Yes, we at one time, long ago when there still was a "we", had an old Beagle, a Shepard puppy, ma and pa Persian cats and two generations of kittens (until we finally found what caused them). they all got along fine and I like to think that it was because as each new one joined the family, we sat down with them all and introduced them and told them the rules about playing nice and sharing the food, etc; dogs crap outside, cats inside if they have to, outside if possible. I know they didn't understand the words, but they got the message somehow, with gentle but firm correction of misbehavior when required.
They used to all sleep together in the same pile. I think the cats even taught the dogs to purr; sounded like an outboard motorboat race sometimes.
My favorite memory is of the 8-yr old Beagle nursing the three or four kittens. All they ever got was mutual satisfaction from the physical contact because there was no milk left in that poor old spayed asthmatic dog. You could almost see it in the dog's face when you walked by; she'd lift her head slightly with a shit-eating grin on her face and her eyes said, "It just doesn't get any better than this".
Chas
edit: had another memory or two of the pets, but got booted to login page when I submitted add-on edit the first time. Maybe a later time. |
