Louis Catorze was highly displeased by someone or something outside the other day.
We were in the middle of a play session when he broke off to leap onto the shutters, his huge, inflated tail swinging and thumping. And he made an exhaling sound so bizarre that, initially, I didn’t even realise it was coming from him. (Yes, that noise on the video, sounding rather like someone sweeping gravel outside is, apparently, Catorze.)
Just as I was about to open the shutters, I heard the sound of someone calling their pet/child in their pet/child voice. (Anyone who has either, and anyone who may not have them but works with them, will know exactly what I mean by That Voice.) So, although I did not see the cause of Catorze’s chagrin, I am certain that it must have been a dog.
Now, Catorze has never behaved in this way towards any dog, EVER. Not Bert the dog, not Oscar the dog, not even the psycho fox with the zombie war-cry (who isn’t actually a dog but is close enough).
This, and the incident with Blue the Smoke Bengal during last week’s Clap for our Carers, disproves my theory that Sa Maj likes all other animals and wants to be friends with everyone. In actual fact he’s just like us, i.e. in the same way that not all people like all other people, he likes most animals but there was something about this particular one which offended him. I am now kicking myself for not being quicker to look behind the shutters too see what kind of dog it was. I’m imagining something like Cujo but it could just as easily have been a wispy little chihuahua wearing a pink feather boa and a tiara.
Here he is (see video below) puffing, whining and bristling. Luckily, having the attention span of a gnat served him well on this occasion, because he promptly forgot about this whole experience in a matter of minutes.
I would love to find out how your pets get along with other animals, so please comment below to let me know. Do they like their own species? Other species? Or are they a bit racist like Rocky, the ginger cat down the street who only likes black and tuxedo cats?
jesuisleroisoleil 
We live on 10 acres of land, that backs up to a wildlife preserve here is Wisconsin, USA. We have 8 rescue cats, totally indoors. They are excited by the chipmunks, squirrels and mice that frequent our property. BUT, we have the frequent occasion of a bear, coyote, wolf, fisher., etc That not only raises the fur on their backs, but causes huge tails and noises we very rarely hear! We prefer the small critters to the large ones we get out here! BUT, we do not live near other people, so we cannot attest to the visual of other dogs! (Thank God!)
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I had to Google “fisher” because I had no idea what they were! Wolves, coyotes and bears: oh my!
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Great hissy fit!
We have aprox 6 kittens living at the bottom of the garden and my cats tolerate most of them, but absolutely hate the neighbour ‘s tom cat and hit the window in fury if he goes by.
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They actually hit the window? 😱
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Look at his tail… so funny! He seems to have everything under control…
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This is the first time I’ve ever seen him like this! I am kicking myself for not being quicker to see what animal it was.
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There used to be a black cat called PJ who liked to think our garden was his own (he lived with a neighbour) and he had Issues. He was vicious to the point of even having a go at me if we got too close. If he appeared by a window, ours would literally scream like a banshee (the first time I heard it I actually thought someone was being murdered) and run and batter the window trying to get at him. Sadly (but not for our gang) PJ exceeded his allotted lives a couple of years ago and the neighbourhood is peaceful(‘ish) once more.
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Blimey! So they are ok with most other outsider cats?
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Never seen any other outsider cats in our garden since 😉
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We are wondering of it was a kid who had previously teased Catorze about his cone-headedness.
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That’s a logical assumption, but I don’t think he met any kids whilst Côned, apart from Oscar the dog’s human sister (who is his best buddy). 😊
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Our cats used to be fine with other cats until we moved into our current place and a local outdoor cat took offence and started attacking them by throwing itself against the window repeatedly (that cat was fine, btw, and is totally friendly to us, but just seems to hate our cats). Our younger kitty, who was a stray for his first year, also isn’t fond of dogs or raccoons (he’s finally starting to relax when the latter show up on our deck). My niece’s cat, who grew up as the only pet in their house, has a zero-tolerance policy for other animals. My guess is early life experiences/socialization affect how animals react to others.
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THROWING ITSELF AGAINST THE WINDOW! 😱
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We were all pretty shocked at that. I was expecting mild curiosity, or at worst some hissing and patting at the window.
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The thought of that is quite terrifying.
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It was scary. But when we’ve gone outside to chase the cat away, it’s so friendly, tail up and rubbing around our legs. I guess it has a problem just with other cats.
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