Monday, July 31, 2006

Competitors

This is a story of canine vs. feline. Scruffy and Kitty Cat were always trying to eat each other's food, and this didn't work. The cat food made Scruffy sick, and his dog food made Kitty sick.

One evening I put the cat food down for Kitty Cat, and as she was starting to eat it Scruffy started toward her dish. But he stopped halfway there and looked up at me because he knew I was watching. I sternly warned him, "Don't you DARE!"

But a second later, as I glanced away at something, he ran over there, bumped her out of the way with his shoulder and started eating her food. What a "pill" he could be sometimes!

I had been folding up a paper grocery bag as I watched this. In an effort to stop Scruffy, I stepped over there with the intent to swat him with the folded bag. I knew the bag wouldn't hurt him, but I thought it might back him off a little. My plan backfired. As I tried to swat him the bag popped open, making a loud, "cracking" sound. Poor Kitty Cat was so startled by the sound, she ran the whole length of the house and hid behind the television cabinet near the front door. Kitty wasn't having a good evening. First the dog just bumped her away from her dish, then he ate her food, and then I scared her out of her wits with the paper bag.

I went in the living room to try to comfort and pet her a little bit, but she was too scared to come out from behind the cabinet. So I opened the front door and she quickly darted outside. She just wanted out!

My attempt to help her just didn't work. So after that I put her food dish on top of our kitchen step stool where the dog couldn't get it. I often thought..... these two pets were like having a couple of extra kids!!! They definitely livened things up around our house.

© 2006 Arlene Schwartzkopf