Mitch Cham opened her heart and home to two rescue dogs and three cats. But she soon found herself in the middle of a hilarious tug-of-war over the prized pet bed, with a clever cat scheming and a gangster dog adding his personal note of chaos to the mix.
Bringing dogs and cats together can be a challenge, especially when they are rescues joining at different times. For Cham, an Information Technology professional from Klang, the process has been an adventure.
Cham first adopted Lucy the dog two years ago. Aiko a street stray cat joined the family next. Although it’s hard to guess kitty ages, Cham thinks she’s about five now.
Last year Charlie, a two-month-old puppy arrived. She was quickly followed by two more cats, Tofu a little rescue kitten passed along by a friend and Blinky, a ten-month ragdoll pedigree.
“While we believe in adopt-don’t-shop, we adopted Blinky because she has asthma and needs special care,” Cham explains.
As if that isn’t enough, Cham also has three bunnies and two sugar gliders. She giggles, “Yes, you can say it’s a zoo but it’s fun.”
Given her love for fur and feathers, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Cham is also an avid rescuer and co-founder of Happy Stray, an NGO that regularly runs adoption drives in The Square by Jaya One in Petaling Jaya.
Blended furry family
At home, she and her husband work hard to blend their pets into one happy family.
“Lucy and Tofu got along fine straight away,” Cham says. “Lucy has a motherly character and Tofu was a kitten which makes it easier. When we introduced them, Lucy sniffed Tofu and licked her. Tofu licked her back.”
From that moment on, the big dog and little cat were friends. Welcoming Charlie the puppy started off promising too.
“Lucy babied her straight away,” Cham shares. “With her gentle nature, she’s the one who promotes harmony.”
But the new pup did not follow Lucy’s good example.
“Charlie is more of a gangster, like an alpha queen,” Cham sighs. “We were careful in introducing her to the cats, letting them smell each other so they would understand we meant them to be friends. But Charlie saw the cats as toys.”
As a boisterous puppy can accidentally hurt a cat, Cham watched them carefully and it was just as well.
“Blinky doesn’t understand danger. She has zero survival instincts. Maybe it’s because she was a shop cat with no street experience but she doesn’t even have the sense to be scared of dogs.”
Pups can be taught to be gentler with cats but Charlie proved resistant. Cham ran off her energy with garden games, held her while she sniffed at the cats but the puppy was still rough.
Cham was prepared to continue the process but then the puppy added a surprise element to the issue.
“She’s allergic to cat fur!” Cham exclaims. “We discovered it when we realised she also has food allergies.” She adds philosophically, “Maybe it doesn’t make much of a difference because Charlie is the kind of dog who just doesn’t get on with cats.”
Thankfully, Cham’s home is set up so that the problem can be managed. The cats have their room as their safe space while the rabbits and sugar gliders have theirs.
Cham planned to have happy time for Lucy and the cats downstairs, and to juggle Charlie into the mix as best she could. However, she did not bargain on Tofu’s naughty antics.
“Tofu is a super smart cat,” Cham shares. “Among other things, he has learned to open doors.”
Another cat might unlock the door and go wandering but Tofu is a furry general with a distinct object in mind: he wants to be downstairs with the humans. He also knows that when the door is shut, it’s for a reason.
But Tofu puts his own needs first. When he decides he wants company, he opens the door.
“He knows it’s naughty so he doesn’t come down himself, but sends Blinky,” Cham laughs. “And Blinky is just so blur that she doesn’t realise she’s being used.”
Tofu may be small in stature but he rules Blinkie and her dog bestie Lucy with a firm paw. “Lucy doesn’t realise Tofu is a cat and Tofu doesn’t realise she’s a cat either,” Cham says. “Whenever they’re downstairs together, they play wild games.”
They play race and chase, but like human children, the two pets can become over-excited. When emotions run high, it can end in tears.
“Tofu has no problem whapping Lucy if he’s upset,” Cham sighs. “We keep an eye on them and when Tofu’s ears go back, we know he’s getting annoyed. As Lucy can be a bit slow to notice, we tell her to cool down before she has her nose smacked.”
Pet antics
And like small human besties, the dog and cat have real quarrels too.
“Lucy loves pig ear and duck neck bones,” Cham says. “Tofu is interested and will sniff and maybe take a lick too.”
“We were really worried about that because animals can be very protective of their food. But Lucy is the dog who shares.”
What Cham did not see coming was a protracted bedroom battle.
“Tofu has a fluffy bed in the cat room. The thing is that Lucy loves to bite it. And of course Tofu doesn’t want dog drool all over his bed.”
When Lucy sneaks into the cat room and has a secret chew, Tofu complains bitterly. And when that doesn’t get him anywhere, the cat appeals to a higher court.
“Tofu comes downstairs, ears back and meowing a complaint,” Cham laughs.
Lucy doesn’t care. As she’s a dog and much bigger than the cat, the two end up tugging at the fluffy bed. Lucy bites it, paws firm and refuses to let go as Tofu sticks his claws in it and tries to paw it back.
“One time, Lucy lay on the bed, definitely claiming it, and Tofu threw himself on top of Lucy,” Cham recounts. It might have been an ugly standoff but the two fur friends came to their own compromise. “Lucy just went to sleep with Tofu on top,” Cham laughs.
Now wouldn’t that be nice if everyone’s quarrels would be sorted that easily?
