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Cats and Dogs
Apr. 21st, 2008 09:30 pmWell, the dog part of the title is as in "as sick as a..." which is the way I've been the last 2 days. Came down with a chill on Saturday night and have been feeling like crap pretty much ever since. Shivering one minute, sweating like it's 40ºC the next. To make it worse, Kylie is away in Brisbane on business again until Thursday night and the kids are home on school holidays. Plus there is now a two day backup of client work, with a new job I should have been starting today but now won't get to until tomorrow afternoon.
The cat part? I just had to tell you what an amazing and wonderful cat I have. Her name is Cobweb, and she's almost 2 1/2 yrs old. The thing I like best about my Cobweb is that she never harms other animals except for cockroaches. All other animals she catches alive, perfectly unharmed, and brings them to me. So far this has mainly consisted of insects - crickets, stick insects (her favourite), and cicadas, lots of cicadas. Last summer she brought me: 10 green grocers, 8 small black princes, 3 large black princes and a cherry nose! All alive and perfectly unharmed.
I can always tell when she is at the door with something to show me. She has a special call just for that. It is always the front door too. When I get there, she'll be sitting on the mat with whatever she has caught on the floor in front of her. If it tries to get away, she'll gently push it with her paw until it is in front of her again. I open the door to have a look and she moves back, always sitting at a curious and respectful distance. I (and generally the entire family) will gather around for a look. Cobweb will sits close, watching carefully, head tilted as if listening as we debate exactly what species and genus the creature belongs too (hey, we're a David Attenborough family, what can I say). Cobweb is never interested in harming the animal. Only making sure it is alive so that we can see it, and so that we can praise her. Once we've all had a look, she's happy for us to place it back in a tree or under a rock. She never tries to go for it a second time.
This, to me, is all pretty special. But there are probably 3 things that make this especially amazing.
1 - Next door's cat - a beautiful sleek and black male we call 'Max' - has been spending more time at our house that he has at his since he was a kitten. Cobweb taught him how to hunt and stalk, but now Max is bigger and asserting his 'maleness' Cobweb isn't as impressed or happy to have him around as she once was. Nevertheless, Max is relentless in his pursuit of affection and has become our adopted cat. Unfortunately, he also isn't as nature loving as Cobweb. When Cobweb brings a stick insect or cricket to the door now, she doesn't stand back... she stands guard! Max is always curious to see what we were looking at. The first time he saw us all out on the porch he rushed up to have a look. Cobweb let him. But, as soon as Max saw the green grocer cicada wandering around the porch, he pounced! Cobweb was not at all impressed with this behaviour and chased him off quick smart. She's never given him a second chance. Now, she sits on the edge of the porch like a meercat while we play naturalists and gives Max a beating with her paws every time he tries to get close.
2 - One day a month ago I heard her call. But it was a stranger sound than normal. It was her 'Hey! Come look what I found!' call, but muffled. When I went to the door I suddenly understood why. She sat there on the mat, looking at me, and, as I opened the screen door, she opened her mouth. Out flew a butterfly!! She had caught a butterfly and had held it in her mouth, alive, even as she called me from the door. The butterfly was fine. It fluttered around, a bit confused for a minute or two, and then flew off. I can barely catch a butterfly with my hands and be sure it is going to survive, let alone know I'm not going to damage its wings. But, my cat caught a butterfly in her mouth! How many people have a cat who opens her mouth and butterflies come out?
3 - Saturday night, she called again. I went to the door and there she was with a live mouse between her feet. A mouse! The mouse sat there, scared out of its wits. It didn't try to run. We looked at it and there wasn't a single mark on it. Not a tooth imprint, or a scratch, or even a patch of saliva-matted mouse fur. This mouse was pristine! And yet, it had been caught by a cat and brought to my front door. Max came along and tried to get a look, but Cobweb would have none of it. She hissed and batted at him until he pulled away. Max went and sat in a corner and glared at Cobweb. How could she betray him? Betray all felines, by protecting a mouse? Cobweb waited until we'd picked up the mouse and put it in a shoebox and then she herded Max inside our house. If you need someone to herd cats, then you need another cat because she did a brilliant job. Once Max and Cobweb were inside, we took the mouse and let it go in the school field across the road. It was very happy to get away, but I don't think it really had much of an idea of just how lucky it was. How many mice can say they got caught by a cat purely for the purpose of non-intrusive examination? Or that they were guarded against feline threat by a cat? Only in Stuart Little have I ever heard of such strange things.
