I like cats. I would have a cat if I could have pets. In the city,
they are better than dogs. They don't require as much attention or
space. However, it would have to be the right cat. Unlike dogs,
which for the most part are agreeable animals, cats can be good or bad
pets.
My sister has a cat. I was just trying to think of its name, but it
doesn't have a name. Just "the cat." That cat is hers and hers
alone. It doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone else.
It started hanging around my sister when she and I lived in Pacific
Beach, about two miles from my parents' house. There were other cats
we used to let inside to visit, but this one never wanted in. After I
moved back into my parents' she started letting the cat inside to
visit. Eventually, the cat ended up staying with her even though she
wasn't supposed to have pets (no landlord wants people to have pets
for some reason, mostly because pet owners are often irresponsible).
I lived with that cat for years. It never let me touch it. Our
relationship consisted of me chasing it into my sister's room. It
became a game... the cat would stop running as soon as I did. But
even when I took care of it for two weeks while my sister was out of
town, the cat still didn't want anything to do with me. My dad is
home when my sister is at work. He and the cat are there together all
day sometimes, and the cat still won't let him near it.
The cat is a mental barometer for my sister. Whenever she is having
problems, the cat has problems. When she can't sleep the cat starts
pulling its fur out. The wackier my sister gets, the wackier her cat
gets.
We have no idea how old the cat is. It is probably around 12 or so.
It's previous owner had it fixed. It is missing one of its fang
teeth, which was pulled by the vet when it got bad. The cat is also a
supreme wuss. It never defended its territory against the other
neighborhood cats. One neighborhood cat even got inside the house,
and the cat didn't even try to chase it away. My sister's cat hid
under the bed instead.
The cat has had personality changes over the years. When it was
living outside, it was a good hunter. Then, when it had lived with my
sister for a while, it became a lousy hunter. Once a mouse got into
my sister's room. Since she has so much junk lying around, the mouse
had plenty of places to hide. The cat found the mouse, but wouldn't
catch it. It just pointed to the mouse with its nose and then looked
at me as if to ask, "Well, are you going to do something about that?"
I knew I couldn't catch it, and the humane traps I bought were for
much smaller mice. So I turned the lights out and left the mouse
alone. I knew it would wander outside her room eventually, and it
did. I found the mouse in the bathroom and trapped it inside a
wastebasket. Then I took it outside and let it go.
Now, the cat has been going outside again. It catches mice all the
time. It doesn't eat them. It just plays with them for a while
before either the mouse gets away or has a little mouse heart attack.
The cat has let a few mice go inside the house, which has to be a lot
of fun for my dad. During the warmer times of the year, he leaves the
front door open. I imagine the mice eventually find their way back
outside. My dad's only problem with the mice is if they die somewhere
behind the kitchen cabinets or inside the furniture... anywhere where
it's hard to get them out. He doesn't want to smell a mouse rotting
for months.
The other cat I know, and one I really like, is the one my brother and
his wife have. It is getting along in years, too. This cat (named
Sam), however, is the coolest cat to have as a pet. It is big, so it
can kick some kitty ass and keep the other cats away. It is a really
good hunter, too. When the vet told them to put the cat on a diet,
the cat caught its own food instead and gained weight. So the cat
gets to stay chunky.
For some reason, Sam prefers men to women. A stranger who happens to
be a guy has a much better chance of getting attention than my
sister-in-law, and she is the one who feeds him. Sam is good at
sitting in laps and flopping on his side for a good scratching
session. He likes to have his hair brushed, which is a good thing
since he is very furry. He still likes to play sometimes, although
like most cats sleeping all day is his favorite thing to do.
Sam is having trouble now since there is a new puppy in the house, and
the dog is already much bigger than the cat. If Sam decides that life
with a dog is too much, maybe he can move in with me.
Last modified: Fri Apr 16 17:27:24 CDT 1999
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