We have a black cat called Lotus, who is 12 years old. He is regarded as "King of the pets" in our house. To us humans anyway.
We've had a lot of other animals in the 12 years [who didn't make it]. And he's had to fight each one of them for his place on the family social ladder. Now he's just given up.
At the moment we have a 5yo pug called Princess, A 2yo tabby called Peppy [girl]. and a 1yo orange cat called Mr. Marbles.
Peppy seems to think she is the house defender. She's the one out there fighting off the strays. But unfortunately this has left her with a bit of a nervous disorder, where she is on edge and ready to fight all the time. She even sprays "her territory". Isn't that bizarre for a girl??
Mr. Marbles is a very naughty teenager cat, who's just always looking for trouble in the form of something to pounce on, or something to grab and play with.
Princess wants to be the first in line for everything. Pats, food and treats. No-one gets anything before her!
Lotus used to be a fighter, but he just doesn't have it in him anymore.
The last house we lived in, there was a kid who used to torment him and do mean things to him. That kinda caused him to go into his shell.
Then we moved here 5 years ago and Lotus sorta moved in under the house. He only came out when no-one else was around, to have a bit of dinner.
Then one of our cats got run over. Apparently he must of been Lotus's , because Lotus started coming out a bit more after he was gone.
But then Peppy started beating him up and chasing him, and Mr. Marbles started copying her. Princess would think there was some action going on that she was missing out on, so she'd start chasing too [didn't matter what, just in the general direction everyone else was going lol] I would yell at them and throw things at them when i caught them about to pounce on him. But then they just started using intimidation tactics [did you know animals did that???] like butt sniffing while he was eating to make him feel uncomfortable. They'd chase him out of our room where he liked to sleep etc. Lotus is old and just can't keep up. So they see him as an easy target.
Needless to say, he disappeared under the house again for a while.
Then it dawned on me one night to pray for him. To pray that he would stick up for himself a bit more. Or for the other animals to lay off him.
Then two nights after i prayed, Lotus reappeared. And things seem to be different. I haven't seen him run past me with Peppy hot on his tail. And i haven't seen the other cats bother him while he eats. And one day, while Lotus was sleeping in our room, i saw Peppy run out. Excellent :o)
That was 2 weeks ago.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that God cares about our pets too. But i'm glad he does :o)

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Ha Ha, you thought i would've posted about something else! Yea you :oÞ