A lesson from my cat

I saw an interesting scene between my three animals.

Dogs and cats can work things out on their own most of the time. At least that’s the case for my three.

I have two tabby cats. Scout is skittish and reactive. Beamer is confident and calm. And then there’s my Lab mix Ace.

Here’s the scene:

Ace was sound asleep on his dog bed, tucked away in the corner and snoring.

My husband was holding Scout. When he set him down, Scout ran across the room and smacked Ace right on the nose.

This happens several times per week. Scout has a low frustration tolerance, and he takes it out on the weakest victim – Ace.

Normally Ace takes it like a champ, but not this time.

Ace lunged at Scout, growled and tried to mouth him.

Watching this from the couch, my initial reaction was to scold Ace. He is 70 pounds and has no business snapping at anyone.

But if a cat is stupid enough to challenge a sleeping Lab, doesn’t he deserve a reaction like that? Maybe Ace was teaching Scout an important lesson: “Some dogs aren’t so tolerant. Some dogs will attack cats who act like you.”

And then I got my lesson: Just let it be.

Beamer calmly walked into the center of the room between the others. He looked Ace right in the eyes.

All tension disappeared.

Ace had been lying down the entire time, but now he looked away and went back to sleep.

Scout had long forgotten the incident.

And then Beamer calmly walked away, too.

They all resumed their naps.

There was nothing for me to do. No need to get involved.

There is always communication going on between animals that we humans will never understand. We say we know what they are thinking, but we do not. We say we can read their body language, but we cannot.

Conversations take place between my pets daily. Their language is foreign, and by the time I understand what’s happening, they’ve moved on.

They’re always a step ahead.

What do you make of this scene? What are some examples of conversations you’ve seen between your pets?