The 3 four-footers (KiMoPo)

There have pretty well always been pets in our home, from the moment I moved in with my first husband, who already had a cat at that time, a Persian that answered (well, sort of) to the name Esther.

But I also brought along a cage with budgies and with this we started in fact our little zoo.


Several years and budgies later I decided not to replace any more birds once they had died.
In the meantime the cat Esther had died and I slowly came to the conclusion "Now no more pets!"
But I missed having a four-footer; nothing ran after me or asked for some attention, there wasn't a purr or meow to be heard.
That couldn't last; this was too quiet at home.

Fat Pooky And, thus, there came another cat into the house, a female that would answer to the name Pooky.
Now she has become a real fatty which you can mostly see when she is sitting on her ease, so as this one time on the shelf in front of the mirror... She than looks just like a little panda bear. In any case she is black and white and chubby.
But just look, what a rolly-polly, eh?

But after a while we thought it would be really "nice" for Pooky if we got another cat, as a companion.
And that did happen a year later... Pooky got a girlfriend which turned out to be, a few weeks later, a "boy friend".
However, "he" reacted just as easily to "her" name:
Kitty ! And so we left it at that.

When Kitty was almost one year old I found it a nice idea for us to get a dog;
I had, in a way, nothing from the cats as pets...they had, after all, each other.
And so at the end of October 1993 there arrived a puppy in our house:
Monty.

Monty's parentsMonty is a cross between a German standard bitch and a black Labrador dog, although I have my doubts as to the uncrossed nature of the parents.

In any case Monty has remained the runt of the litter but that is not reflected in her character; she is crazy about anyone who just gives her a friendly look or speaks to her.
She is amazingly fast and so gets great enjoyment from large dogs such as Newfoundlanders, Shepards and Berner Senners because they can't turn quickly or change directions while in full flight.

But now... How would it go? Two cats together with a dog?  How would the dog react to the cats?
Questions that were determined to be quickly answered on the day Monty arrived.

By chance it was that, in the house where Monty was born, a cat also lived...but that was no security that the 2 hairy and self-centred four-fouters would, just like that, accept that such a barking four-footer should come to stay.

The arrival of Monty was well prepared, especially since Kitty was, by nature, terribly curious.
As luck would have it Monty was, at that time, the smallest and so within two minutes there was a confrontation between cat and dog.

The youngest cat, Kitty, who was then only one, came immediately to investigate what this was not... !

With the forepaws against it and patting it and looking to see if it would roll away seemed to be the first approach for the first 5 minutes, then a good cuddling and cleaning!
After all it didn't smell like cat therefore it had to be licked and washed which Monty appeared to find not unpleasant
But, even though Monty is now (in size) the largest it is obvious that Pooky stands the highest in the hierarchy.

Monty meets KittyHere you can see that in the beginning Kitty saw Monty as a "co-cat".
There was a lot of punching up between the two, at one time Kitty got a chewing, the other time Monty got a taste of claws.
Kitty is the thief in the house, he really steals anything that appears edible and will growl like a lion whenever he's caught.


Forever FriendsIn a short time it appeared that these two four-footers felt a special love for each other...
They became, in spite of Monty's growth,
Forever Friends and sent the expression "like cats and dogs" to the land of fables.

The older cat (read pussy) Pooky was already 2 and therefore "wiser" and couldn't carry on so much.
It took 3 months before Pooky took the initiative to go head to head with Monty, mostly around suppertime, and later she even occasionally played with Monty.

 

Below are some photos of later moments. One is pretty unique; all three eof them on the couch on the same time.

Around 2005... from left to right;
Monty, Kitty & Pooky
 

Pooky on her fafourite spot; high up in the pole,
summer 2006
 

Kitty has a "blood-ear", July 20, 2006
 

Completely full ear, July 28, 2006
 
After surgery, August 4, 2006
 
Kitty is getting old... but with a fully recovered ear!
August 27, 2006
 

Monty along in the boat...
September 10, 2006

All ok Captain Monty ?
 

Well, I say it is

Monty laying against "her footbal-team" bear

Pooky's last day, November 20, 2006

15 year old Pooky,  one more cuddle

 

November 20, 2006 Goodbye my sweet Pooky...

March 15, 2007  Goodbye my little girl Monty...

 

back home ..........


Last up-date 07.06.2007 by Mar