If you read last month's blogs you know that we were dog sitting for a couple of weeks. When the last blog ended the poor dog, Jake, still had 5 more days to endure our inhospitable cats.
So just to let you know ... during those last days, things settled down a bit from hissing and spitting whenever paths got crossed.
Our little snot, Patty, finally figured out that the dog wasn't coming after her. So she just started ignoring Jake totally, like he was invisible. She could walk by him and pretty much just act like he wasn't even there. She didn't even hurry past him anymore. I suppose that it was good to not have all the hissing and threatening, but it's still a pretty shabby way to treat a house guest ... like they're not even there.
Squirt started spending less time in the bed and under the bed, but he kept a nervous distance from Jake. After the little incident when Jake snapped at Squirt for sneaking up on him while he was sleeping, Squirt continued to give Jake a wide berth. Wherever Jake was laying when Squirt came out of the bedroom, dictated where Squirt would go. Squirt pretty much had to give up all his favorite laying-around spots for those 5 days, because getting there meant he would have to go past the dog, and Squirt wasn't willing to risk that. He found a spot under the bed where a corner of the spread had lifted a bit and he could still peer out ... he had to keep one eye on the dog at all times.
They had a few nose-to-nose encounters, and I think Squirt was beginning to get genuinely curious about Jake. Perhaps with some more time, they would have gotten to be friends. But as it was, Jake got a little weary of Squirt, too, and the few times they got nose-to-nose, Jake would just stare Squirt down and Squirt would make his exit. It's no fun trying to be friends with somebody who won't just be forthright with you. Nobody likes a sneak and a coward.
5 more days ... but they finally passed ...
When hubby, Bill, went to the airport to bring our friends home, I packed Jake up in the car and took him home, too, so he would be there when they arrived. Most dogs love rides in the car, but not Jake. After 14 days of rotten hospitality from our rude cats, now he had to endure the 20 minute ride home. 20 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but it surely must be when you're shaking and shivering and out-of-your-mind nervous. But Jake's a good boy who does what you ask of him. He got right into the car and sat there quietly and shivered and shook for the whole 20 minute ride to their house. Jake is a class act.
Terror turned to joy when we pulled into their driveway, and he immediately recognized where he was. He was so happy to get out of that car! We sat on the back porch and waited for his family to get home, too, and we didn't have to wait long ...
If joy was a movie, that homecoming would have been the climatic scene!
I can only imagine how Jake must have been feeling ... after 2 miserable weeks with our stinking cats, finally he was back home and back to normal living! The truth is, Jake has a cat at his house and he and Smudge get along just fine. I hope Smudge didn't think badly of us after Jake told her about his week in cat hell ...
Back at home our rude and inhospitable cats were still tippy-toeing around in case they might turn a corner and run into a dog. The next morning there's a familiar lump under the spread in the middle of the bed. Patty's already figured it out, and she is noticeably more relaxed and happier, like a great weight has been lifted off her mind. It takes Squirt about an hour of coaxing for him to finally figure it out ... the dog is GONE!!
When the news finally settles into both of their little cat brains, then there comes a good 15 minutes of the zoomies, running back and forth and all around ... happiness and joy is at our house, too!
In a little while they're both back into their normal routine and laying in their normal spots. Life is good again. They are back to being the king and queen.
It would really hurt my feelings to find out that my absence would bring someone so much happiness!
Please don't tell Jake ... I'm glad he doesn't know!