An unlikely friendship…but a friendship, nonetheless

The rivalry between dogs and cats. It is a story that I have heard about, read about and watched all my life. The cat runs, the dog chases.

I had a dog that killed every barn kitten it could find. She knew she wasn’t supposed to. She would wait till I was out-of-town and I would come back to little bodies buried here and there. Like a Stephen King novel…

So when our semi-feral cat, Brita and our young dog, Otis, decided on their unique friendship…I didn’t quite believe it.

I walked up one afternoon, to see them lying side by side. Not too weird, I thought, and I didn’t think anything else about it. Soon, I was seeing them together more often but when Otis saw me watching, he would change the dynamics and start chasing Brita or become playful so that she would swat at him and then run.

It reminded me of the wrestling matches that could happen between myself and bigger brothers or my dad and myself and then later my son. I wanted to be included but it soon became obvious, I was going to get an elbow in the eye or not like the neck hold and whine for them to stop. Sometimes I would start it and then scream for help.

Anyway…this morning, I watched them without their knowledge. Otis sitting on the porch and Brita rubbing against him, meowing and then standing up on her hind legs and grabbing his face in her paws!

He gently reached down and held her neck in his mouth and she would fall over and then it would start all over again. As soon as I came outside to take a photo, Otis started chasing her and she hissed and swat at him. I could almost hear him say…see mom? I don’t really like her. I was just pretending.

Yea, right. I know you love your little kitty friend you silly dog. It’s okay for a dog to like a cat, I guess. We all need friends…