Watty's Awakening

Cherryfudge

Watty1 said:

 I don't really know.  There is another pig on a route and he has made sure I know it is there by stopping and staring until I cottoned on, but, he will go past that one.     However "this particular pig" he will have nothing to do with, now to the point of refusing to go down the path that borders its field.   He will follow "his best friend" the neighbours horse if she goes first but always makes it very clear that he feels it is an unwise decision to go past, and, insists her horse is between him and the pig.

It might be because pigs are omnivores and so he worries about being eaten?  (This is a very small, very fat pet pig, he could outrun it in seconds but clearly CC does not think about that).

Things like this make me wonder very much how animals (and people) understand the world around them. My Mum's cat was very worried when Mum adopted a tiny white house rabbit. The cat was twice its size but looked horrified when the rabbit wanted to make friends. I wonder whether it was because the rabbit was probably the only pure white animal we had, and from a cat's point of view, it probably moved very oddly.

I wonder if the colour of the pig somehow spooks CC? Or as you say, perhaps there's an instinct to warn him that this is undoubtedly a fierce wild boar with tusks and a fearsome turn of speed. 

greenbee

The pig probably said something rude to him once

Stinky gets hugely upset if he hears cats fighting - I assume he's worried about his cats. He rushes outside barking if he hears (or thinks he hears - earlier today it was actually a very noisy lorry with a grab dumping aggregate) yowling. Which obviously then worries me. Frequently the cats then come beetling in (they did this evening). And on occasion they've been heading back into the garden being pursued by a strange cat which has changed it's mind on seeing Stinky... they've now learned to just run behind him, and not bother going all the way into the house. 

Watty1

That is so cute @greenbee

Thinking over all your comments on the pig it might be the colour - this is a very dark grey pig, the other pig he passes is pink, and although he does not like it, it is not the same level of dislike.   Charming Cob does not really like any 'farm animals' viewing sheep with a great deal of suspicion and once taking ages to walk down a path on a farm because there were cows.    It is funny because of all the horses I have ever ridden I trust CC implicitly   He is the horse I wish I had learnt to ride on, he is the horse I will wish for in my 90s.  He is kind, brave and will face anything I ask  - unless - farm animals are involved and then all bets are off although he usually agrees to go with my plans, unless "that pig" is involved
  
 

Watty1

Restorative time not happened.    Fell Pony had his annual injection 2 days ago. Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon he was found with a runny nose and unable to lift his head properly, then looked lame so I called the vet. By the time the vet turned up he was stiff all over, depressed, barely able to put one foot in front of the other and it turned out to be a reaction to his vaccination.  Has never happened before.   He is a lot better today after painkillers and anti inflammatory meds.

Bill arrived this morning, I am going to query it as I think that should be covered by the drug company.   Possibly isn't but I am going to ask anyway.

Cherryfudge

Poor Fell Pony! How horrible for him, and worrying for you. I'm glad there's been a clear improvement, and I hope the drug company pays for his treatment.

Can you get some restorative time for yourself today?

greenbee said:

The pig probably said something rude to him once

   You never know.

Cherryfudge

Watty1 said:

That is so cute @greenbee

Thinking over all your comments on the pig it might be the colour - this is a very dark grey pig, the other pig he passes is pink, and although he does not like it, it is not the same level of dislike.   Charming Cob does not really like any 'farm animals' viewing sheep with a great deal of suspicion and once taking ages to walk down a path on a farm because there were cows.    It is funny because of all the horses I have ever ridden I trust CC implicitly   He is the horse I wish I had learnt to ride on, he is the horse I will wish for in my 90s.  He is kind, brave and will face anything I ask  - unless - farm animals are involved and then all bets are off although he usually agrees to go with my plans, unless "that pig" is involved
  
 

Does he know something we don't?!

My daughter's dog (a cavapoo) shows no interest in other dogs - except fellow spaniel crosses, even ones that are a lot bigger or smaller than her. How does she know? She reckons squirrels are the ultimate prey animals, which is odd as she's never shown the least ability in tree climbing, so it's not all about logic and observation.

Perhaps CC had an early foal-hood experience that's made him wary?

Slinky

Cherryfudge said:

Perhaps CC had an early foal-hood experience that's made him wary?

Could be on the right track there. We cannot know what has affected our furry friends before they came into our life, althouh my grannie had a cat who would hide in the dining room cupboard when she heard the bin wagon. I don't think it's too hard to work out what had happened there.

Cherryfudge

Slinky said:

 We cannot know what has affected our furry friends before they came into our life, althouh my grannie had a cat who would hide in the dining room cupboard when she heard the bin wagon. I don't think it's too hard to work out what had happened there.

Oh no! Poor cat. When I was three I grabbed one of our cats by the tail and for the rest of its life it never trusted me.

Slinky

Cherryfudge said:

Slinky said:

 We cannot know what has affected our furry friends before they came into our life, althouh my grannie had a cat who would hide in the dining room cupboard when she heard the bin wagon. I don't think it's too hard to work out what had happened there.

Oh no! Poor cat. When I was three I grabbed one of our cats by the tail and for the rest of its life it never trusted me.

I've never trusted you either.... (joke!).

Thinking back, I don't even think grannie's cat had a proper name. It was referred to as The Cat, although I guess it sort of responded to Here Puss...

KajiKita

My little cat Flower was petrified of rustling plastic bags of all types … I don’t want to think what might have caused that … 😢

KK