Otis and the Wild Kitties

Otis, if you recall, is the black Lab shelter puppy we rescued in July. The wild kitties are courtesy of my son Aaron and wife Jaime who found these kittens by the side of the road. I had said I wanted a barn cat.

Now I have two.

The kittens are still wild. We cannot get within 10 feet of them. They live in the top of the root cellar, feed from the dog's food bowl, and keep their distance.

Except from Otis. He was so lonely after Baxter's death that he somehow made friends with the kitties. We acquired Jeb, another Black Lab, from Jaime and Aaron too. Otis and Jeb have become good friends, but still...

Now Otis is wild himself. He acts first and thinks later. But he was lonely and the only creatures around (except Baby the Cocker Spaniel and she doesn't count because she thinks she's a cat) were the wild kitties.

I am sure he got his share of claws applied to his inquisitive nose. I am sure the kitties put him away from the food bowl more than once. But somehow a relationship was forged.

Otis the Hyper-Active Black Lab will sit (trembling to be sure) quietly while the kitties rub against him, clean his fur, bat at him with paws that have the claws pulled in, and eat with him out of his food bowl.

It is a relationship forged in desperation and loneliness, but the outcome is that our wild child Otis is the only live creature that can come close to the kitties.

It's a miracle, that's what it is.