The difference between our cats and our dogs

Three Shelties playing on the couch - with the new big boy waiting his turn to join in.  This is a typical scene in the house - at any time a dog pile could start if anyone is in the mood to play.

Contrast this with most views of our cats - lazily curled up in a warm place anywhere in the house.  If any of the cats happen to be in close proximity to another, this is by coincidence rather than by design.  Playing with another cat...not a chance!

Spike is in a sharing mood

This is a follow up to the February 16th photos of Spike and Seumas with their own personal space staked out on the couch.  This time they are close enough that Seumas' ear is actually right on top of Spike's neck.  We know that these two are not scared of each other but they rarely get close.

Seumas is quite boisterous since he is still in puppy mode and often knocks Spike over when he gets excited, running over to get a dog treat.  Spike is usually smart enough to keep his distance when walking around the house but he has been caught in the puppy tornado a few times.

When Seumas is asleep on the dog bed in the living room, it is not unusual  to see Spike walk up to the tail end of Seumas and have a sniff. Spike then walks away with his mouth open, and a look of distaste!

Spike..Cat or Dog?

Spike's size probably enables him to be more confident around the dogs and he doesn't willingly give up a sleeping spot.  He will share..as long as he has established his space first ..and the dog is willing to leave some personal space between. Spike has found that the back of the couch is a good fit for a rather large kitty ...and is not perturbed that Seumas and Sophie also find the couch appealing for a quick nap.

It almost looks like Spike is trying to poke Sophie but he is simply stretching out his big paw.

Seumas loves to sneak up to the back of the couch...regardless of whether any human or animal is around. He can sleep soundly here until he hears the sound of a treat bag opening!  He had opened one sleepy eye here to look at Spike but with nothing else going on to catch his attention, he went back to sleep very quickly.

The ham-micks are here!

For several years I have noticed cat hammocks showing up in many of the blogs I have visited.  Not knowing much about these to begin with, I checked a few pet stores here to see if they had any of this unusual style of cat bed.  As you have probably seen from earlier posts, we have a bad habit of buying all sorts of cat and dog beds then scattering them around the house.  In fact, right now, we have two dog beds stacked up in the corner of the bedroom since no one (dog or cat) seems to want to seep on these. They are more interested in the latest style was have picked up from Costco (rectangular with high sides and plushy insides). On occasion I have had to remove a cat from those beds so a dog could get in.

So..the other day when a post came in from Zoolatry referring to the ham-micks at Forty Paws I remembered that I was so fascinated that the cats in the ham-mick photos looked so comfortable...and after a quick email to find out that these could be shipped to Canada, the next step was picking out the patterns. One which included white cats...that was easy.  It took me some time to settle on the second choice...there are many appealing patterns and I keep going back and forth between a couple of them until I finally decided on a similar pattern to my first choice.  In retrospect it really didn't matter what I chose since our cats would cover almost every single square inch once they stretch out!.

Spike welcomed the package as it came in the door ...and was even more excited when he found the special catnip treat inside!  He laid claim to one of the ham-micks quite quickly and was not going to rousted by anyone, including a curious dog.  Even wary Sebastian ventured into the living room to get a quick sniff of the new ham-micks.

After the first day, we moved one bed to the corner of our bedroom and now Sadie regularly comes in to sleep on it whenever she feels like it is time for a break away from the cats downstairs. The other is in a spare room and has a rotating schedule of cats...most often Sebastian.

Thank you, Forty Paws!  http://fortypawshammicks.blogspot.ca/

And the animals came in two by two ....

Wide awake..and the dogs come to visit.

Trying to sleep..and the cats come quickly to cuddle up and sleep as well. Angel (at top) was quite annoyed to see Sadie in the prime spot and he crawled over me several times until I finally gave him an arm to snuggle into.

