The Purring Order

If chickens can have a pecking order, then cats can certainly have a purring order. Mine sure do. Quint is Top Cat. Hedge gets whatever Quint doesn't want or need. Hedge goes out of his way to find places to nap and relax that Quint never uses. Never uses until Hedge occupies the space which then instantly becomes desirable space and Quint must have it. If there was a pile of rusty nails and broken glass in the house, which there isn't by the way, and Hedge was laying on it, Quint would kick him off the pile and take possession of it like it was an invaluable dragon's horde. If I am brushing Hedge in the morning, which I often do, Quint comes in the room, jumps up on the bed and watches to make sure Hedge doesn't get too much attention. No wonder Hedge is a shy and reclusive, what with Quint constantly upstaging him. Hedge takes it all with his good, sweet disposition undiminished.

Lately, though, there has been a subtle twist to the game. Quint has this refillable, catnip mouse which he carries around the house and then drops in whatever room his people happen to be occupying, or in our path so we can't miss seeing it as we move about. Hedge, sometimes, when the mouse has been dropped on a small rug, will fold the rug in on itself and bury the little mouse. Last evening Quint dropped the mouse in the hallway and Hedge immediately proceeded to bury it. This annoyed Quint so much that he paraded around the house meowing at the top of his lungs.

I warned Quint a long time ago that if he kept up his bullying it would come back to him. It seems that it finally has.