The napping cat

I haven't written about it, but there has been a big change in relations between Callie the female border collie and Bertie the black tom cat. As recently as last summer, the two couldn't be in the same room together. Callie wouldn't have it. Maybe it's age (8½) that is mellowing her out.

Anyway, this summer, something happened to calm things down. We don't know what it was, but we are happy about it. Bertie (age 9½) spends a lot of time up on the front terrace with Walt in the afternoon, and now he often spends the morning napping on the sofa in the living room. Callie ignores him, mostly.

Once in a while, if Bert moves around too much, Callie will still get excited and nip at his back legs. Often though, if Callie sees Bertie in the living room, she will run downstairs and sit like a guard dog in front of the barrier that separates the utility room from the garage, where Bertie has his food and water bowls and his bed.

The dog seems to have trouble understanding that only one cat lives down there, and if he is in the living room, he's not in the garage. I took these photos of Bert taking his nap yesterday morning. When he became aware of the camera, he put a paw over his face to protect his privacy.