The slow re-emergence of the cats

I may have mentioned that our three cats were less than thrilled at the addition of Maddie to our family. One of the cats has mostly made peace with the new dog and they tend to ignore each other. Of course, being a big, goofy dog, Maddie sometimes just has to stick her nose in the cat's face, and is greeted with an unwelcoming hiss. We tell her to leave the cat alone, and all is good again.

One of the other cats is approaching that level of comfort, but is not there, yet. She is OK to be on the couch with Wife and I, and the new dog, and will even turn her back on the dog and sleep on the couch at such times. She's not crazy about coming face to face with the beast though, and will run, which causes the dog to want to chase her. Go figure :)

The third cat stil sounds like a demon is living under our bed. Although she came out of her hiding spot during tv time Saturday night, and checked the dog out from a distance, she is in no way ready to be friends yet. This makes her all the more interesting to Maddie the Curious. Maddie walks by the bed - horrible growling sound begins, causing Maddie to stick her nose under the bed, thus increasing growling. Bad news all around. We get Maddie to "leave it" and the adventure is over until the next time. I'd just let the dog get bapped a time or two, until she learns, but have had a dog nearly get an eye taken out that way, so doesn't seem wise.

They will get there. This particular cat is especially peaved because she had finally attained Top Animal ranking and had been reigning mercilessly since we lost our rottie in December. She is not certain this new dog will let her rule. She probably would, if the cat would just chill for a bit. Too bad there is not a dos command line for "calm kitty."