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Following 12 Months of Ignoring Each Other, the Feline and Canine Are Now at War.
We return home from our holiday to a completely different household: the oldest one, the middle child and the oldest one’s girlfriend have been managing things for over two weeks. The refrigerator contents looks unfamiliar, bought from unknown stores. The kitchen table looks like the centre of a boiler room stock fraud operation, with monitors all around and electrical cables crisscrossing at waist height. Below the sink, the dog and the cat are fighting.
“They’re fighting?” I say.
“Yes, this happens regularly,” the middle child says.
The dog corners the cat, by the rear entrance. The cat rears up on its hind legs and bites the dog’s left ear. The canine flicks the cat away and pursues it around the kitchen table, dodging power cords.
“Common perhaps, but not natural,” I comment.
The feline turns on its back, assuming a passive stance to draw the dog in. The dog falls for it, and the feline digs its nails into the dog’s muzzle. The dog backs away, with the cat sliding along, clinging below.
“I liked it better when they avoided one another,” I state.
“I believe they enjoy it,” the eldest says. “It's not always clear.”
My spouse enters.
“I thought they were going to take the scaffolding down,” she says.
“They said maybe wait until it rains,” I say, “to make sure the roof is fixed.”
“And I said I didn’t want to wait,” she responds.
“Yeah, I told them that, but they never showed up,” I add. Scaffolding is expensive, until removal is needed, at which point they’re happy to leave it with you for ever for free.
“Will you phone them once more?” my wife says.
“I’ll do it, right after …” I reply.
The sole moment the canine and feline cease fighting is just before mealtime, when they team up to bring feeding forward an hour.
“Quit battling!” my spouse shouts. The animals halt, look around, look at her, and then roll out of the room in a snarling ball.
The dog and the cat fight on and off all morning. Sometimes it seems more serious than fun, but the cat has ample opportunity to leave via the cat door and it returns repeatedly. To get away from the noise I retreat to my garden office, which is freezing cold, having sat unheated for two weeks. Eventually I’m driven back to the kitchen, amid the screens and the wires and my sons and the cat and the dog.
The only time the pets are at peace is in the hour before feeding time, when they work together to get food earlier. The feline approaches the cabinet, sits, and looks up at me.
“Meow,” it voices.
“Dinner is at six,” I tell it. “Right now it’s five.” The feline starts pawing the cabinet with its claws.
“That's the wrong spot,” I say. The canine yaps, to support the feline.
“One hour,” I declare.
“You’ll cave in eventually,” the eldest says.
“I won’t,” I say.
“Meow,” the feline cries. The canine barks.
“Ugh, fine,” I relent.
I feed the cat and the dog. The dog eats its food, and then crosses the room to watch the cat eat. After the cat eats, it swivels and lightly bats at the dog. The dog uses its snout under the cat and flips it upside down. The cat runs, halts, pivots and attacks.
“Enough!” I say. The dog and the cat pause briefly to look at me, before carrying on.
The next morning I rise early to sit in the quiet kitchen while others sleep. Even the cat and the dog are sleeping. For a few minutes the only sound in the house is my keyboard.
The eldest's partner walks into the kitchen, ready for work, and fills a water bottle at the counter.
“You rose early,” she comments.
“Yeah,” I reply. “I’ve got a photo session later, so I need to get some work done, if it runs long.”
“You’ll enjoy the break,” she says.
“Indeed,” I agree. “Meeting people, talking.”
“Have fun,” she says, heading out.
The windows have begun to pale, showing a gray day. Foliage falls from the big cherry tree in bunches. I see the tortoise in the room's corner. We exchange a sorrowful glance as a fighting duo starts to make its slow progress from upstairs.
Margaret Houston
A dedicated writer and theologian passionate about sharing faith-based insights and fostering community connections.
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