Seumas - The Early Days

 

Seumas (a fine Scottish name for a Shetland Sheepdog) joined our family last year when he was just over 8 weeks old.  We knew Girly's remaining time with us would be numbered in months rather than years and we wanted to have a little pup who would be a reminder of our beloved old gal.  We have never had a young pup before since our dogs have come to us after they have spent their puppyhood with owners who later decided that they were not going to take care of these sweet dogs the way they should be looked after (some people don't deserve the privilege of owning pets - enough said).

Within the first week Seumas had a taste of where he placed in the hierarchy.  Sadie climbed on top of his cage and acted as if the pup wasn't even there.  Angel was already used to sharing the couch with Girly so hardly missed a beat when Seumas was placed at the end of the couch. After a wary look at each other, they both settled in and fell asleep, oblivious to anything around them.

Seumas quickly learned how to climb up on the back of the couch (better to see everything and everyone around him!) and he is the only dog in the family to show any interest in this - usually this is the cats' domain.   Although in this case it was probably my food that caught his interest. And being a typical pup, the couch was also a prime sleeping spot.  In fact I am just looking across the living room and I can see a much larger Seumas stretched out on the couch, with his head on one of my good feather cushions.  He, like Girly and Angel, knows that it is important to keep me company in the living room, when I am the only human down here late into the evening.

Seumas Checking out Angel

Seumas, still called "the pup" even though he is 15 months old now, has a bad habit of sniffing cats.  He follows them around the house, sniffing at nether regions. He goes up to them when they are sitting on the coffee table and sniffs their faces.  Angel is usually quite patient but even he is starting to draw the line at this habit.  Seumus was going in for a close up view of Angel and was sticking his nose right in front of Angel's mouth.  Bad move! Angel had enough at this point and opened his mouth, ready to sink those sharp little cat teeth into a soft tender dog nose.  Fortunately Seumas realized what Angel's intent was and beat a hasty retreat!

A lazy weekend

After seeing Trish's photo this week of a favorite cat napping spot  http://katniplounge.blogspot.ca/2012/08/uncomfortably-numb I remembered hubby had taken a photo the other day when I had a chance to curl up on the couch with two nice warm cushions. The only problems are sharp back claws being pushed into tender skin when Angel is getting settled and a cold wet nose when Seumas goes to put his head on my leg. Other than that.. it was good to be able to snooze on the couch for almost an hour!

Why I love my cats

Sometimes a sleepless night really brings home how much I love my cats. First ..at around 3 in the morning...a loud yakking sound at the end of the bed..a scramble to get up and see which dog was getting sick and make it there before next dog decided to jump on clean up duty.  Then, an hour and a half later, a couple of soft, piteous whines from the third dog at my side of the bed, looking for someone to carry her downstairs. (She can't climb stairs due to her age and arthritis so I carry her upstairs each night - although don't usually have the AM shift to come downstairs.)  After snuggling back under the covers and falling asleep, I heard the sharp yap of a wide awake puppy.  At this point all three dogs were downstairs with hubby (who is always up by 5 AM to feed dogs and cats) so the pup wanted someone to give him attention.  I hoisted him out of his crate, took him outside to take care of business then handed him over to hubby.

Now, over this time, Angel was sleeping at the end of the bed, not bothered by anything going on and not moving until he heard hubby heading downstairs for feeding time. Angel comes up at night time right after I head to bed, jumps on the end of the bed and spreads himself over my feet.  At some point during the night, Sadie saunters down the hall and curls up on the laundry basket just outside the room (well..not a functioning laundry basket anymore..now taken out of use and filled with a cat blanket). Spike occasionally sneaks up to sleep in the headboard...squishing his ample frame into a rather small bookcase section in the headboard, right by his adored "papa". And NOT at any time during the night, am I woken up by any of my sweet cats!   

  

Sadie and Seumas are sharing the couch in the photos above.  Sadie crawled up on Saumas' blanket just after it had come out of the dryer. She was fast asleep when Seumas was put on the couch to play with his toys..she opened an eye to see who it was and then went right back to sleep. Seumas followed suit shortly after!