According to Forbes Advisor, there are 65.1 million dogs in the United States and 46.5 million cats. Linda and I have always had cats and/or dogs in our family and our most recent lovables are Sophie, our eight-year-old Tibetan Terrier, and Oscar, our grey cat who we adopted several years ago when he wandered (or was dropped off) into our neighborhood. Our vet estimated he is about 14 years old.
Sophie is our “doorbell” who runs barking to the front door whenever she hears a knock because it’s obvious that whoever it is has come to see her (Sophie is our diva). Oscar is our relaxed greeter who will eventually wind up on your lap after Sophie gets bored. Like Sophie, Oscar thinks he should be petted and/or fed regardless of the time of day or night. Together, they are welcome additions to our retired lifestyle.
After everyone has breakfast, we grab our coffee and retreat to the living room where we turn on the TV to watch the early-morning news. However, many mornings for Sophie and Oscar begin with a wrestling match. If Sophie is lying on the floor and Oscar wants to wrestle, he will calmly walk over to Sophie and casually sit on her head. Sophie is up quickly and pushes Oscar away and the two of them begin pushing and pawing each other. If Oscar is not interested in wrestling and Sophie wants to wrestle, Sophie will calmly walk behind Oscar, grab his tail, and pull. Oscar turns immediately and his claws swat Sophie as she backs away. Again, the pushing and pawing as the two of them run around the living room and rolling each other until one of them decides to quit and calmly walks away while the other sits still and claims victory. They’re evenly matched although Sophie outweighs Oscar but Oscar has the claws and Sophie usually backs away as if to say “Okay, you quit so I won.”
I take Sophie for a morning walk around the block and further if it’s a nice day. She loves the walks because she usually sees other people and/or other dogs and of course they came to see her whether they’re a block away or on the other side of the street. The late afternoon or evening walk gets the same reaction. Like most divas, it’s all about her all of the time although Oscar doesn’t agree and always get his share of attention.
While I’m walking with Sophie (or as some neighbors will say ”Hi Sophie, I see you’re taking Bob for a walk!), Oscar is usually at the top of his window perch where he has a view of the neighborhood to watch the birds, squirrels and chipmunks in our outside feeders. Oscar is an indoor cat because we’re not sure how long he was a feral cat and we don’t want to risk his reverting to the wild. However, we think Oscar might disagree because he seems to show up every time a door to the outside is open.
While Oscar seems to tolerate all the noises in the outside world, Sophie has a strange dislike for blue jays. If she hears a bluejay during our morning walk, she will utter a low growl until the blue jay stops chirping. Other birds don’t seem to bother her.
If we want to go on a long weekend vacation, we board our Sophie at her favorite groomer who owns show dogs and Sophie usually can’t wait to get to his door. We have someone come in to feed and pet Oscar twice a day and so far it has worked out well. Both Sophie and Oscar are happy to see us when we return. Recently, we returned from a beach vacation and Oscar gave us his usual “Oh, you’re finally back!” We left to pick up Sophie and when we returned, Oscar was right there to greet Sophie with a kiss as if to say “Hey I missed you and love you!” Sophie responded with a gentle rub and within several minutes they were starting a wrestling match. We’re not sure if they missed us or each other the most, but who cares because we’re all together again and let a normal routine begin?
This Old Codger and his wife truly miss our pets when we leave for a vacation, and based on the reaction we get when we return, they miss us just as much. And that’s whatlove and family are all about!
And now I can launch a series of expletives at my computer once again!
Bob Derr, The Old Codger, lives in Selinsgrove.