Animal bonding

Hi, everyone - MP here!  Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Of the many things I enjoy about living with multiple animals, one of the most special, other than the very unique and specific relationships that I develop with each one, is seeing the bonds that develop among the animals themselves, and they aren't always ones that you might have predicted.  When I was about thirteen, my dad rescued a tiny three week old kitten and brought her home to me to raise.  I bottle-fed her, and our relationship was always very close, but Reni's primary allegiance in life was to our Border Collie, Missy, whom she would snuggle up to for hours, and even attempt to nurse from, something Missy tolerated with an air of world-weary, yet distinctly maternal, patience.  It always seemed to surprise people that we had a dog and a cat who had such a close bond, but it's one that I've seen repeated in the current group of animals I live with, in which Olivia clearly prefers the company of Tucker and Phoebe to that of Tanner or Finn.  

When I first brought Olivia home, Tucker became her self-appointed nanny, watching over her, cleaning her ears and face, lying down with her for naps.  Something which Olivia seemed determined to pass on when Dakotah was recovering from surgery (he had a two and a half inch long incision on his neck where he had to have a suspected malignancy removed).  I brought him home and put him on his bed in the living room, and Livvy went right over and lay down next to him, purring her little heart out.  Tucker was right behind her, and they gathered close to their "big brother" and gave him comfort just by their very presence, something they both repeated often in later years, as Dakotah was preparing to take his leave from us.

I unfortunately didn't take as many pictures of those moments as I should have, and the ones I did take were wiped out when my laptop was infected by a virus two years ago, though I can see them in my mind's eye as clearly as if they happened yesterday. 

But just the other day, I saw a picture and heard a story about two cats that really touched me, and the cats' mom, Heather, graciously gave me permission to post the pictures here and tell you a bit about the story behind them ... 

Meet Elvin and Artie ... 

When Heather and her family adopted Artie from their local shelter at eight months of age, they were told that his left front leg had been broken and was never set properly, so Artie always walked hunched over on his elbow.  Typical of many animals with disabilities, Artie never seemed to realize that there was anything the least wrong with him, and once he was in a home setting and had the space to run around,  he turned into a typical kitten, and with the all the racing around his previously broken leg began to swell up.  When ice packs and restricted activity failed to reduce the swelling for any length of time, the vet advised that amputation was the best thing for Artie.  

The picture above shows Artie's "big brother," Elvin, giving Artie a reassuring nose nuzzle through the bars of Artie's hospital cage, something which Heather tells me is particularly meaningful in light of the fact that Elvin turns into a holy terror at the vet's office, and will shun the other cats in the house when they return home smelling like "cat fix-it."  But rather than growling or hissing at his convalescing friend, who certainly had the vet smell all over him after his surgery and overnight hospital stay, Elvin was nothing but gentle and loving to Artie, even curling up on a nearby blanket to keep him company ...

If you would like to offer Artie some well wishes, you can do so here.  Or if you want to tell Elvin what a great big brother he is, you can do that here .

What special relationships have you observed between the animal companions who share your lives? 

* Photos with kind permission of Heather Laskey