The Sheriff Has a New Deputy in Town!

When you gaze into my fishbowl, you will notice some furry, four-legged fishies. We have four cats and two dogs, and it can be quite amusing to watch them interact!

Over time, the animals have developed their own hierarchy. Simba is the ruler of all the animals in our house. We call him "the Sheriff" because he doesn't put up with any ruckus in his town.

Next is Honey, a red bone coon hound. She was a stray that we adopted. She's always had a bit of wildness in her, and she is true to her breed in how she loves to hunt. Honey also personifies the meaning of the word for female dog.

The two female cats, Sasha and Spot, are next. They cannot stand each other, and they go back and forth with who gets to be the dominant female cat. If they are in the same room, you will hear them hissing and growling at each other.

Licorice is our big black male cat, and he is the lowest ranking cat. It's not because he's afraid of the other animals, it's because he just doesn't care. If there were a Margaritaville for cats, he'd be there getting wasted away on milk and catnip.

The bottom of our animal hierarchy is Biscuit, our yellow Labrador. He wants desperately to be friends with the cats, but he is afraid of all of them. Simba and Licorice will sometimes let Biscuit sniff them, but if they turn around and look him in the eye, he will cower.

One night, Honey saw Spot in the living room. Like a big bully, Honey chased her out of the room. Honey strutted back with her head held high. But what she didn't realize was that Simba had staked out the room and he was watching her. My mom had made a bed for the cats out of a cardboard box. The box has two openings on each side for carrying handles. Simba was inside the box and watching out of one of the holes.

Honey walked through the living room and passed the box that Simba was in. As soon as Honey was by the box, Simba jumped up and started whacking her in the face with his paws! Then, out of nowhere, Licorice ran over and started whacking the other side of Honey's face! Honey froze. She didn't know what to do. My husband and I finally had to pick up the cats to get them off of her. Honey was trembling and had a cut across her nose.

So, it looks like Licorice might be moving up in the ranks. Maybe he's just been an undercover secret agent who was posing as a lazy cat that didn't care. Maybe he thought his buddy Simba was in danger and needed some back up. Whatever it was, the sheriff has a new deputy in town and they're not putting up with any monkey business from the dogs!