Cats
My husband declares that cats are evil and if they had middle fingers they would be sure to flip you off with them. I, on the other hand, loved cats, trained cats, and had cats until I met my husband and was introduced to the toothy monsters he so adores that think of cats as appetizers to devour prior to their dog food. I used to spend so much time with my cats that they would learn my speech and would mimic my inflections and respond back. They brought me “presents” some of which were only partially eaten before hand and some of which were still alive and quaking in terror.
I had two amazing cats in my life. Although to say you “have a cat” is to equate them to dogs. Cats pick you. Heather, a chocolate point Siamese certainly picked me. She came to my apartment door and catterwalled until I let her inside to stay. She walked by the window and sunned herself on the inside ledge when I was going to graduate school. She greeted me with partial phrases of “what what,” “Cat food,” and “out.” When I moved to my house she learned to ring the doorbell to be let in. She’d catch birds by scaling the screen door and grabbing them through the lattice over the patio. She’d walk in a heel with me around the neighborhood. She’d turn the lights on when it got dark. She’d meow to me from the house being constructed behind mine when she could see me in their upstairs unfinished bedroom. She lived a long life with me and finally, when the coyote population was getting overly bold, she was given to a coworker whom she promptly left for an elderly woman in Pomona, where she was happy for the remainder of her days.
My other amazing cat was an Abyssinian. Clara, was truly quite ugly as a kitten. But she grew up to be very pretty. She liked the shower and the sink provided she wasn’t getting submerged. She could jump 5 feet straight off the ground and catch birds in flight. She knew the house and came when called. She had her rounds in the morning and evening when she would go to other houses and visit her cat and people friends. People knew her but didn’t know she was my cat. Occasionally someone would take her in for a day or two then she’d return always fat and happy. She lived to be 6 then disappeared. She was truly a joy.
