kunz@hplsle.UUCP (Bob Kunz) (04/09/85)
More (not so stange?) cat behaivior.
Our 7 year old taby has been just as good as one could want. Recently, he
has increased the frequency of a protective (?) behavior that I'm looking
for comments on.
We also have a 2 1/2 year old neutered male boxer and a just acquired male
boxer puppy (12 weeks old). The puppy has had his ears cropped (no
discussion on the need for ear cropping needed -- it was a hard descision
to make, but he has champion potential and we will probably show him and no
boxer has won with un-cropped ears) and sometimes he whines some when his
ears get caught under him. Well, the cat sees this as an opportunity, and
since the cat still likes to bat the puppy around, the cat comes from
across the room and attacks the puppy! The cat has done this several times
with the older dog when the cat detects our displeasure with the dogs'
performance (i.e. a raised voice on our part). The cat comes running and
gets a few whacks in.
The puppy grew up with a cat that enjoyed (can you believe it?) playing
with the pups. There were 5 puppies and one cat. So our puppy thinks
the cat is fair game for play. Our cat does not agree!
I suppose the cat sees the puppy as an intrusion, or he's just old and
crabby, or he's jealous, or .... (can you think of something else?)
Just thought I'd throw this out for discussion. Maybe you have some comments?
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Bob Kunz
{ihnp4!hplabs!hp-pcd, uw-beaver!fluke}!hplsla!kunz
Hewlett-Packard Lake Stevens Instrument Division
8600 Soper Hill Rd
Everett, Washington 98205-1298
(206) 335-2135