Feline Fracas
Posted Mon, 02/18/08
A few weeks ago I mentioned that Rainee and Kiki had been in a scuffle. Ever since, Kiki has been touchy if not outright paranoid that Rainee is out to "get her," although the cat was clearly the aggressor in the first round at the end of January.
Now when Rainee jumps to the floor from my bed in the morning Kiki takes this as an affront and starts hissing, caterwauling and taking double-fisted swipes in the general direction of the dog. It's usually still dark when I get up, so the only noises I hear are Kiki's demonic wailing and Rainee's frantic shuffles around the room. I open the door in a hurry so Rainee can skedaddle out, and the cat typically leaves it at that.
Not this morning. Around four o'clock the fracas started as it normally does, but this time Kiki knocked over a glass-framed picture in the process, sending shards all over the carpet. By a stroke of luck I barely missed stepping into the glass as I flung open the door for Rainee to make a run for it, but this time Kiki wasn't content to let her get away so easily.
The chase was on. Kiki high-tailed it out of my room, careening down the hall on Rainee's heels, at the end of which I think Kiki nailed Rainee with a claw to the hind quarters. I heard a grunt and a growl, and then Rainee took the stairs two at a time to make her escape, Kiki following close behind her. The brawl finally ended in the kitchen, where Rainee detoured into the living room and Kiki hid under a kitchen chair.
I was so mad at Kiki I started yelling at her, tapping her on the behind (not hitting, mind you, just a gentle "watch-your-step" warning thump). She had the nerve to hiss and swipe at me from under the chair, her tail fanning out and swishing back and forth.
Needless to say, Kiki was persona-non-grata for quite awhile this morning but now the ruction has been forgotten.
*RELATED POSTS: