Karla's Kolumn: Cats in harmony

It has been a busy summer and I know you are all wondering how the cats are doing since last I wrote there was still some disgruntlement, mainly between the two males.

Chuck had refused to eat with Tigger and Fluffy, mainly because they would push him out of the way. I felt sorry for him and started feeding him separately at the back door. But then came the ants all over the cat food and into the doorway.

Enough was enough. Chuck needed to learn to eat with the other cats so I would take his food out the back door and make him follow me to the front. Each day I inched his food closer to the other cats.

Alas I can report there is harmony, for now, among the three cats. They all are fed together – yes, of course separate dishes – they even lounge together on the front porch.

There for a while Tigger and Fluffy must have had a tiff, however, because they were not napping together as they often did. But harmony is back in that relationship as well as this afternoon when I was headed out to return to work there they were curled up together.

I am still getting to know their personalities and Tigger is by far the most chatty and he is becoming much like Chuck when we go on walks he gets right in front of you so that you have to stop. Thus it becomes the perfect opportunity for some pets.

But, remember he is a cat and well the pets only last so long.

He loves chasing grasshoppers and millers and the water when it is running through the hose when you first turn it on. I know, I think it is strange too, but if it makes him happy, well then, chase away Tigger.

As for the Tigger-Shadow relationship well that is still funny to watch. Yes, Tigger comes over to rub up against Shadow and Shadow is still leery of him. She gets a look like she is trying to figure out what Tigger is up to, I’m sure remembering the authoritative hissing when they first met.

But as I wrote previously animal relationships are a lot like humans, if trust is broken it takes a while to repair and that is what is going on with Shadow and Tigger – they are developing a trust of one another.

I still find it amazing that we now have more cats than dogs, but maybe that’s just how the world is now, cats maybe are taking over. But more cats and dogs brings me to a funny exchange overheard at Monday’s fair board meeting.

There was discussion about making some changes next year to the animal shows and someone remarked they still thought it was funny there was a cat show. To which I remarked that there were more cats than dogs in this year’s fair — three dogs to seven cats in fact. Maybe it’s because they have the costume contest for the cats and not the dogs. Hmmm, perhaps that’s something to consider …