Animal behavior
One morning I was observing the animals that live in our home.
Stella, a Pitbull mix was rescued when she was approximately 2 years old. She came to us with a sweet demeanor that had been pushed aside due to abuse. Her protective defensiveness was a behavior necessary for survival. Angry, loud, growling and barking was her way of communicating, don’t mess with me… I am ferocious! I bite! (And yet the minute you angrily say, STELLA!, her ears fall back, and she flees to the rear of her kennel. People pleasing comes to the surface. It’s as if she then remembers …oh yeah! I like these people! I want to stay! I’m sorry! Please don’t be mad!
Ivy, the rescue cat, and her son Nemo, who arrived unexpectedly, are also in the room.
Stella is having an edgy day… anxiety is on the surface. She struggles to settle down, barking at any noise that may want to cause harm to the family she now protects. She often resorts to a loud obnoxious reaction to make sure everyone knows her purpose and takes it too seriously at times. Deputy Barney Fife comes to mind.
Her alarm gets triggered by those mean delivery people, any person who approaches our home including repairman, and friends stopping by for a visit. The geese and birds are great threats but nothing so bad as those horrific squirrels! They are definitely the evilest or all evils.
The cats are usually chill.
Nemo however does have some teenage tendencies, rejecting any kind of control, you can hold him but only briefly. Often a pest to his mom, he is much larger, but she still knows how to put him in his place. Knowing exactly where a bite hurts worse, Ivy is able to interrupt his attempt to be the one in control.
Ivy and I carry a special bond. She frequently comes to me for a snuggle. Until she settles into her place of peace, she often interrupts my reading, scrolling, or writing by climbing on my arms… she does need attention and I am getting used to waking up in the morning with 2 cats eyes staring me in the face. I think we have a motherly connection. We understand each other.
My memory reminds me that when Stella joined our family it had appeared that some puppies had been removed from her belly. Could the pain of that loss be part of the reason for her agitated nature? There is no greater loss for a mother than that of a child including an unborn one. Maybe mama dogs remember too? Maybe that also explains why Stella was licking Ivy as she was given birth to Nemo?
The cats know how to read Stella. I think many battles have been fought when there were no adults in the house. Unexplained injuries of the dog reveal that the cats know how to win the fight. They are fast and cunning, and they know how to read the mood.
Earlier today I observed just that. Stella was in her jealous, I must save this family for all enemy forces, mood! She needed the cats to know who was in charge and they needed to settle because Mama Lisa was writing. She tried to intimidate them but neither one would be influenced. They fought back with closed claws. It was a warning.
It’s as if Ivy is telling Stella telepathically … remember that busted lip that took a month to heal? You don’t want to push my warning… my claws are not getting clipped until this afternoon… you push me, and I will bring out the real weapons to put you in your place.
Nemo who doesn’t quite have the wisdom of her mother usually gets louder and wrestles a little before running away.
Currently they are all settled into their favorite spots, Ivy is on my lap. Nemo is under the Christmas tree (he hasn’t knocked it over yet this year) and Stella is sunning in the front window. Her mood could change at any minute!
Animals are incredible gifts! They can help us humans in an uncountable number of ways. From cancer research, to protection, to labor, to learning about human behavior by paying attention to how they function. Unlimited value that should be kept in balance with appreciation and respect!
Does God give them to us as yet another language, another way of communication? That’s seems just like something He might do!
Awe!
Stay Blessed ya’all!