As Good As It Gets

Hope never leaves my side and even when she's feeling a little stiff in her unsteady hind limbs, she often gets herself up and going, wandering from room to room with me during the course of the day. So it was only natural that when The Four kittens came to stay with us, predictably, Hope was by my side, keeping an eye on the newcomers.

I kept Hope at a supervised distance, yet at every opportunity, I presented the squealing little fur balls for her sniffing inspection and a nuzzle or two. Her eyes were always lit with curiosity as she watched them intently with her head cocked. She and I were both learning about these little bundles. We set up home for The Four in our bathroom with lots of light and access to the sink to clean them after feeds. Which meant P lost his top dog rights- for now. Before long the bathroom morphed into kitty playland and a plywood board served as the door barrier where Hope could come by and watch them as she pleased.


Then for the very first time, she would leave my side for hours and sleep by the bathroom door close to The Four. With no access to the mysterious world of a dog's thoughts, I had no way of knowing if Hope's hardwired instincts had her keeping an eye on what might possibly be undiscovered food morsels or was it her mothering instincts that kept her near their tiny mewing moments or was it just childlike curiosity that motivated her vigil.

When the two surviving kittens, Mu-mu and Hilly had been with us for more than a month, it was time for all the furkids to get together.

Mum, do we really have to pose together?

my, what big feet you have

Kids taking liberties and wrestling in Hopie's bed

Hopie and Hilly sorting out rules of the game

furkids gotta stick together at zzzz-time

It is touching watching this little alliance form over the days and it makes me happy as Hilly has lost all her siblings and in many ways, so has Hopie.

This is as good as it gets.