Cats These Days

We've come to the conclusion that there is something wrong with our cats. They are not normal. First of all, cats aren't supposed to like dogs. Kitty S meows looking for the puppies when they are in their crates. She even goes and lays by Mr. C's crate some times. The vet joked with us last time we were there- after they pooped their kennel during the car ride, again- that they weren't scared of 5 pit bulls but they were scared of the car. It's true. There is something wrong with them. They beg for food in the kitchen. Whenever Mom is cooking, the puppies keep her company in hopes of a handout- which happens fairly often in the form of peanut butter or a puppy treat. If the dogs aren't all already in the kitchen and Mom starts cooking, the cats both come in and stretch up on two legs to try and see what she is making. They meow in hopes that she will give them some of whatever she is cooking- which does not work. Apparently the kitty Jedi mind tricks don't work on Mom.
If we eat in the living room and the puppies are in their crates, Kitty S jumps onto the couch and tries to take food off of Mom's plate. It doesn't matter how many times she gets put on the floor, she jumps right back up again to see what's for dinner. Neither of us have ever had cats that do that.
On top of that, they play together. Cats don't usually pay much attention to each other, but these two play. And by play, I don't mean that they lounge around and lazily bat some small fuzzy toy around. They really play- like puppies. Mr. M and Miss M have an ongoing game where they chase each other through the house at top speed. They run into the living room, jump on the love seat, bounce off it it back onto the floor and take off running into the other room again. The cats do the same thing, but in our bedroom and hall instead. They are actually doing it as I type this. They jump on the bed. Then they fly off the bed, chase each other down the hall at top speed, turn around and chase each other back to the bed, where it starts all over again. There are no toys involved. They aren't fighting. They just play, and they take turns being chased. Just like the puppies. 
On top of that, they like dog food. I get that the dogs would like the cat food- it's stinky. I get it. But not the other way around. The other day we fed the dogs in the kitchen just to practice eating all together. The cats were waiting patiently in a safe spot behind a bar stool while the dogs, who were paying absolutely no attention to the cats, were waiting for me to put food in the bowls. As soon as I set Miss S's food down, Kitty P (the one who only just tolerates the dogs), came out from behind the bar stool and went boldly right over to Miss S's bowl. Now, Miss S is normally the one who has been notoriously greedy with her food. The cat came right up and started smelling the food. Miss S paid no attention to the cat and just kept eating. The cat decided not to press her luck and took a few steps back, where she sat down and watched Miss S eat. One day, after putting some wet food into the puppies' bowls, I put the spoon down near the cats just to let them smell it. They licked the spoon clean! If pieces of dry dog food end up on the floor, they eat that too. 
Maybe our cats aren't weird and times are just changing, but I doubt it. Cats these days!
The cats are really getting more comfortable with the puppies. The other day, we let Miss B take a nap with us in the middle of the day. The door was open, and Kitty P came running in and jumped on the bed- not realizing there was a dog there. Miss B lifted her head and acted like she wanted to investigate, but Mom put her hand on Miss B's head and she calmed back down. Kitty P just paused briefly and then plopped right down and went to sleep, less than a foot away from Miss B. We were shocked.
And did I mention that the cats like to chase the broom just like the dogs?

Kitty S taking a break from being slobbered on by Mr. M so that she can stalk the broom.