Kittens and Useless Dogs

Our kittens are almost 2 months old. I'm a sucker for kittens. Katie begged me not to give this batch away, so I told her that if she cleans up after them and trains them to the litter box and makes sure the house never smells like cats, then they can stay. She's been doing a great job. She feeds them and keeps the litter box clean, but she's gone this week and now the house smells like cats. The black one is named Fish Sticks. The white ones are Leo and Spencer. They could be the lap kitties I've been wanting. They will fall asleep in my lap. As long as they are sweet and gentle and sleep in my lap when I'm watching TV, they will fulfill their purpose as cats.

The dogs, on the other hand, are useless. Chico wouldn't come inside this morning when I wanted to go for a walk. He can't go with me because he creates so much trouble on the street and he will not obey anything I tell him to do. He scares all the neighbors and no one likes him except Alan and the kids. Annie won't obey either although she doesn't scare the neighbors. Cindy is the only obedient dog we have, but she is a coward.

This afternoon, I saw this deer eating the bird seed out of the bowl that I put out for the squirrels. I don't mind her eating it, but I thought it was strange for her to be that close to the house.

She ate all the seed and then wandered over to the water bowl and drank all that. She wasn't in a hurry and didn't look concerned for her safety at all.

The deer finally wandered off and I heard some commotion on the back porch. I looked out the window to see Cindy trying to squeeze out from behind the grill and Zach, our freakishly large cat, crawling out from under the bench. They had been hiding from the deer!

I don't want Cindy chasing off deer, but if it's not in her instinct to do that then I can't count on her for any kind of protection. I guess our safety depends on Chico.