I’ll never forget the day I came face-to-face with a Tiger. Well…sort of.
The first time I walked into my boyfriend Chip’s house I ran straight to his Chihuahua mix, Hunter, and rubbed his belly. After all, I was a dog person. When I was young we had a German Shepherd and a miniature poodle, and now there’s my Pit Bull, Sonny (how’s that for variety?).
My friends, even our neighbors, had dogs too. I thought cats were cute, but I had no idea what to make of them.
Then, bam! A paw landed on top of my foot. A very large paw. Chip had told me he had a cat, but this one was huge. And it was growling!
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Tiger’s purring. He likes you. Go on and pet him,” Chip urged. (Yes, I mistook purring for growling; now you can tell I’d really never been around cats.) Tiger sidled up beside me, his tail swooshing wildly. Not wanting to be rude, I gently stroked his chin. Tiger’s emerald eyes closed ever so slightly, as if to say, ahhh. And, me? I was done for.
Today, this cat convert loves nothing more than to watch Tiger and Hunter play. Fight like cats and dogs they don’t, but Tiger’s picked up a few quirks palling around with a pooch.
1. If you want to know where the cat is, take the dog for a walk.
Tiger can, and does, hide everywhere! But the moment we take Hunter for a walk, Tiger bounces from wherever he is, straight to the front door where he eagerly waits for his buddy to return. When Hunter walks back inside, Tiger plays it off coolly—like, Noooo, I wasn’t waiting for you. I was just, uhh, checking the weather.
2. The name’s Tiger, aka Mr. Clean.
Poor Hunter. He can’t be within a few inches of Tiger without getting a facial. Tiger licks his ears, whiskers and face incessantly…until Hunter gives him the side-eye.
3. Catnip? It’s overrated.
Scratch pads, crinkle tunnels, plush mice. You name it, Tiger has it. Every. Single. Thing. sits in an untouched pile. His toy of choice? Hunter’s rawhide bones. He pounces and swats them around the room like it’s his job.
4. He’s a beggar.
Whenever we’re cooking, Tiger isn’t far away. “Talk to me,” Chip says. On cue, Tiger rises up on his hind legs and paws at the air, like a dog begging for table scraps. (As you can see Tiger is not exactly starving.)
—Nicole Lorimer, guest blogger
Do you have a cat and dog at home who get along? We’d love to hear about them! Leave your comment below or email us at lovedemcats@guideposts.org.
