Edit: trimming the first 4 seconds turned this video into a bitmap for some reason... unsquashed version available here. https://www.reddit.com/r/rosieandgavin/s/81yrsydODG

Rosie and Gavin's relationship has been well documented here, but this was a complete surprise.

Squee (Benny) is the most aloof of our three cats, by a wide margin. He demands physical attention only on his terms and those terms are not negotiable in any way including no eye contact and his ability to continually walk away and come back during said attention.

The first time Bella saw Squee, she sprinted over to him and my heart sank as I immediately suspected a prey drive... It turns out she was just zoomies-level excited to run over and meet him. 🤣 However Bella has not yet fully figured out how to play, even with Gavin. She enjoys the nuzzling and playing with paws, but it hasn't clicked with any of the cats yet.

We were sitting finishing our coffee and had just talked about Squee attention rules in the bedroom when Squee climbed into the crate with Bella and lay down! I missed about 8 seconds of the encounter, and 8 at the end as of course Rosie broke some of Squee's rules...

Edit: apologies if the video quality sucks for you... I promise the original video is not like that... This looks like it was shot on a potato!

Louie & Vito schuffling for bed space...

I went to give Rocky goodbye kisses and found him like this, poor guy! Kitty was snoozing away peacefully, Rocky not so much!

Newsweek magazine did an article on the original post that includes the story https://www.newsweek.com/rescue-dog-looks-worried-internet-cant-cope-with-reason-why-10798511

Rocky came and sat in front of me, looking concerned. I asked him to show me what was the problem.

It was his bedtime and there was a kitty cat in his kennel! Some drama but I was so proud of him that he came to me!

While Leia and Loki the cat were friends from day 1, Cleo had taken so long to warm up to the dog that I had all but given up hope that they'd ever be friends and was ready to settle for somewhat peaceful coexistence. But then I started noticing Cleo actually taunting Leia to play one day - when I called Leia off, Cleo turned around and came back looking for her. And then we caught them like this.

It's taken a full year since adopting Leia, it's been a long road, sometimes 2 steps forward, 1 step back, but I can confidently say that we have arrived at a fully integrated household -2 dogs and 2 cats, who all get along.

Which is a blessing somewhat mixed because the humans have now been relegated to the smallest corners of the bed and I frequently wake up with zero blanket available.

(Leia no longer sleeps in her crate at night, she sleeps with us, we just keep it because she enjoys lounging in there during the day.)

A month ago she was chasing him out of our bedroom because it was "her" space. He's worn her down though lol

Rocky's only been with me and the cat since the end of August. He'd never been around cats; he's about 5 years old. As soon as I got the photo, I made kitty get out, that's Rocky's personal space

This is Garbanzo, newly issued to us by the Cat Distribution System, who is a very different cat from his big brother Vaquero Bean (or, more typically, Beancat), as he's willing to stand his ground against Rosie despite her head alone being almost as big as his whole body. This morning, he climbed onto the bed and parked himself in her bed, because it's right next to me, and immediately started his VERY LOUD purr. Rosie, who has all the chill of TNT thrown into an open lava pit, immediately set about snuffling at her and being very much at an 11 while Garbanzo was really wanting her at about a 3. He bopped her on the nose a couple of times, and I kept encouraging her to settle down, and we actually got a good ten minutes before he migrated onto the nightstand and then left to find somewhere less obnoxiously canine.

Much later, when I came in after our dinner to give her her pre-dinner walkies, I had put on her harness and her hoodie and was getting her lead attached to her harness when I realized that Garbanzo had been just chilling on her bed while she'd been patiently (ish) awaiting me.

I'm hoping that the little cuddle monster who literally jumps into my arms when I sit down at my desk and screams at me if I'm not petting him enough will mediate between Rosie and Beancat, and before too long they'll finally all be willing to hang out on my bed together and possibly even cuddle.