Cat Tales

This one is for all the cat people! Lately I’ve had a few questions about our kitties and after I managed to catch a rare sweet moment of them on camera I thought it would be the perfect time to answer. A little recap for anyone one who is new, Piper is our female Siamese mix with the prettiest big blue eyes and attitude for days. She’ll be 13 this year and most would never guess she’s an old lady. Piper is half sass, half class and takes her queen bee role in the house pretty seriously. You don’t mess with the queen. And if you dare, she’s quick to give a warning or a full on reminder, depending on your crime. Orion, or Little O as we always call him, is still a baby, turning 3 this year. He’s mellowed out somewhat from his over the top wild ways but he’s still the biggest trouble maker in the house. I joke that he’s our sour patch kid and if you remember some of the commercials for the candy you get it. First he does something “sour” like jump on the table or counter and knock everything over and then he’s “sweet” coming over to snuggle up on my chest. It’s hard to stay mad at him even when he’s attempting to razz miss Piper and eliciting the most annoying shrieks and hisses from her.

Yes, our cats get along with each either other and the dogs, but in a way that works in our minds. Like I said, Piper is the reigning queen. She was first before anyone else and is a total diva. The dogs respect this for the most part and let her do her thing but Ares sometimes can’t help but stick his snout into her soft fur. He is promptly socked in the face in return. Occasionally she will bop Chaos as he walks by her perched on the couch, I guess just because she can. The girls (I swear I will introduce them soon) have been smart enough to leave her alone and she loves that. In our world, this is all just gravy. It’s the equivalent of Piper playing nice. Enter Little O. He was born into a foster home and lived there with several dogs and some rats, yes rats, before we adopted him around 4 months old. It has always been clear how comfortable he is around dogs and often his behaviors make him seem more of a cat-dog alien mix then the regular old orange tomcat he appears to be. Guests in our home continue to be surprised when walks right up to a dog to initiate play or just hang by the fire together. All of our dogs have grown up around cats so there is no issue with prey drive. Cats are friends not food at our house. While O does typically do his thing, getting into everything he shouldn’t and making us laugh at the same time, sometimes he just can’t resist riling up the queen. It goes a little something like this: O pounces at Piper, chases her from her comfy spot and then sits underneath whatever she has climbed up on, taunting her. Piper makes maniacal cat noises and boxes him like a pro until he finally gives up.

Most of the time the cats peacefully co-exist with simple acknowledgement of each other. And here’s the funny part. There are times we catch Piper grooming O or them snuggled together on the couch. But if you get caught looking or try to take a picture, game over. It’s like Piper secretly likes O but doesn’t want anyone to know. It would totally ruin her badass rep and street cred ya know? Nobody tries to kill each other and 95% of the time everyone gets along just fine so we feel like it’s a generally positive environment for them all.

Do your furry kids all get along?