Monday, May 19, 2008

The cats in Tojo's life

Tojo does not understand cats.

He understands dogs, who, while unpredictable in some ways, tend to share in Tojo's interests, such as butt-sniffing, peeing on things, and running around.

Cats, on the other hand, mystify Tojo. He can't seem to grasp, fundamentally, that cats are not dogs. I have had cats and dogs simultaneously throughout my life, and there were several expected outcomes: some cat/dog dyads reached an uneasy truce, some dogs chased the cats mercilessly, and in a recent example, my mom's dog and one of the cats are best friends. Tojo has chosen to adhere to none of these patterns and instead treats the cats as if they were his canine peers.

Here, one of the local orange cats fails to take Tojo up on his offer to chase him around. This is obviously a still photo so you can't see how Tojo tried this same stance about two dozen times before giving up and just barking at the poor feline.

Tojo will try to sniff the cats' hindquarters, and, I believe, tries to mark over their urine markings. None of these actions have yielded what appears to be Tojo's goal of a dog-like friendship.

However, it should be noted that the local cats have some peculiar habits, so perhaps Tojo would have better luck with cats who do not pretend to be petunias.

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