So I’m sitting down this morning, teaching my class online while I eat my breakfast of oatmeal and coffee. Karma the dog is curled up on the other end of the couch. Jordan the cat jumps up and sits down next to the dog. She starts licking and grooming the dog’s face. This is cute, so I look up and watch. Just as soon as I do this, I see Jordan open up her mouth and clamp her teeth down on either side of the dog’s eye.
“Hey!” I shout. “Don’t bite the dog’s eye!”
The cat looks back at me, as if to say, “What? I do this all the time when you aren’t here. She likes it.”
The dog obviously does not like it. But she’s too gentle and well-socialized to do anything to the cat, and it a little bit apprehensive because the cat has her fangs encircling her eye.
“Go on, leave her alone!” I get up, and the cat lets go of the dog. Who turns around and turns her back on the cat. The dog is happy that I’ve rescued her, and starts wagging her tail. Which the cat starts grabbing at with her claws, the way she would a dangly-toy. Eventually, I have to shoo the cat away from the couch altogether so she’ll leave the poor innocent dog alone.
Even tonight, Jordan has been pestering Karma — following her around, nuzzling her, and continuing to lick her. I wonder if these are aggressive behaviors rather than gestures of affection and familiarity.
