Sebastian Venturing into Dog Territory

The woofies usually spend much of their time in the living room.  The front window has lots of excitement within eyesight most times during the day (other dogs walking by, cars driving by, kids going to and from school) and there are three comfortable dog beds within a few paces. Consequently it has been a rare event to see Sebastian (the dog hater) in the living room.

Lately he has been venturing into the living room to see what is going on and perhaps sneak a peek out the front window if there are no dogs in close proximity.  Girly is no longer here to enforce a "no Sebastian rule" of her choosing and Dakota is now heading towards 16 years of age, less agile than she previously was thus not a threat to Sebastian.  Sophie ignores Sebastian and the pup is afraid of him so the circumstances now make it less stressful for Sebastian to occasionally spend time in the living room with us.

In this shot, he is stretched out on the arm of the chair hubby is sitting in, but you can still see how watchful he is.  Although he does spend more time with us here, he is still vigilant for any dog movement and often will dash off as soon as one of the dogs gets up out of a dog bed. We can only assume that his previous time out on the streets as an abandoned cat must have locked in a strong fear of any possible predator that still hasn't really gone away entirely in the many years he has spent with us.

Spike Getting Ready to Poach a Sleeping Spot

Spike in action:

And this is how it starts!  On the cream leather chair, Spike will silently appear at the side of the sleeping "victim" and will usually begin the process of removing said victim by a soft lick somewhere near the neck. That is usually enough to elicit the opening of one sleepy eye.  This is quickly followed up by a paw poke by Spike - which will typically dislodge the existing occupant, leaving a nicely warmed up sleeping spot.

When Spike wants the cat bed on the coffee table emptied for his use, he simply starts with a paw poke, followed by another..and then another..until the spot is his.

Welcome Cat at the Nursing Home

My dad is temporarily in respite care at a nursing home and on our first visit we saw this sweet "welcome" cat.  Dusty, who appears to be of Himalayan ancestry, often sits right by the front door. She wanders through the halls, sometimes popping into one of the resident rooms. My dad, unfortunately, is a confirmed dog lover, with no interest in cats, and doesn't see the same appeal I do in a friendly, cuddly cat.  My mother is the true cat lover in our family and will tolerate a dog now and then.  I, as readers know by now, love both cats and dogs!

Spike and Sadie getting used to the idea of sharing

When we bought a new leather chair from Ikea a few months ago (after the pup savaged our old chair) Sadie was quick to claim it as her own. I bought a nice red pillow with cream stitching and as soon as it was on the chair, Sadie pulled at it until it flipped over and then she curled on top of the cushion.  I guess the cream embroidery stitching must have been uncomfortable. Yesterday Spike did something very unusual and sat beside Sadie.  His normal approach is to poke at the occupant until the space is empty and then he takes over (see photo below!).  This time he squeezed in beside Sadie and sat there for almost half an hour.  Sadie must have been fast asleep because she didn't even stir when Spike claimed half of the cushion for himself.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our friends ...and especially those of you who take the time to read my sporadic and sometimes brief postings. My resolution for 2014...post more often! Given the more laid back attitude of our cats these days (AKA constantly sleeping) there probably will be some repetitive poses here..but we'll try and capture some more active pics.  And being an equal-opportunity pet owner, there may be the occasional glimpse of a Sheltie or two!