I stopped down at my mom-in-law's today on my way home from the gym to see how her new German Shepherd "Shadow" and cat Abigail were getting along.

It is the freakin' Garden of Eden down there. The two animals adore each other. They watched the tee vee together with my mom-in-law last night. When it was bed time the dog sprawled on the carpet beside my mom-in-law's bed and the cat went to sleep with its head on one of the dog's legs.

Today, when I came in, the two of them ran up to greet me. My mom-in-law says they've formed a sort of posse, wherever one goes, the other tags along.

Oh, it is so very, very hard not to bitter.

Meanwhile, at my house �

Well, let me put it this way. If cats had access to armaments, my house would have gone up in a mushroom cloud by now.

WHERE IS THE LOVE? Oh, wait, I already know the answer to that. It's all down at my mother-in-law's home.

Drat.

When I originally got Vera the spousal unit was very concerned because she is a tiny cat. He was afraid that she wasn't big enough physically to stand up to Enid or our big brute cat, Zubby.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

If cats came with theme songs, Vera's would be "Straight Outta Compton". Seriously. What I mistakenly took to be supernatural calm is actually deep, silent menace. Although she is no bigger than a four-month-old kitten, she swaggers around here with a 'tude that says:

Zubby, who probably weighs at least four times as much as she does, the cat who put the smackdown on Norma and Enid from the moment they came into our home, keeps a very, very wide perimeter between himself and Vera. Enid hisses, but she won't come near either. This is not what I expected.

You know, I should have realized that Vera is one tough cookie. The reason I noticed her originally was that she was sitting on the sofa in one of the shelter houses beside a ginormous floppy eared rabbit, the only cat hanging with the rabbit.

We all know that rabbits are natural born punks, bad apples, trouble makers. Heck, anyone who's watched Monty Python's Holy Grail knows rabbits are homicidal maniacs. I should have realized that any cat that was part of a rabbit's posse would be able to take care of herself no sweat.

As I write this, Vera has parked herself downstairs in the doorway that leads to the food bowls. If the other cats want to eat, they have to go by her.

Yes, she is actually looking for trouble.

It's going to be a bumpy ride, eh.

--Marn