when i bring the dog over, my cat's behaviour changes instantly.
she does not draw back and run away from my roomate's cat when he enters the room. she stands her ground, hisses threateningly, and stares him down till he runs away.
she comes out of the bedroom, slinking only a little, and prowls inquisitively around the apartment while i make dinner with the dog laying under the table.
most importantly, she chills out. instead of neurotically shifting around and talking throughout the night, she passes out in the beanbag chair and sleeps thru till i wake her up at whenever-i-damn-well-please o'clock.
it's like she has a bodyguard.
but the funniest thing is the dog herself. my dog ADORES cats. also bunnies, squirrels, and probably any other small animal she will have occasion to meet, but that's besides the point. when she walked in the first time and my roomate's cat went ballistic, she kind of jumped back and looked at it sort of pathetically, like why don't you like me? after that, she would stay back but look at him longingly, as if to say i wish i could be your friend. until the first time my cat jumped on the bed to escape him, and he came to the edge of the bed intending to follow.
my dog stood up, bared her teeth, and growled like a fucking doberman. not one of those please-don't-touch-me-strange-human-i'm-shy growls, but an honest to god i-will-eat-you growl. she was ready to shred this cat who she had liked a moment before, because he was chasing *her* kitty.
now she mostly steers clear of him, even tho' when she first walks in it always seems to surprise her that he does not want to greet her. she doesn't show him any aggresion at any time other than when he comes after my cat. like right now, the dog has been here for a couple of hours, so he's slunk into the bedroom and is sitting quietly in the corner, and my dog never moved, not even when he sniffed her food. but if he goes towards the bed where my cat is, i think she might eat him.
hysterical.