
Ever since we bought the beagle home the cat has decided to pretty much live upstairs.
She generally seems quite happy with this arrangement and calls the dog when she wants to say hello by meowing loudly at the top of the stairs.
The dog and cat have an 'understanding' whilst there is no fighting between them, the cat and dog have a funny relationship.
I think they would both like to b
e closer friends, but the dog just can't get her head around the fact that the cat doesn't like to be rumbled with, have it's ass smelt or barked at.
The dog also knows full well that the cat has sharp little claws and if she gets too close and has pissed the cat off, she is likely to get a quick slap to the side of her face.
Over the last several weeks with the boy away in Canada however the cat has started venturing downstairs for attention.
Generally when the cat comes downstairs the dog does everything in her manipulative power to 'encourage' the cat to return upstairs. She will bark and pounce and generally act like an idiot around the cat and this has been enough for the cat to slink off back upstairs.
But now the cat has grown bolder and is now firmly standing her ground, and much to dog's chagrin the cat has started to take up residence on the couch next to me, just where the dog usually sleeps.
I called last night 'the battle of the downstairs couch' !

The dog tried every trick in the book to encourage the cat to go back upstairs but to no avail. Even worse the cat decided that she would plonk herself right in between me and the dog.
At first the dog got one of her toys and chewed at it furiously all the while edging closer and closer the cat, until she 'accidently' bumped the cat off the couch.
The dear old cat simply picked herself up hissed at the dog and jumped right back on the couch.
When this didn't work the dog decided to go upstairs and sulk under the bed for 20 minutes until she realised that this wasn't working either.
So she sheepishly came back downstairs all the while giving me and the cat the dirtiest looks she could muster.
There was no chewing this time just a very forlorn looking beagle and a triumphant cat who spent the rest of the night side by side on the couch.
Cat 1
Dog 0