Tuesday 2 September 2008

Fighting Like Cats and Dogs


Yeah. Really. Cats and dogs.

Three years ago, Chester the dog and Ridley the cat had a pretty violent tiff, in which the dog received a poke in the nose, the cat got a hole in his neck, and my husband almost lost a finger. We figured it was super hot that day, the animals were miserable, and the cat hadn't been fixed yet. They kissed and made up, and things were uneventful... until last week.

We put the dog out as usual, but when he came back in, Ridley got right up in his grill and made him nervous. Chester scooted down the hall to get the lamprey off him, but Ridley kept at it, trying to decipher some smell the dog had brought in.

In his rush to get away from the cat, Chester tried to jump on my daughter's bed, but he's not as spry as he used to be. He missed and fell on the cat.

Well, you can imagine how insulted Ridley became. I guess forty pounds of dog landing on your head can be pretty upsetting when you're a cat. He latched onto the dog's face, howling ad hissing. Chester, in a panic, pinned the cat down and gave off the most horrendous high-pitched snarls.

Add the kids' screams to the mix and I ran into the bedroom, shouting at the dog to leave. He scrambled out and we locked the cat in the bedroom to allow him to calm down. The dog just looked confused.

After a day and a half of growls and howls and the judicious use of baby gates, they finally sniffed noses and gave each other the old half-hearted 'guy hug', kinda like Joey and Chandler in Friends.

11 comments:

BernardL said...

Wow, nothing like having a cat attached to your face to ruin your day. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Chumplet!
Lol, I enjoyed your cat-dog fight and have been there many times.

Hope you're doing good.
hugs
kimmi

Sandra Cormier said...

Bernard, I totally blame Ridley in this fiasco. He's a bit of a jerk.

Hi, Kimmikins!

Chris Eldin said...

LOL! 40 pounds of dog!!!

You changed your look!! Very sahweet and sleek.
:-)

Sandra Cormier said...

Yeah, schnazzy, huh?

Bernita said...

What Bernard said!

The Anti-Wife said...

Poor Chester! I wouldn't want to do battle with a cat. Those claws can really hurt.

laughingwolf said...

ack! no fun for either party :(

Liane Spicer said...

I'm sure it wasn't at all funny, but your retelling of it surely was!

I had one encounter with a terrified cat who broke into our house (came in through a window, actually) and hid her kittens in a closet. I still shudder when I remember this cat howling and shooting all over the place, running up curtains and baring her fangs...

There's a launch party happening over at my blog, so drop by and have a drink or something!

Sandra Cormier said...

Wow! How scary, Liane! The biggest wild (feral) animal we had in the house was a chipmunk.

Yeah, it's funny only because the pets are still alive and the humans still possess their digits.

Barbara Martin said...

Great story, and I sympathize for the dog.

Years ago I lived on Shuter Street north of Dundas, where I had a tiny Italian Greyhound and a Doberman. One of the half-wild alley cats came sneaking up the back deck stairs and was almost to the top step when I saw that he was stalking the IG. I called the Dobe who came, saw what was transpiring (his buddy soon to be cat dinner) and Dwight the Dobe began a noise that I call the Hound of the Baskervilles. A noise they dig up from deep down in their chest and it sounds really nasty. Up to that point, Dwight had always liked cats and had never bothered them. He chased the cat over the neighbour's fence, came back to check out his buddy nearly licking him to death. Thereafter, Dwight never liked cats.