Sibling Rivalry

We have a cat and a dog. The cat is Carina. She was born in Colorado and raised in a college house populated by six girls, an assortment of boyfriends, and five other cats. On weekends, she endured a two hour car ride home to visit my parents and their assortment of pets - another two cats and two dogs. She is a dominatrix. She even intimidated my parent's doberman. This is Carina:

Don't mess with her.

A little more than a year ago, Peter and I adopted a dog. Such a cute little mutt puppy. We noticed that he was a little shy, but we didn't realize HOW shy until we got him home. He was born wild and was found scavenging for food on a construction site. Well intentioned people saw the construction workers abusing him and "rescued" him. They caught him in a racoon trap. He hates people, hates loud noises, and is terrified of the world. The first few months we had him he wouldn't come out of the corner and would start shaking every time we looked at him. His name is Rambo.

Here is Rambo looking particularly pathetic after a bath.

Our pets met for the first time in December, when we brought Carina back from Colorado with us. At first they avoided each other. Then we found them sleeping near each other and began to have hopes for friendship:

But lately, we have been noticing some signs of sibling rivalry. Like when Rambo began to be afraid to walk past the cat in the hallway. Or the time when I found Carina chasing him around the living room. Or when Rina started sleeping in Rambo's bed:

This week it all came to a head when Carina decided to use claws to impose her will, and Rambo snarled. Our meek dog snarled! Then we walked in the bedroom and noticed the distinct smell of cat pee....Carina had tagged Rambo's bed. Repeatedly. So much so, that when we picked it up, it dripped on the floor. Needless to say, the bed went into the trash, along with the rug under Rambo's food bowls (lion shaped, to give him courage).

The removal of bed and rug traumatized Rambo more than the smelly damp bed had. He has come a long way from the terrified puppy that we adopted, but he doesn't deal well with change. He paced around our bed all week. He went off his food. He wouldn't settle down at night. He has been having nightmares. This reaction is ironic, because he rarely uses his bed. I AM his bed most nights. But he didn't like the change. Last night he finally ate...for the first time in four days (although a roll of tape did disappear this week, maybe that was what held him over). But he also woke us up last night because he was wimpering so loudly in his sleep.

He was probably dreaming of the cat. Carina definitely won this round. The poor dog didn't have a chance. Neither did we, for that matter.