{"id":1256,"date":"2016-05-23T03:53:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2016-05-23T03:53:54","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:53:54","slug":"mindful-monday-feline-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1256","title":{"rendered":"Mindful Monday\u2014Feline Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-254\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/alyzaykatie-0101-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"alyzaykatie-0101\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/alyzaykatie-0101-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/alyzaykatie-0101-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/strong>Most animals have enemies. Think of those attributed to the cat\u2014dogs, coyotes, large owls, hawks, eagles, raccoons, wolves, and some other cats\u2026 But are these really natural enemies for all cats? Do cats naturally hate birds, lizards, mice and other rodents? Probably not. Cats are some of the most discerning animals around. They hunt when they must\u2014for survival and sometimes for sport. They can get mighty angry at a squirrel or a blue jay that taunts them. Certainly, outside cats had better be wary of renegade cats and dogs as well as larger wild animals. But cats have also been known to make friends with some of these critters.<\/p>\n<p>Our cats live inside, so they don\u2019t come in contact with other cats. Of course they\u2019re friends with each other and that was instantaneous. Sophie, then four, accepted baby Lily upon sight and vice versa. The cats who visit with our cats through the screen door are varied. George is welcome, but let Rocket step foot in our yard and Sophie and Lily go flat-eared. We call him the terrorist cat. He\u2019s been known to attack other cats in their own yards and he has torn up more than one window screen trying to get at our cats inside the house.<\/p>\n<p>What about dogs? Are they natural enemies of cats? Many of you reading this probably<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-788\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/CorralCatCaper-188x300.jpg\" alt=\"Corral Cat Caper, a Klepto Cat Mystery\" width=\"188\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/CorralCatCaper-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/CorralCatCaper.jpg 279w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px\" \/> have both cats and dogs who have learned to get along. Some canine and feline pairs even adore one another. We\u2019ve all seen pictures and videos on the Internet showing kittens piled in a large dog\u2019s bed with him, a dog and cat playing or sharing a meal. There\u2019s nothing quite as sweet as watching a relationship develop between what might be considered natural animal enemies. And that\u2019s why we enjoy stories of unlikely friendships among the animal kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>A quick peek into the great Internet over the weekend revealed cats enjoying friendships with a variety of other critters, including a rat, fox, owl, rabbit, monkey, lion cub and, of all things, a crow.<\/p>\n<p>In my Klepto Cat Mysteries, the star of the stories, Rags, has a variety of friends\u2014many other cats, a few dogs, and even a horse. So far, I haven\u2019t introduced him to a wild animal, but I just might\u2014hey, maybe he could have an adventure in a wild animal park or a zoo. Just think about the possibilities.<\/p>\n<p>What are some of the most unusual\/unlikely friendships you\u2019ve observed in the animal kingdom?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most animals have enemies. Think of those attributed to the cat\u2014dogs, coyotes, large owls, hawks, eagles, raccoons, wolves, and some other cats\u2026 But are these really natural enemies for all cats? Do cats naturally hate birds, lizards, mice and other &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1256\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1257,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions\/1257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}