Kitty has reason now not just to torment Dexter but to hate him. Curiosity, the parable says killed the cat, but jealousy may get the dog killed. And yet, as the human in this trio, I should have been the one exhibiting prudent knowledge (cats vs dogs) as well as self-control (see 2 Peter 1:5 -7, NIV).
Last night, the cat wandered up and hopped in my lap as I sat outside on our patio. As we have done routinely some evenings, the front door was ajar. In the past, neither Dexter nor Comet have shown aggression to the feline. However, she may have insulted Dexter’s “doghood” in recent weeks. She has made a point of being unmoved when we three have to step past her when leaving for a dog-walk. Comet approached calmly and hesitantly wagged his tail. He was curious. Next, Dexter nonchalantly wandered up -and then tried to bite her head off! Kitty ran off and disappeared.
The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time.
Johann Kaspar Lavater
My scolding Dexter made him cower and rush off into the backyard though I never hit him. He knew he had overreached. After twenty minutes of searching and finding the cat suffered no harm, Dexter was back in my good graces. I can now see that the dogs will remain inside the house and have the backyard as their domain; the cat is free to sleep in the garage and has the rest of the world to wander about. But I did not come to this conclusion on my own.
My spouse helps me to have compassion for Dexter. He’s getting older. He’s neither street-wise nor smart by any measure (he traps himself behind furniture and under the dining table whining until we “rescue” him). And he is jealous of a once-feral cat, despite his comforts. Even Comet snaps at him from time to time for being jealous and ungrateful.
It's a Dog's Life 