So, the guarding, the butterfly, the mouse. I'm glad our cat is a nature lover and not a nature destroyer. I guess all those documentaries we watch snuggled up together on the lounge must account for something.
The cat part? I just had to tell you what an amazing and wonderful cat I have. Her name is Cobweb, and she's almost 2 1/2 yrs old. The thing I like best about my Cobweb is that she never harms other animals except for cockroaches. All other animals she catches alive, perfectly unharmed, and brings them to me. So far this has mainly consisted of insects - crickets, stick insects (her favourite), and cicadas, lots of cicadas. Last summer she brought me: 10 green grocers, 8 small black princes, 3 large black princes and a cherry nose! All alive and perfectly unharmed.
I can always tell when she is at the door with something to show me. She has a special call just for that. It is always the front door too. When I get there, she'll be sitting on the mat with whatever she has caught on the floor in front of her. If it tries to get away, she'll gently push it with her paw until it is in front of her again. I open the door to have a look and she moves back, always sitting at a curious and respectful distance. I (and generally the entire family) will gather around for a look. Cobweb will sits close, watching carefully, head tilted as if listening as we debate exactly what species and genus the creature belongs too (hey, we're a David Attenborough family, what can I say). Cobweb is never interested in harming the animal. Only making sure it is alive so that we can see it, and so that we can praise her. Once we've all had a look, she's happy for us to place it back in a tree or under a rock. She never tries to go for it a second time.
This, to me, is all pretty special. But there are probably 3 things that make this especially amazing.
1 - Next door's cat - a beautiful sleek and black male we call 'Max' - has been spending more time at our house that he has at his since he was a kitten. Cobweb taught him how to hunt and stalk, but now Max is bigger and asserting his 'maleness' Cobweb isn't as impressed or happy to have him around as she once was. Nevertheless, Max is relentless in his pursuit of affection and has become our adopted cat. Unfortunately, he also isn't as nature loving as Cobweb. When Cobweb brings a stick insect or cricket to the door now, she doesn't stand back... she stands guard! Max is always curious to see what we were looking at. The first time he saw us all out on the porch he rushed up to have a look. Cobweb let him. But, as soon as Max saw the green grocer cicada wandering around the porch, he pounced! Cobweb was not at all impressed with this behaviour and chased him off quick smart. She's never given him a second chance. Now, she sits on the edge of the porch like a meercat while we play naturalists and gives Max a beating with her paws every time he tries to get close.
2 - One day a month ago I heard her call. But it was a stranger sound than normal. It was her 'Hey! Come look what I found!' call, but muffled. When I went to the door I suddenly understood why. She sat there on the mat, looking at me, and, as I opened the screen door, she opened her mouth. Out flew a butterfly!! She had caught a butterfly and had held it in her mouth, alive, even as she called me from the door. The butterfly was fine. It fluttered around, a bit confused for a minute or two, and then flew off. I can barely catch a butterfly with my hands and be sure it is going to survive, let alone know I'm not going to damage its wings. But, my cat caught a butterfly in her mouth! How many people have a cat who opens her mouth and butterflies come out?
3 - Saturday night, she called again. I went to the door and there she was with a live mouse between her feet. A mouse! The mouse sat there, scared out of its wits. It didn't try to run. We looked at it and there wasn't a single mark on it. Not a tooth imprint, or a scratch, or even a patch of saliva-matted mouse fur. This mouse was pristine! And yet, it had been caught by a cat and brought to my front door. Max came along and tried to get a look, but Cobweb would have none of it. She hissed and batted at him until he pulled away. Max went and sat in a corner and glared at Cobweb. How could she betray him? Betray all felines, by protecting a mouse? Cobweb waited until we'd picked up the mouse and put it in a shoebox and then she herded Max inside our house. If you need someone to herd cats, then you need another cat because she did a brilliant job. Once Max and Cobweb were inside, we took the mouse and let it go in the school field across the road. It was very happy to get away, but I don't think it really had much of an idea of just how lucky it was. How many mice can say they got caught by a cat purely for the purpose of non-intrusive examination? Or that they were guarded against feline threat by a cat? Only in Stuart Little have I ever heard of such strange things.
So, the guarding, the butterfly, the mouse. I'm glad our cat is a nature lover and not a nature destroyer. I guess all those documentaries we watch snuggled up together on the lounge must account for something.
