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[Weaver]

Beileag has been asleep on the bed with the oriental (ex-)kittens, next to Somhairle - one ‘Frisian’ with another as it was described.

Ciarán was on the sofa with Somhairle actually touching his paw. Ciarán got off to go to his bowl and then actually came back and dared to get back in the sofa again, despite the fact that there was a large kitten right there, and was again touching him afterwards. Somhairle just stayed half-asleep throughout the whole thing. Somhairle has never ‘bopped’ the dog, has never spat at him or whacked him with his paw

In contrast, Pangur Bàn has kept spitting at the dog occasionally, which I think is either jealousy over his ownership of Janet or his position in the hierarchy, trying to position himself above the dog. There does not seem to be any real genuine aggression due to fear or hatred, looking at Pangur Bàn’s face and I judge it to be tactical. The dog meanwhile ignores Pangur Bàn’s misbehaviour completely and has no fear even now Pangur has grown up into a larger cat. (Probably slightly larger than the older Somhairle and also very slightly larger than Caoimhe - who is eight years old.)

So integration continues. The three orientals have been sleeping in a huddle together most nights this week but tonight Caoimhe is curled up on my arm as she snores. She is much more lively happier and less sneezy because of the sunny breezy weather and being out in the garden.

My friend says snow in Inverness today. Sleet on the windscreen (‘frasan flinne’ [I was taught Lewis Gàidhlig "frasan flion" - silent ‘o’]) coming over the Fireach Clach from Heasta towards Broadford and looks like snow on the mainland. Forecast says arctic winds the next few days. Donkeys have been given double extra oats to keep them warm, they still have winter coats, and there are two lots of food, one in and one just outside their stable. Luckily the wind direction is such that it is not blowing directly from the north and going in through their stable doorway but going past the stable entrance.

Tom has stopped chasing the other cats outside and has decided that he does not need to compete for a seat at the dinner table as his position as a member of the family is now secured. He is now much less frightened of Ciarán, although he is still terrified of all other dogs. Tom let Ciarán just walk right past him while Tom was sitting on his bench in the kitchen and showed no reaction apart from watching the dog’s every move.

So harmony everywhere, integration that I never expected to see.

[burakkucat]

Thank you for the update. 

Each has persevered in its own way and has managed to "train" each of the other ones.

A cat's view on the status of the various species: cat > human > dog
A dog's view on the status of the various species: cat > human > dog ("I know my place." Rather like the Two Ronnies and John Cleese sketch on
class status.)

[Weaver]

I remember that superb sketch, with the different heights.

I think that Gilbert and George come in at the top of the hierarchy. They respect humans as the givers of food and possibly fuss. Also humans provide much-needed intellectual stimulation, because they ‘do things’ and they sometimes provide toys - such as rubber food bins, or deflated wrecked old footballs, which can be carried around.

We have one solitary hen. One died suddenly, she was quite elderly, and one or two vanished in the night - predators. The one hen does not go into the hen house any more. We think it is because she views it as being no longer safe, quite rightly. So she lives with the donkeys, in their stable now and they like each other, providing company and being sources of interest. The donkeys are it seems very gentle with her, surprisingly, never boisterous nor too rough in playfulness. Our hen follows Janet around in the daytime, and when Janet is not around she just sticks with the donkeys. More chicks are on order but we have to wait. Our hens come from Sruthán, further to the north, up on the west side of the island.

The last of your orderings is correct but some of the details of the dog’s view are difficult now. Ciarán thinks that he is below cats in that they can take his dog-bed and deny him access to rooms by blocking doorways, their presence can prevent him getting into the bed to lie next to me and so forth. But he is not so intimidated by the two oriental kittens (ex-kittens) because - as far as I can make out - he remembers that they were tinies not so king ago and therefore not a serious threat. So I am unsure where he places himself with respect to the kittens. He is perhaps Somhairle’s equal and he is totally unimpressed by Pangur Bàn’s bit of hissing and spitting so I wonder if you could say the same about him and Pangur Bàn, but I am unsure as to the decision process.

I have photographic evidence. Also an amazing pic of Somhairle on a high shelf, almost at ceiling level and the only possibility is that he got on top of the hot Rayburn stove, which has fabric pads on top of it which provide protection from the extreme temperatures, and leapt from there up onto this wonderful viewing platform which sometimes iirc has a cat-bed. Buidheag perhaps can manage it, and I cannot remember whether Orange also used it. But as we know, cats love being in very high places, looking down on everything, and also being in a place of complete safety.