The poopy menagerie

We're taking care of Abby the Dog this week, and we were somewhat concerned about how that would work with Sophie the Cat. My original plan was to keep them separated the whole time Abby was here. That meant shutting Sophie into our bedroom with her food and litter.

We did that for a day and then we decided to keep the door open and see what happens. Well, they saw each other and they both froze in their tracks and waited each other out and eventually Abby walked slowly up to Sophie and tried to sniff her. Sophie hissed and pushed her ears back, but she didn't swat at Abby or try to bite her. We pulled Abby back and Sophie ran under the bed.

And that's about where it's been the whole week (so far). We don't separate them and they both roam around the house, but when they get too close, Sophie hisses and runs away. Not bad. We still have Abby sleep in Ellie's room and Sophie sleep in our room at night, and that seems to work well. Ellie has been a great pet owner. She feeds Abby and Sophie in the morning and takes Abby out for walks. The last couple of nights, she's wanted to sleep with Sophie because she feels bad that Sophie doesn't get as much attention now that Abby is here. She is such an animal lover.

I've enjoyed having another pet as well. Maybe we should get a dog after all... and another cat. And maybe a bird. (I'm totally kidding about the bird. I was going to get a bird once, but then I came up with a better idea. I decided to hang an empty cage from the ceiling, cover it with crap, and attach an alarm that emits loud, piercing squeals at random intervals throughout the day and night. It's exactly like having a bird and you don't have to feed it or feel guilty for slicing its head off with a paring knife at 3 o' clock in the morning after listening to six hours of screeching. Hmmm. This aside seems to have gotten away from me.)

ANYWAY. It's been great having another animal around. We will be sad to say goodbye to Abby, but Sophie will be happy to have the whole house to herself again.