Since cute cat and dog pictures have proved so incredibly popular of late on Shorpy (over 550 "Likes" so far for the last one), I thought I'd post one of ours. This is August, 1948 in our back yard in Larkspur, California. One guess who's the alpha critter here. Tom, aka Boots the Cat, didn't take foolishness from anybody, much less Nippy the dog. Nippy herself was well-named; in fact, shortly after this was taken my folks had to give her away to some friends because of her tendency to take nips at people, most recently including the two-year-old me. Tom/Boots, on the other hand, took a more tolerant view of people, but nevertheless steadfastly maintained a feline aloofness that made his somewhat occasional visits something of an event. The closest he ever came to coming indoors was when he'd wend his way through the foundations and up the basement stairs to the top step just behind the closed kitchen door, where there'd always be a dish of cat food waiting for him. I remember the piscine redolence of that spot that lingered for years after his last appearance. View full size.