Trespassers

Today

As the weather deteriorates into Autumn I notice that Abby is less inclined to stand on her dignity and more inclined to come indoors and tolerate the kitties.

She's been in during the day and evening several times this week and has even deigned to sit on my lap for a few hours. She shows a preference for Paul's chair, sleeping bang in the middle of it and Paul doesn't like to disturb her.

She outstares the kitties who so far haven't taken her on.

In My Day

We acquired Caspian the dog in May 1984. He was a cheerful mongrel, aged about two. He was delighted with his new home, especially as he discovered that there were a couple of cats he could chase. This he did without malice but a great deal of energy. Amelia and Agamemnon were sorely affronted and refused to come indoors while the dog was there. They snatched their meals and zipped off outside to safety where there was little chance that he could actually catch them.

I think it was the normally timid Amelia who decided, as Autumn approached, that she was blowed if she was going to be kept out of her nice warm house by a mere dog. So the next time Cas decided that he wanted a bit of sport she simply stood her ground and gave him a good swipe, accompanied by much hissing. Cas was taken aback "I didn't mean anything by it", he seemed to be saying "Just a bit of fun, can't you take a joke?" Amelia sailed past him and took up her favourite place in the warm.

This action left the opportunity wide open for Agamemnon to follow suit which he did without having to lift a paw.

Cas, who was intelligent enough not to risk a second slapping, soon took his rightful, third place in the hierarchy. For a long time he took to avoiding the cats altogether, jumping over the sofa rather than face them. We sometimes discovered him whimpering at the top of the stairs, not daring to walk past Agamemnon who'd be reclining on a step lower down ostentatiously taking a nice long time about giving himself a jolly good wash.

In later years they all accepted each others' presence in the home, although the cats always kept their distance. When Amelia was dying she at last allowed Caspian to come close and sniff her, an honour which he repaid by mourning her death for about a week.

I'm not really hoping for feline closeness to develop between Abby and the kitties but I do wish she'd stop that stupid growling whenever she sees them.