cats and dogs...

Scaredy cat and fighting like cats and dogs have more meaning to me now.  I have always complained that my children fight like cats and dogs.  {And now I know they do}. 




Some 3 weeks ago we "inherited" a cat. 




Lovely. 




I have never and will NEVER want a cat!  She just showed up in the basement window well to watch me work out. I am well aware that watching my uncoordinated, unflexible body do YOGA can be entertaining. Apparently, even for cats. I was most definitely NOT keeping her, but the children had tears in their eyes and as far as cats go, everyone tells me its a good one.  The girls wrap her in blankies and put her in the doll cradle.  She really is tolerant. At least when it comes to the kids. I have not come around to letting her stay in the house all the time. She comes in on occasion, but I do not want hair all over the place. My house is already disastrous enough.




And then just last night we "inherited" a dog.




A poodle/shitzu mix. She's all black and has all of her shots. She is already house-trained {except for the fact that she pooped on the carpet last night after being here a mere 10 minutes. It was probably just her way of saying hello, right? Hopefully she comes up with a better way of communicating}.  So she is house trained {other than the pooping incident} and trained to sleep in her kennel. One thing she is NOT trained to do is like cats. Bob brought the cat in this morning to see if they could get along. Maggie {that's the dog} was yelping like crazy and couldn't wait to get at the thing {sort of how I feel. I think Maggie and I just might get along}. In fact, Maggie might help me keep the cat out of the house forever!  I'm not really a pet person {if you cant' tell}, but I certainly would choose a dog over a cat {ANYDAY}.


There is the slight problem that when Maggie went outside this morning she chased Kit-Kat {the name the children chose for the feline}.  Kit-Kat is now stuck at the top of the roof. I am not completely heartless. I don't wish the cat to plummet to her death. But I also don't know what to do?  Maybe this was a bad idea. The kids are panicked and I just wish the cat would runaway and find another home. Especially because she's brought company with her. The fat cat and Mr. Blacky {as the kids call them} are frequent guests to the backyard now.  They are huge, mangey, ugly cats. One of these blasted felines wakes me up in the middle of the night with its moaning and groaning {that peculiarly sounds like a baby crying}. But it's quite unlikely that she'll leave. We've been feeding her for 3 weeks now. 


Have you ever trained a dog and a cat to like each other?? If so, please impart your wisdom. Or better yet, give me some tips as to how to get rid of the cat without the husband {who happens to love cats} and children knowing what I've done :).  


If I can find a way to get Maggie and Kit-Kat to get along, I may have to try those tactics with the children!