Cat Tales

I have owned cats or rather been owned by cats for most of my adult life. As a little kid, I can remember only one cat that my family owned. A big ole beat up tom named Soot. Obviously, he was black. He wasn't so much considered a pet, but rather he had a job. And as a mouser, he excelled. Sometimes he got confused about what was actually considered a mouse, though. Finding frogs, moles, birds, huge grasshoppers on the front step was not unusual. He took his obligation to keep us fed very seriously.

Dogs were more my family's forte. We always had a pack of them. One or two were considered "pets"........ all the rest were huntin' dogs - beagles. My daddy and older brothers were definitely the hunter/gatherer types. More hunter than gatherer. So it follows....hunters = huntin' dogs. I grew up eating a lot of rabbit and squirrel.

When it came to dogs, my personal preference was for big ones. My husband too. But both of us had a problem with penning up a big dog on a typical sized suburban lot. Big dogs need big space. So when I decided that fish just weren't going to cut it any longer as pets, my husband reluctantly agreed to a cat. I think what he actually said was "I hate cats but I'll put up with it for you." He was a good guy!

It took me three weeks to get my first cat. That's how long it took me to entice a stray, that showed up in my yard, inside. She was a beautiful calico that I named Kitty Kat. Not very original, but I had just spent three weeks calling kitty, kitty, kitty........so I didn't want to confuse her. She was definitely my cat. Johnny grew to tolerate her and she grew to tolerate him. Because she didn't hold him in high regard, she didn't mind taking advantage of him whenever she could. She loved to steal his food right from under his nose.

This first time this happened we were eating a baked chicken dinner at the coffee table. Johnny was all caught up in relating his day's activities to me......to the point that he wasn't even aware of what he was eating. As I was giving him my undivided attention, I suddenly noticed that there was a little black and gold paw sneaking up between Johnny's knees and patting around the edge of the tabletop and then disappearing. I quickly checked to see if Johnny had noticed this and saw that he was oblivious. So, I decided to watch and see how it played out.

A few seconds later, up pops the paw again and after some more patting around she locates the plate. Down goes the paw. Johnny again doesn't notice. I'm trying not to smile. Johnny takes a break from talking to eat and I see that Kitty Kat is sitting at the end of the table and watching every bite that Johnny's putting in his mouth. It's not long before Johnny draws my attention again by continuing his dissertation.

Again I'm listening and about the time I realize that Kitty Kat has moved again, I see that little paw sneak back up and before I can blink she's snagged Johnny's chicken on the first grab and has it under the table. I'm about to bust not letting anything show on my face. Johnny has absolutely no idea. But, something in my face must have showed, cause he asked what was wrong. I snorted something about swallowing my tea the wrong way and he seemed to buy it. Then he turned his attention back to his plate.

This quizzical look came over his face. He stared at his plate for a while and then turned and asked me " Did I already eat all of my chicken?"

I looked and said "Looks like you did; you want some more?"

He said "Yeah, but I'll get it". As he stood up, he glanced down and went totally still. Then burst out with "No, I didn't and you knew all along!"

And with that I was on the floor laughing my butt off til I had tears rolling down my face.

Kitty Kat spared a glance at us like she was thinking "Humans, they is crazy" and went back to chomping on that piece of chicken. The funniest thing is, she was able to do that him several more times over the years we had her. She was the epitome of what people mean when they say cats are sneaky.

More Cat Tales in future entries.................

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