The truth about cats and dogs…
June 15th, 2009 AdminWe have cats. We’ve had cats for 5 years, since we inherited Chloe I and Juno from a friend’s parents. Chloe was a beautiful blue Burmese, with a classic profile and gorgeous friendly nature. Juno, Rod assured us, was a pedigreed Abyssinian and both were about 7 years old. Seems Rod didn’t know his parents’ cats as well as he knew his parents because Chloe, while a blue Burmese, was actually around 13 and, while Juno was around 7, she was either the fattest and hairiest Abyssinian in existence or she was something else. After consulting with a few friends, we determined that she’s an Abyssinian/Tabby cross, with Abyssinian colouring and Tabby shape. Nevertheless, we loved them both and they rapidly wormed their way into our lives.
Chloe lived with us for a year, but was felled by hyperthyroidism and stomach cancer. We were pretty devastated when she died, despite the short duration of the relationship, and Juno seemed equally upset, wandering the hall and whining for her friend. So, we thought we’d get her a new friend and decided on another Burmese. We came up to a breeder in Waikanae and picked Gus as a 4 week old kitten. We had to wait until he was 12 weeks to bring him home.
Now, Juno is not your common cat, even for a cross. In fact, she’s an absolute fruitbat, seeing martians in every corner (even us, at times!) and prone to chasing ghosts, but we weren’t prepared for her reaction to Gus’ arrival – she stopped eating AND drinking, and got to within 24 hours of renal failure.
Eventually, Juno and Gus came to an understanding – Gus is a Burmese and took charge and Juno put up with it 
When we moved up the coast to Waikanae, we thought Juno would be the one we’d have to worry about, but she adjusted very quickly and was the one who started exploring. Once Gus felt secure, he started ranging wider – Juno rarely goes beyond the confines of the house and deck – but if a new cat comes visiting, it’s Juno who’s defending the premises while Gus hangs back, going “what she said!” to the intrusion.
One thing we found was that a park exists across the road. Julia went exploring and came back and said “We’re morally obliged to get a dog!” but we thought it probably needed to wait until, at least, Juno had passed on. But 2 years later, we went to the Medieval Market and met greyhounds for the first time.
Greyhounds As Pets is an independent charitable trust established by Greyhound Racing New Zealand to find pet homes for greyhounds which are no longer able to race. They had a stall at the market and several owners had brought their dogs along in support.
They. Are. Beautiful. And they fit so perfectly with our lifestyle (particularly mine) that it seemed like destiny calling, with reversed charges. We fell in love, got a brochure and signed up within a few days.
In the time since, some people have commended us for “rescuing” a greyhound, but we really haven’t. While the practice before GAP was generally to euthanise retired greyhounds, it’s the owners and trainers who pay to put them into the programme. Sure, we pay to get them out the other end and bring them home, but it’s not like we’ve taken them off death row. My praise goes to those who take an animal from the RSPCA, where they really are on the block.
Anyway, GAP checked us over to ensure that the dog would be going to a good home, checked the premises for the same, mostly that they could handle our stairs, and told us we might have to wait a while as we needed a cat-friendly dog. In the end, it took 3 months before they called us to say that Chloe was available and were we interested. We took the name as an omen and brought Chloe II into hour home 3 weeks ago. She’s fitted in remarkably well. And once again, it’s Juno showing courage ahead of Gus.
Gus stays well out of Chloe’s way, although he is finally coming in through the cat door while she’s in the room. He’s learned not to run across the floor, as that really gets her interest (doesn’t help that he’s the same colour as the ‘rabbit’ she was trained to chase!). Juno, however, stood up to Chloe’s presence from day one and it’s Chloe that gives her the wide berth. I heard yelping this afternoon and came upstairs to find that Juno had Chloe backed into a corner and was bullying her again. But they generally coexist now in the same room.
Greyhounds are affectionate, low smell (not completely smell-less, however), low mess as they only have one layer of hair and very bright. They also don’t need much maintenance, being sprinters rather than endurance dogs, and only require 2×20 mins walk a day with occasional runs. With my ME, that’s perfect – it gets me out for as much exercise as I can manage without short-changing the dog. The books refer to them as indoor dogs, as they have no layer of body fat to keep them warm, and indelicately call them “the couch potatoes of the dog world”, which is fair as she certainly lies about the place a lot. But she’s always ready for a rub and kind words and tends to follow me around the house all day. I’m totally smitten but doing my best to be an “alpha dog” and maintain control. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.