Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I was promised a recession.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Come on, man.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Consistently wrong since 2002

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Late Evening Open Thread: Cats and Dogs Living Together…

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56Comments

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    So after watching that middle video, I have a question for people who have cats and dogs living together: do cats eventually figure out how to interpret the dog’s play bow?

  18. 18.

    eclare

    @Mnemosyne: My large (65 pound and 80 pound) dogs were too scared to try to play with the cats. Would even go to the extreme of not looking at them, like an eclipse.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    I think all of the Juicers rushing to look crashed your account, because I can’t get in! ?

    I thought my cousin-in-law was a little obsessed with getting as many professional pictures as possible, but I think your sister may have her beat as far as timing goes.

  22. 22.

    PhoenixRising

    @Mnemosyne: Cats expect to be bowed to. If the Dane bows to the kitty, kitty figures this is as it should be. He doesn’t understand that she’s asking to play, but that’s because their perceptions of play are so distinct.

    The play bow between the Dane and the maltipoo is captioned: You’re bigger than me…wanna play I’m Bigger Than You? Both pretend to be smaller to facilitate wrestling as play. When the Dane bows to the kitty, he grabs her ear or around her neck and holds on until she swings him off. It’s not reciprocal pretend attacks.

  23. 23.

    lamh36

    @Mnemosyne: lol… maybe so…

    This sister unlike Zoe’s mom, is a bit more conservative with pictures online. She plans to release only a few online, but of course I already have like beaucoup text messages with pic of her in the 48 hrs since she was born…lol

  24. 24.

    Culture of Truth

    I love how the puppy in the first video wags his little tail when the kitten arrives.

    Love how in the other videos kittens stand their ground with dogs ten times their size.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: My dearly departed Nico would lay down directly in front of our dogs to tease them. Then they would chew on her and try to play with her and she would yowl and meow, but not leave. Then I’d see her twitching her tail in front of them again. Tease.

  28. 28.

    CaseyL

    Puppies and kittens and brand new nieces (congrats to lamh36!) – too much adorableness. A hearty round of “d’awwws” for everyone!

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    @PhoenixRising:

    I’ve seen many cat experts (including our own Werebear) say that cat psychology dictates that everyone around them is either Cat or Not Cat. Werebear said she had a rabbit years ago and the cats seemed to assume it was just another cat with strange ears.

    A commenter long ago on another site said that cats think that their humans are just giant, bald, insane cats, and I think she was right.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: I did, Digby may have done it too and that’s where I got it. That wasn’t what I was intended to post as the first vid. Let me fix it.

  36. 36.

    Cthulhu

    We very unexpectedly find ourselves fostering four kittens (3 males, 1 female) and their young mom. If you are in the general LA and in the market for a new feline companion, let me know.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    In that new top video, you can see that a couple of the dogs have adapted to the kitty style of wrestling, especially in the very last scene. Otherwise, yeah, it’s like watching a Greco-Roman wrestler and a boxer try to figure out how to spar together.

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: Nope this is how the post was planned. I used the link to the already shown video to get me to the video I wanted, which is now posted at the top of the thread. I obviously copied and pasted the wrong link the first go round.

  39. 39.

    KlareCole

    @Mnemosyne: About the play bow: Our cat anticipates the play and moves in quickly for a nose batting of our Brittany. Our dear dog, who had manners befitting Diwnton Abbey, just looks stricken when the cat lands first blow. The dog tries disdain at other times. But the cat makes over him so much that the dog sneaks cuddly naps with the cat when we’re not looking.

  40. 40.

    KlareCole

    The videos were great Adam. Both animals were so enthused about each other in the first one.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cthulhu:

    Send photos and the story to Anne Laurie and she’ll put up a bleg. I forget, are you in the SGV/SFV? If so, Pasadena Humane offers low-cost spay and neuter to area residents. Or you can call the nearest city animal shelter and they should be able to get you a voucher. Momcat should probably be spayed as soon as the little ones are weaned.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    I’ve been on a reading binge as prep to get back to writing fiction and it’s funny how you start to recognize a particular author’s tics the more of her books that you read. One author just luuuuurrrrves to break the hero and heroine up and then have the hero do some death-defying stunt to win her back. So far, it’s only really worked for me in one iteration, but it worked *really* well.

