Rodeo Time

Occasionally, Kitty Kat's antics had me wondering if she was the bravest cat I knew or if she was just plain loco. One of the things she liked to do was sit in the kitchen window above the sink while I was washing the dishes. She'd split her time between looking out the window and talking to me. She could be quite long winded and we had many an interesting conversation.

This particular day, while we were visiting, she suddenly got all hyper and started that "chattering" that cats will do when they spot some particularly interesting prey. When I checked to see what had caught her eye; there was big german shepherd roaming around the back yard. (It wasn't fenced) He was taking his time exploring and marking her yard as his territory. This was indeed upsetting to Kitty Kat and she started growling to show her displeasure.

Well, she carried on until she had worked up a right old snit and then jumped down and ran for the back door. There she proceeded to turn in circles, jump up on the door, and pat at the glass until she'd advanced the snit into a full blown temper tantrum complete with loud rowling. (You ever heard a cat rowl? It's eerie sounding.) That cat wanted to go outside. I said "Kitty Kat, you're nuts. That dog will make mincemeat out of you." She wasn't interested in anything I had to say. If anything her energy level increased.

Since it was obvious she wasn't going to be happy until I did, I decided to open the door for her. We lived in a split-level house, so the back porch was about 10 feet off the ground. I figured I'd keep the door open so I could rescue her if she really started down the stairs. Or if the dog started up. As soon as the door cracked open, she went quiet and slithered out and ran over to the edge of the porch. She got all hunkered down and fixed her eyes on that dog. I swear there were lightening bolts flashing in those eyes.

Now this dog was either an arrogant SOB or dumb as snot, cause he never once seemed to notice her on the porch. He just kept exploring the yard, garden and doing his business. He was taking a circular path around and around the yard and each rotation was bringing him a little bit closer to the porch. Kitty Kat's fur was standing up on her neck and down her back. Her tail looked like she had stuck it in a electrical socket. Every time that dog's path brought him close to the porch she would start flicking that tail like a switch. She wasn't making a sound.

Just about the time I figured nothing much was going to happen; she suddenly leaped off the edge of the porch with a bloodcurdling scream! And I leaped out the door to the railing to see what was happening. There was Kitty Kat sitting square on this dog's back with all four paws dug in. What we had was a RODEO going on. Kitty Kat was hissing and spitting and growling. And for good measure, she'd take a paw and whap, whap,whap that poor dog up side his face or right between the eyes. That dog was a jumpin, and twirlin and yelpin like all the cats of hell was riding his back. He couldn't shake her loose and she wasn't losing any of her enthusiasm for the ride.

Finally, with his tail tucked between his legs he made a beeline for the edge of the yard going like a bat out of hell. Before he actually crossed over, Kitty Kat jumped off and watched him hightail it through the neighbor's yard. She sent one last long growl after him and then started making her way very daintily back across the yard. She looked incredibly pleased with herself. Me, I'm standing on the porch, mouth open, totally disbelieving what I had just seen. And I'm thinking that is one crazy cat or she's the bravest cat I've ever seen. She came up the steps, plopped down and started giving herself a bath. She was just purring away. We had us a Bronco ridin' kitty!