While I was preparing to go away for a couple of weeks, I put a plea out on Facebook to see if any of my friends would be interested in guest posting and a wonderful moment happened - one of them said yes! Yvonne Divita, who writes so many blogs I can hardly keep up, offered to pitch in and here is her post. Enjoy!
I am the lucky owner of a dog and a cat. That’s all, just one dog and one cat. We had two cats once upon a time…but we’re down to one dog and one cat.
Here’s the thing – this dog, Carmel, and this cat, Wabby Wibby (that’s short for baby kitty, in case you wanted to know)…grew up together and sometimes they forget which species they are. Carmel often thinks she must be a cat. And Wabby…well, Wabby never forgets she’s a cat but she tolerates Carmel better than the other cat we had.
Carmel’s “space” in the house is with me. Wherever I go, she goes. If I go downstairs (we have a raised ranch) to see Tom, who works in the lower level…and if I say to her, “I’ll be right back, you don’t have to follow me,” … she follows me anyway. You see, she’s going on 14 which is old for a Shepard-Lab mix. She doesn’t hear well and her joints are definitely bothering her – it’s hard for her to get up off of a bare floor. If she’s not on a rug or her bed (as seen in this picture), she struggles mightily, until one of us helps her. And, then she acts very embarrassed.
The cat, on the other hand, who is a mere six months younger, gets around just fine. She doesn’t jump up on the bed as much as she used to – it’s several inches higher than the couch, where she claims territory, so I guess she’s not as spry as she’d like us to believe, either. Still, I have not had to take her to the vet in quite awhile, while Carmel is due for yet another visit tomorrow. (rear end problems… let’s not talk about it)
Occasionally I see the two of these furry creatures nose to nose and I am positive they are communicating. There were times when I was sure they were plotting something, but… that’s just my overactive imagination. Mostly, I think they’re just checking to see if one of them has been fed yet. That’s their main purpose in life – to be fed. Wabby gets fed around 5 o’clock, and starts bellowing for her dinner around 3 o’clock. Yep…two hours of hearing her whine and cry and circle my chair, wondering why I’m not jumping up to feed her. I’ve told her repeatedly that if I were her, why… I’d run away! She just looks at me blankly…because she’s not allowed outdoors.
Carmel isn’t so insistent…until OUR dinnertime arrives. THEN she thinks, “Oh, goody, people food!” I guess it’s our own fault. One of us has a soft heart (guess which one) and always saves a piece of food for her. The crust of pizza is her favorite. Licking the yogurt bowl is another. She’s not like other dogs, she won’t eat just anything… but, she will lick the bowl of a Wendy’s salad…and eat any leftover lettuce. And, sometimes… when we have fish, both pets will be at my feet just watching…just staring…as I put hand to mouth with food in it… being patient because…they know they’re going to get a smidgen.
Dr. Larry, over at the petblog, says that’s not a good idea, feeding pets from the table…but, I don’t have to listen to him cause we don’t eat at the table. We eat in bed.
Love it!