    And, with that, I need to head off to do my half hour of free writing before bed like I promised my writers’ group I would. Good night!

  43. 43.

    Cthulhu

    @Mnemosyne: SFV. Will put together a portfolio tomorrow and send it to Anne. Fortunately one of our neighbors is part of a cat rescue and has been helping us and it seems her group may be able to fund all the testing/surgery. So far it seems they are all healthy and, with a couple of exceptions, socializing quickly.

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No worries at all from this end. As I mentioned, anything that cute is worth seeing multiple times. Honestly, I wasn’t criticizing or even questioning you, merely wondering out loud about my own increasingly frail memory.

  46. 46.

    Lahke

    Not to be negative much, but couldn’t get Tunch’s unfortunate last dog encounter out of my mind as I watched that first video. I wish folks would not force animals together just to see what happens.

  47. 47.

    opiejeanne

    Saw Florence Foster Jenkins tonight in Blue Jay and loved it. I think there were 3 other people in the theater with us, and when the credits were finished a woman who was leaving came up to us and asked if we hadn’t laughed our heads off. We did at first, especially at the piano players and Simon Helberg. I didn’t recognize him until halfway through the movie. I was watching him play the piano and was thinking that he must have really been playing, and wondering who he reminded me of.

  48. 48.

    opiejeanne

    @Lahke: I had that reaction too, and was actually worried about the tiny kitten in the house with several large dogs, and the kitten that was being tasted by the one dog.

  50. 50.

    Prescott Cactus

    If a puppy and a kitten were raised together, would that close relationship continue ?

    Asthmatic pet-less Balloon Juicer

  52. 52.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne:

    So after watching that middle video, I have a question for people who have cats and dogs living together: do cats eventually figure out how to interpret the dog’s play bow?

    Yes, they do.

    We knew our first puppy was going to work out fine when, after a couple months of cautious reconnoitering / skirmishes, Galley the puppy play-bowed at Asmo the cat… and Asmo responded by flopping over on his side, the cat-language equivalent of “yeah, let’s play.”

    It’s a really tricky bit of translation, though. Everything in their programming is telling cats that the play-bow means I am about to jump you ugly, and dogs that the cat-flop means I am overwhelmed by your alpha-ness. Once they each figure out that the other just has a weird speech impediment, they can start working on a permanent relationship.

  54. 54.

    JR in WV

    Yes, little cats can get along with big dogs. Our bigger dog always gives the cats a good sniffing when they come in, and usually wants to lick ears. Sometimes a cat will put up with that sillyness, and sometimes they wack the dog and scamper off.

    Did have a brief horror long ago when a stray feral cat was caught in the woods near the house, but cat escaped while I got a gun for the dogs. After the cat escaped, I did nothing further to the dogs besides being rejecting of them – turning your back to a dog is like turning your back to a person who you have called a name.

    But between our dogs and our cats we have never had any issues. Dogs aren’t usually hurt by cats’ claws in normal warning play and so far have never used the force of their jaws to harm the cats.

    It’s a little better than just putting up with each other, if it was cold I think they would cuddle up.

  55. 55.

    Barb2

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yes!

    I was just watching my dog and cat today – the play bow and then the mutual chase. Dog chase – return cat chasing.

    I’ve had dogs and cats together all my life. Earliest memory orange tabby and cocker spaniel – I was three.

    Play behavior is universal.

  56. 56.

    Keith P.

    I miss having kittens. I last had some in 2003-4…they were awesome (a black and white pair who were constantly horsing around. Then they grew up (into awesome cats), and I adopted 5 more cats since then, but all adults. I love adult cats, but their behaviors, likes, and dislikes are pretty much locked in. Only one of those adopted cats liked to play, and none of them liked their bellies rubbed. If I could always have a kitten around without accumulating a bunch of older cats, I would…they’re great for blood pressure, too.

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