Antebellum: existing before war. [In the U.S. we think about this as the period before the Civil War.]
Bellicose: warlike, aggressive, quarrelsome.
Our youngest cat, Sawyer, is often bellicose with the other animals that live in our home, including but not limited to: Milo (our old grey blind deaf clawless cat), Frieda (our rambunctious 9 month old black lab), Lisa, myself, and anything else that moves, or doesn't move, or is covered with fur (including sofas).
Belligerence: aggressiveness, combativeness.
Our old cat, Milo, while not prone to belligerence, can become a warrior of amazing powers when rebellion breaks out in the household. He is the enforcer of peace and equanimity.
Rebellion: open defiance and opposition to a person or thing of authority.
While Lisa and I currently laugh at Frieda's attempts at rebellion, we are concerned we might be lulled into a sense of complacency by a relatively easy antebellum period prior to her imminent increase in size.
[Bellona was the goddess of war, her husband Mars was the god of war.]
