A to Z Challenge: “I”nterspecies coexistence or how cats and dogs get along!

My husband and I have several cats (they were mine and he adopted them). We’d been married 10 years when I attended a Plants and Pets in the Park fundraiser for the Parke-Vermillion County Humane Society, to pick up a few spring plants. I found a few along with an 8-pound puppy that I couldn’t live without. A few weeks later, we adopted “Hershey” who they predicted would be about 45 pounds when full-grown. He is now 70+ pounds of pure love (it could be all the Cheez-Its and Twizzlers that my husband shares with him).

A year after we adopted Hershey, my friend Sandy and I rescued a two-pound kitten from under the wooden pallets at the Kroger gas pump. We named her Raja and because I couldn’t find anyone to adopt her, we kept her, as the fourth cat in the household. (Both of these “adoption” stories are long unto themselves so I’ve included links above for background information.)

The topic of this blog is how incredible it is to me that a 70-pound dog (Hershey) and a 10-pound cat (Raja) can co-exist in the same house without one eating the other. In fact, I was able to convince my husband to let us keep Raja because she and Hershey bonded almost immediately. And, my husband loves the dog.

We kept Raja in a jumbo crate that served as her Intensive Care Unit, until she healed from her ordeal. She had a long road to recovery, since she had been without food and water, in the sweltering heat. Hershey sensed she was fragile and made friends with her through the crate door. Once she was out of “ICU”, Hershey and she were inseparable. So much so that the three other resident cats didn’t want anything to do with her since she befriended “the dog.”

They share a water bowl and play “chase” around the house (Hershey lets her get a head start of course). And, they sleep together on the bed. Hershey will get jealous if I give Raja too much attention, and he’ll chase her off, only to apologize later with a few gentle head-butts.

Dogs greet each other by sniffing bottoms (to make sure they aren’t sick) and while Raja isn’t wild about this doggy custom, she’ll put up with a daily “physical” from Hershey. He knows her by name. Because Raja and Hershey are pals, it’s made it a bit easier for the other cats. He’ll chase them sometimes but not in a mean way and he would never hurt them. Oliver, the older orange cat will sit in a sunny carpet spot with Hershey, and he’ll complain verbally when Hershey chases him too much. Gracie, the gray and white cat, is the only one that hisses and swats at Hershey and he knows to stay away from her. She was a feral rescue but now allows me to pet and brush her, so she probably has nightmares of fending off dogs outside.

Joe and I joke that our house has become a zoo. I’d like to rescue a fox but I understand you have to have a wildlife license – something which I don’t have … yet. And, Hershey has seen foxes out the back window, and he goes crazy when he hears the “F” word, so I shouldn’t push my luck!