Some of you are aware I have a cat-walk running through the house. Romeow, Pussy, Traveller, and Willoughby have a grand time running and playing from room to room.

We also have a 9-month-old miniature Dachshund pup. Until he arrived here, he had never seen a cat before. Romeow is big enough all he has to do is swat the dog, and the dog looks for new playmates. The other three kitties are only 6 months old, so they're not big enough to do him much harm when they fight back. Actually, he doesn't really hurt them, he just mouths them and aggravates them.

Yesterday the pup was walking through the living room, looking for prey, when Traveller sprang from behind the couch and landed right square in the middle of the dog's back. He wrapped his paws tightly around the dog and sank his fangs into his neck and hung on for dear life. The dog was howling and screeching like he was being skinned alive with a hot butter knife.

I yelled at them and the cat took off, dog in hot pursuit. They disappeared into the other room, and I sat down to finish my newspaper.

In a few moments the dog was squalling again, only this time he sounded as if he were in worse distress. I ran to rescue the silly mutt, and when I saw what he had gotten into, I collapsed on the floor and lay there laughing.

Traveller had scurried up the little cat-sized stairway with the dog right behind him. The dog made it almost to the top before he realized what he had been led into. He then wrapped his little stubby legs around the ladder and started howling like a bloodhound on a hot trail: "Awoooooooooo! Awoooooooo!" After I got him down, he went to his room and sulked, probably plotting revenge.

Folks, there's never a dull moment around here.

Copyright © David Yehudah
January 3, 1998