Cats and the Dog

Having a new dog in the house has really changed some dynamics.

For one thing, the two cats are treating each other differently. Historically Kokopelle has bothered Saphira a lot, leading to squabbles. ("Bothered" as in, he doesn't know he's neutered.) When Josie came along they had a common...not enemy, but a common source of uncertainty to be cautious of. This united the two for a while, and even though Kokopelle is perfectly fine with Josie now he's still getting along with Saphira better than he had been before.

Kokopelle and Josie

What's really amazing to me is that Kokopelle and Josie actually get along great now, as you can see in the above photo where they're happily relaxing next to each other. They even play together! This is a major change from when Kokopelle was a kitten and clawed me up to escape when he glimpsed a friend's dog one evening. That was a somewhat unpleasant experience.

Kokopelle has also started changing some of his habits, in some delightful but also annoying ways that I'm sure are Josie's fault.

First of all, Josie has taken to sleeping under the blankets with my mom. (Except for when she decides to sleep on my bed...not sure how she decides who to sleep with.) Despite Kokopelle seeing Saphira sleep under the blankets with dad for years, he's apparently finally figured out that it might be fun to snuggle with a human friend (me) under the blankets from watching Josie. So, he was asking to get under the blankets with me for about a week. Which was sweet, except for when it wasn't.

Yeah, it's difficult to find it sweet when Kokopelle wakes me up to request that I allow him under my blankets. Can't he figure out how to get under them by himself? Or at least climb right in rather than gaze at them thoughtfully when I hold the blanket up for him?

When I got tired of waiting for a decision on his part and decided to go back to sleep one night, Kokopelle decided to bat at my head. And when I pulled the blanket over my head, would you care to guess what he did? If you guessed crawl up on top of my head and bathe himself, you guessed correctly. I still can't quite believe he did that.

Josie escaping

Not only is Josie settling in, but she also finds way to get into...trouble. As pictured, Josie managed to chew a large enough hole in the crate that mom bought for the car to stick her head out of it. She also keeps escaping from harnesses that mom buys her. When Josie isn't teaching my cat new tricks she spends her time trying to outwit my mom, and so far the dog seems to have a knack for winning those contests if mom isn't careful.