy little ass inside or I won’t be able to maul the crap out of her when I get bored with the people.

Now that’s not so anthropomorphic is it??

Although I would love to say that Joey and Tao are the portrait of peace among species that have gone down in history for their conflicting characters (Bruno and Lucifer from Cinderella being my personal favorite), to say so would be a lie.  However, nothing warms my heart more than seeing my feline child flop to the floor when her canine counterpart enters the room, roll to her back, spread her legs wide, and look on as Joey licks her butt clean. 

If that ain’t sisterly love, I don’t know what is.