In three easy steps:

STEP ONE:

Get a dog.

STEP TWO:

Take dog to vet for unknown sore that won't heal.

STEP THREE:

Bring dog home after surgery on a ruptured cyst looking like this:

That'll do it. You won't see your cats for oh, approximately 3 days. (Don't fret; of course I delivered their meals downstairs like a good cat-slave should). After that, they will tentatively sneak upstairs only to freeze in mid-step and slowly back away upon discovering the dog again... not unlike a classic Loony Tunes cartoon.

Now that it's been over a week, they are slowly getting used to "Frankenpuppy" as hubby has nicknamed her, or "Zipper" (Zip for short) as I call her.

Poor Casey. Twenty staples that need to come out this week (yeah, now THAT'LL be fun).

I keep telling her she looks dashing in her high collar, but she still bumps into walls, chairs, me... with the darn thing.

And I really should stop laughing when she goes outside to do her business, has dipped her head too low in a snowbank and scooped a whole cone-full of the cold stuff onto her head. I predict she'll get the hang of wearing this thing just about the same time it comes off...