I visited a friend this week and spent a very pleasant couple of hours sitting at her kitchen table while she baked, helping to test the results of her efforts - see what a great friend I am?
On one of her worktops lives her daughter's hamster and I was alarmed at one point in the evening when one of the family's cats jumped up on top of the cage and peered intently at the little fella inside.
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| Hamster nibbling cat! |
In fact at times hammy stretched up on his little legs and actually nibbled the cat's soft underbelly fur - which I would imagine would make lovely soft bedding for a restless rodent.
I couldn't tear myself away from this odd couple- the little hamster happily carried on with drinking, eating, playing on his little wheel while the cat groomed and snoozed and scratched occasionally.
At no point was there any sign that the cat might see his little pal as a good late night snack. Fascinating! The only time I see my cats interacting with rodents is when they bring them in dead as presents for me or worse, bringing them in not quite dead to chase around the house for sport. Horrid but cats are natural hunters. I have just had to develop a spatula/kitchen roll technique and have learned to suppress my gag reflex to dispose of the aftermath.
A cat I used to have ignored the dog we had - until the last two days of her life when she was unable to move far and just dozed in front of the fire. We thought the end was near (she was 19 years old) but we were certain when we saw our large, usually bouncy adolescent dog gently curl his whole body round her. He lay warming and protecting her for about an hour until she passed quietly away - I will always treasure the memory of that special bond between our animals.How about you dear reader? Do you have pets who should be enemies but who are in fact friends? I'd love to hear about them? Comments always welcome below.
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love the pictures it made me smile. I am a totally cat woman but I hope the hampster stayed in the cage lol
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute story and pic. Enemies turning into friends. love it :)
ReplyDelete#MM
thought you might be referring to us as the odd couple!! lol I hasten to add for the sake for the sake of your readers, that no cooking took place on the same worktop as the animals!!!! Food kept very far apart. What a stirring story of your cat and dog Rx
ReplyDeleteThey are odd indeed but theres love =P
ReplyDelete#Whatsthestory
Those are such cute pictures - and such a lovely story of your dog and cat.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely photos and your touching story at the end. Animals are totally underestimated by most :o) xx
ReplyDeleteThat is such a sweet story! I'm glad there is a cage between them though!
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant story Afra! They look so at peace with each other, I hoping they stay that way. Great post, thank you so much for sharing #whatsthestory
ReplyDeleteYou've just had me in tears with that last story........... Fab post. Loved reading this #magicmoments
ReplyDeleteOh, that story about your dog and cat has just had me welling up. Really lovely post and enjoyed reading it very much. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love that cat! He almost looks human - brilliant! I always thought that our dog and hamster got on well until.....well, you know what happened there ;)
ReplyDeleteawww this is super! my animals have always been lone creatures although when i was little we had a big old english sheep dog and a black cat and the cat slept on the hearth every day the dog on the rug in front .. if the cat walked in it used to spit at the dog till it left .. there really was room for both!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with #Magicmoments
This is so lovely - animals can be so perceptive :) #MagicMoments
ReplyDeleteThats so cute - they remind me of those animals from the silent night advert kissing each other :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a cat who spends more time on the dog beds than the dogs do because I think they are slightly afraid of him. And he is supposed to be one of our outdoor farm cats. He's called Firkin and he really is a Firkin Cat!
ReplyDeleteWell they do say opposites attract!
ReplyDeleteAliceMegan