Cats are creatures that usually have egos that extend significantly beyond their usually diminutive size. But they are also generally equipped with a strong sense of self-preservation that comes from being a predator that often ends up on the wrong side of the food chain (I.E.: on someone else’s dinner plate). We have one cat in our house who possesses more than the usual helping of cattitude…Rommel is his name.

Our 70 pound Rottweiler-cross, Sadie, is scared of Rommel. There have been numerous occasions when I’ve found Sadie whining upstairs, with Rommel sitting on the landing preventing her from going past. And we’ve had several visitors to our house who have ended up squished into a corner of the couch as Rommel quietly, with not much more then a mild growl, took over his favorite spot.

But even Rommel would probably think twice before doing what a cat named Jack in New Jersey did. Jack apparently took offense to a black bear that wandered into his yard…so he chased it up a tree. When the bear tried to escape, Jack chased him up another tree. The bear was finally freed from this embarrassing predicament when Jack’s human called him back to the house. The bear escaped unharmed…and Jack’s ego probably grew three or four sizes larger.

I just hope Rommel doesn’t read this posting…