As I touched on in My Life With Cats, I was born into a family of dog lovers. My mom’s never spent much time around cats. (Tabby and Mr. Meow have since seen to it that she’s become a non-cat convert though.) And she certainly hasn’t spent much time with both cats and dogs in one household.
I’m well aware that it’s possible for cats and dogs to get along, but my mom’s still trying to understand how it is they all get along. It’s simply amazing to her that not only do Murph and the cats tolerate each other, but that they play together. (She’s always asking Murph, “Why is it you don’t chase the cats? Why are you so nice to them?” My answer: “Because he’s an angel butt!”)
But yesterday morning she saw a whole new side to them. Their teamwork side.
I was preoccupied cleaning breakfast dishes when all of a sudden I heard my mom say, “What are they doing? Hunting something?”
I peeked around the corner and saw Murphy and Tabby crowding around my shoes.
“Uh oh. What got in the house they’re after?” I said as I strolled to check it out.
But even before I got there I caught a quick glimpse of a slithering tail dart out from my under my shoe and into the pile of oxygen tanks.
“Oh brother. They got a lizard.”
“A lizard? How’d that get in here?” my mom wanted to know.
I was pretty sure Miss Tabby had brought it in from the garage, but I couldn’t be certain. (It wouldn’t have been the first time.)
“Well they sure did work together to trap it, didn’t they?” my mom noted. “That’s really something.”
And it must have been because it stuck with her all day. It came up in every conversation, and even again today. Talk about the personal pet therapy project making progress! (Due to the dementia her short term memory doesn’t always recollect the morning’s events. But the team approach to wrangling lizards sure did!)
Anyway, I was able to scoop the lizard up in a cup and safely deposit him out in the bushes.
I’m just glad she wasn’t there to witness a similar teamwork effort, back when it was just Murphy and Mr. Meow in Jacksonville. That time it was a snake they cornered.
(My mom’s deathly afraid of snakes. I shudder to think the trauma that might have caused. Because trauma is most definitely what would have ensued.)
As it stands, only the poor lizard was traumatized this time. But hopefully he’s over it now.
A Note About Mr. Meow
He was sleeping during the whole thing. He only came running when he heard me open the front door. Then when he saw his brother and sister he realized he’d missed out on something.