There was thread about cats and dog recently so thought you might all enjoy this. Oban injured his leg and we were told by the Ortho Rehab Vet to not allow him up and down the stairs in our house, so we gated them off. Well, this meant his friend, former feral Andy cat did not get to see his buddy Oban at all. Because with the arrival of a Momma cat and her four kittens (thanks to eejits who let their unspayed female run loose, get pregnant and had her kittens in our backyard) Andy was afraid to come downstairs. He's a big chicken but he was right to be wary of a mother cat who would defend her babies against all comers. After a while Andy figured out the mother and babies were only let upstairs from the basement at certain times of day. Andy started going down just so he could see the dog. He didn't come down to see us, his heart belongs to Oban. I Ice up Oban's leg after a walk, it takes about 10 minutes. I started calling Andy down to play with the string on a stick while I sit holding ice on Oban. Now he's often down there when we get home from a walk, waiting for his play. This has all made such a change in Andy. No one can pick him up and often he would shrink away from pets too. But now he is much more friendy with we big, scary humans. He will come up on our bed, talk to us, ask to be petted and look us right in the face and smile. These are big changes For Andy. We still can't pick him up but he seems much more confident and sure of us. All because his first love, Oban, hurt his leg.
