A few months ago, I was gifted with a year’s subscription to Dog TV. It’s a premium streaming channel that the dogs enjoy, but the cats and I LOVE it. Glenn–the street cat we brought home from Key Largo years ago–will watch Dog TV intently for a half-hour or more at a time.
A former feral cat who had to survive on the streets, Glenn came here with an extreme loathing of dogs. This attitude manifested in a belligerent aggression toward our dogs, who were taken aback to say the least. Until they met Glenn, they thought that all cats were their friends. Glenn quickly disabused them of that notion, and after a few times of being smacked down, even the biggest of our dogs will avoid walking too close to the prickly cat.
Strangely though, since Glenn started watching Dog TV, he has softened in his attitude that dogs are the devil. Now, he’ll even sit in the chair with Georgia and me. I asked him how watching Dog TV has changed his mind about dogs. Here’s what he had to say:
“I’ve been too afraid of the dogs to do anything but hate them, but watching dogs on TV helped me to see that they are just creatures like me. They aren’t always plotting ways to kill cats. They like to play and rest and live their lives the same way cats do. After a few weeks of watching the dogs on TV, I started watching the dogs who live here–from a distance of course–and I realized that they aren’t trying to trick me into coming too close.”
But what about the fact that the other cats around here regularly snuggle with the dogs?
“I saw it, but I didn’t trust it. I always thought that if I got too close, the dogs would hurt me. I didn’t know what to think about the cats who were brave enough to interact with the dogs.”
And what do you think now?
“I won’t ever be friends with the dogs. I’m a loner at heart, except where it comes to humans. But at least I’m beginning to see that I don’t have to attack the dogs whenever they walk past. I can let go of my fear and coexist with the dogs now.”
And all the dogs here say thank goodness for that.
