Hello, I’m Savanna! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and my spunky Chihuahua combine, Penny.
Does your canine assume he’s (or she’s) a cat? Generally I’m satisfied that Penny does, or at the very least she acts like my cats typically.
As chances are you’ll know, we have now three cats, and the entire cats had been right here earlier than we ever obtained Penny. I don’t know if that led to some form of id disaster in Penny, however as people, we all know that if we spend sufficient time round somebody, we ultimately begin to choose up on a few of their mannerisms.
I feel that’s what occurred to Penny, since she’s the odd one out on the subject of my pets. In actuality, I feel Penny is absolutely conscious that she isn’t a cat and that she is technically the dominant animal regardless of being the identical measurement because the cats. However I feel the issue stems from the truth that she doesn’t perceive why the cats are allowed to do issues that she isn’t. Listed below are a few of the ways in which Penny acts like a cat, how she asserts dominance over them, and what it’s like residing with a canine and three cats.
However First, a Temporary Introduction to My Kitties
If you happen to’re studying for the primary time this week, I used to be at all times a cat lover first. So once we took Penny in from my niece Alissa who rescued Penny however couldn’t hold her completely, I needed to guarantee that she was good with cats since we had three cats at dwelling already. In spite of everything, the cats had been right here first. However Alissa had a cat too, and guaranteed me that the cat was Penny’s greatest good friend, so we took Penny in.
Simply so you may get the total expertise, it’s necessary so that you can briefly get to know my three kitties. We all know them by their precise identify, however Penny is aware of them by different names, and that’s how she tells them aside.
Bubba, Lina, and Thunder
Bubba
Bubba is my orange tabby cat, and of the three cats we have now now, he’s the oldest and the primary one we obtained. I obtained him as a kitten from a good friend who had discovered him. He’s the standard lazy, grumpy previous man cat, and typically we predict he solely has about one mind cell. Penny is aware of him as “stripey kitty” and so they’re fairly detached to one another more often than not, however they get alongside simply nice.
Kittylina
Kittylina (Lina for brief) was a birthday reward for my daughter. She is the second kitty we obtained, the tortoiseshell, and we obtained her from a PetSmart adoption occasion the place they partnered with a neighborhood animal shelter. She was described to us as “nearly feral”, and it took her some time to heat as much as the thought of being in our dwelling. She doesn’t thoughts for those who strategy and pet her, however she positively has that “tortoiseshell diva” popularity and gained’t strategy you. Penny is aware of her as “speckled kitty”, and she or he is just a little cautious of Lina for no matter cause. It’s in all probability as a result of Lina is the one one who ever swats at Penny when she needs to be left alone.
Thunder
Thunder, the grey cat, is the youngest and the final kitty we obtained. He was rehomed from my sister. He’s positively the neatest of our three cats, and he appears extra like a canine than a cat typically. He even performs fetch along with his toy mice. That is Penny’s “good friend kitty”, the one she will get alongside greatest with, in all probability as a result of their personalities are essentially the most related. They get alongside nicely more often than not, besides when he’s getting pets and she or he isn’t. Then Penny turns right into a jealous little consideration hog.
All the time jealous of good friend kitty.
How Penny Acts Like a Cat
Now that you recognize our three cats just a little higher, I feel residing with them has rubbed off on Penny just a little bit, and right here’s how.
“Empty” Meals Bowls
What’s the one factor we all know to at all times be true about cats? If they’ll even see a tiny part of their meals bowl on the backside, they beg for extra meals, and so they aren’t fooled by merely rearranging the meals to make it appear like you added extra. (Simply FYI, we don’t give in to our cats each time they beg for extra meals. We feed them twice a day, when their bowls are empty or nearly empty.)
However now, Penny has began asking for extra meals when she sees a tiny part of her bowl on the backside. I feel she realized from watching the cats, as a result of she used to not try this. The distinction is that with Penny, I can merely rearrange her meals just a little bit to make it appear like there’s extra, and that’s ok for her.
Being on the Espresso Desk
It’s nearly not possible to maintain cats off of counters, tabletops, and so on. They at all times know the place you don’t need them to be, and that’s the place they go. Thunder particularly has a behavior of leaping up on our espresso desk and simply sitting there grooming himself. It’s probably not an issue, as a result of he doesn’t do it whereas we eat or something.
However Penny thinks that as a result of “good friend kitty” can get on the espresso desk, she will too. The issue is that she will’t bounce from the ground to the espresso desk just like the cats can, so she has to leap onto the sofa after which from the sofa to the espresso desk. I’m afraid she’s going to overlook the desk and damage herself. She’s positively not as agile because the cats. Additionally, she’s not up there simply to be up there. She’s up there searching for crumbs and different “snacks”. So I at all times need to make her get off the desk.
Penny and two of her kitty mates.
How Penny Exerts “Dominance” Over the Cats
Regardless that Penny acts just like the cats in some methods, she is aware of she’s not the identical species as them. However watching her attempt to exert her dominance over the cats when she’s the identical measurement as them is hilarious. She appears to have appointed herself as “kitty monitor”, and she or he is aware of the place the entire cats are at any time. She even tries to herd them into the identical space of the home. That’s why we gave them these nicknames, so she doesn’t confuse their names with different issues. For instance, you’ll be able to say “The place’s stripey kitty?”, and she or he’ll take you to precisely the place Bubba is.
However the funniest factor that ever occurred was when a powerful wind blew our again door open one morning. Lina woke us up by coming into the bed room, leaping up on the mattress, and meowing attempting to get our consideration, which was uncommon for her. So we stand up, comply with Lina to the backdoor, and discover Thunder and Bubba exterior within the yard with Penny working round them, barking to get their consideration, then working again towards the door attempting to get them again inside. In the meantime, Lina was giving us this appear like, “Will you please do one thing about these three idiots disturbing my peace?”
Anyway, Penny positively thinks she’s in command of the kitties, and she or he’s actually fast to come back get us if she thinks certainly one of them is doing one thing they shouldn’t be. Often, that’s sitting on the espresso desk, since she’s not allowed to. However typically she even involves get us if one of many cats is batting one thing round on the ground or making noise in any means, as a result of she thinks they’re doing one thing incorrect in the event that they aren’t simply mendacity on the again of the sofa sleeping quietly.
Is Penny My Fourth Cat?
I don’t assume Penny truly thinks she’s a cat, however I do assume she acts the identical means the cats do typically simply to see what she will get away with. So typically, it’s like having 4 cats in the home. However watching a canine that’s the identical measurement as a cat attempting to claim herself over the cats by no means fails to make me snigger, and the cats would positively do extra injury to Penny than she would to them in the event that they didn’t get alongside. Fortunately, my three cats and Penny get alongside simply nice. They honestly are Penny’s mates, even when she is just a little bossy in the direction of them typically.
This text is part of Savanna and Penny’s sequence.
Leave a comment