Ted, as you might imagine, was a little disgruntled at the introduction of Columbine to our family. She used, and re-used, her full vocabulary of swear-words while dealing with the energetic, rambunctious kitten. Columbine didn't care and, in the last two weeks, has only just learnt to keep clear of Ted when Ted's on the war-path.

Then there was last night ...

Something snapped in Ted ...

Ted and the kitten had been locked in their seperate halves of the house all day and when we got home Ted had a long conversation with us about her day and berated us for not coming home for lunch. Then she went into the lounge room, spotted Columbine and instead of getting huffy she crouched down, wriggled her lardy butt, swished her tail, and got big eyes. Then she pounced - galloping after Columbine and stopping short of catching her. Columbine quickly caught on and turned around to chase Ted. Ted galloped a little distance and turned around to chase Columbine again. All-in-all they played tag for about 10 minutes!

It was so wonderful and heart-warming to see old, cranky Ted playing with Columbine. Long may it continue!

Copyright © Tish Silberbauer
June 12, 2002