I have decided, after just over two years of marriage to a wonderful man, that our household will never achieve total peace among our pets.

We are a blended feline family, you see. We each happily owned two cats before we got married, which means we now have four. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to have four cats. In the same house. They are not outdoor cats, although one of them thinks he’d like to be every now and then. A few minutes in the great outdoors and he can’t wait to get back inside where it’s safe.

Safety, of course, is relative when he has two adopted kitty sisters who hate him with a passion.

My, how the fur flew when we first brought our felines together! It doesn’t fly as often these days, which may be giving us a false sense of security. Hissing seems to be a constant background noise. We’ve gotten so used to it that we only get involved when it escalates to spitting and growls.

Occasionally they forget they hold an intense hatred for one another and they’ll actually sit peacefully a few inches apart. They don’t know this, but I have even seen them start to play with each other a few times. As soon as they realize what they’ve done, they shake it off and begin grooming themselves.

So when I read Dr. J.M. Keil’s column this week, I could relate. Digestive issues with one cat can be bad enough — digestive issues with four has me scrambling regularly for the hand-held carpet cleaner and calculating the cost of wood floors.

In the end, it appears we will just have to live with their occasional tummy troubles. Kitties are complicated creatures, but I wouldn’t trade any of ours for the world.

Besides, all four of our felines have a new common bond, one that has united them in a way they probably never expected — they all hate the dog.

-Kathy Reed, editor