Cat Mewsings Part II – One Word Pundit

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When a 6^th cat showed up at our door back in November 2009, he came to steal the salmon we were curing on the back deck, readying it for smoking. We kept chasing him away as two of our own cats sat idly watching him with only mild curiosity in the midst of his crime. We’d open the door and stamped our feet, effectively chasing the smokey grey kitten away. Thus began our relationship with cat number 6! We’d open the door and he would run, each time, returning with a new and bolder resolve. By day’s end, the feline was sitting comfortably inside our home like he had always been there. Of course, we could not turn away a hungry seemingly homeless 4-month old kitten! So the cat went from stealing the salmon, to stealing our hearts!

“They put this bell on a collar around my neck. No wonder I chase my tail!”

“I hate it that they insist on holding me down to cut my nails,” said one of our cats to his confreres. “Well,” we told him as we tell all of them: “Bi-monthly pedicures are a condition of living in our home.”

During a conference at which he was a speaker, a colleague of mine commented that getting people to go back to their seats is much like herding cats…I use canned tuna to herd my 6 cats! I’ll bet a five-course sit-down dinner will do the same for humans at a conference.

I browsed Pamela Wallin’s book about cats at Chapters Bookstore, and one of her reflections really struck me: How can you feel stressed when you’re petting a purring cat?

Isn’t it interesting how you might have mice in your home and the cats only notice when you’ve caught them in a mouse trap.

We live in a society where people move and leave their cats behind, where people love cute cuddly kittens…until they grow up, where people get cats and but don’t get them neutered. Responsible cat ownership means taking responsibility for their reproduction. Not neutering your cat begets more cats!

* Image: Ginger Bear and Boo staring each other down over the prey in the bathroom cabinet drawer.

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