> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have two cats which are like that. I
> do not know how they communicate either, but I am told it is with
> a combination of body movement, especially their tails and their
> 'meow' noises. I know that cats are very intelligent.
Of course they're intelligent, they have us humans trained to cater to
their every whim. What do they do in return compared to say a dog?
Here's a news article from 1010 newsradio.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/9/911_CAT_CALL?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But
when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a
911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on
the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the
ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.
> Normally I do not allow the cats to go outside after dark
Wise move. After dark there are a lot of hazards out there from other
animals and man made stuff.
I didn't like cats originally until one day a cat followed me home
after I took out the trash. He jumped into my lap, latched on (ouch!)
and purred like a motorboat. He followed me in the house, scoped it
out, and climbed onto the head of the bed like he always lived there.
I couldn't help but admire such "chutzpah". Turned out he was a
neighbor's cat but they just had a baby and were busy with that and
didn't mind giving him up. He could be very affectionate, indeed, he
was very possessive and if he smelled me touching another cat he was
upset. But he also had a strong personality. HIs motto was "feed me
or be my feed." In the morning he'd nudge me to wake up and feed him.
If I didn't respond after a few pokes he'd bite me.
Since he was an outdoor cat when I got home I let him continue to
roam. One day he proudly brought a live mouse home to me, and I was
proud of him for catching it. He was very upset though when I
directed him to let the mouse go (thank goodness he didn't bring it
inside).
I named him Greystone on account of his mostly dark gray body with
white tipped paws and tail and chest. He was a tough cat and I felt a
tough name was appropriate, no "Bagel" or "Fluffy" for him as some
people do. He reminded me of foundation stonework of gray stones with
white mortar. Several manions are named Greystone.
The old C&O railroad, (a predecessor of CSX which we're speaking of
elsewhere) had a famous kitten symbol named Chessie. They also had a
lessor known tomcat called Peake, who was "Chessie's old man". I
discovered color images of Peake looked just like my Greystone. I was
particularly touched by the ones where Peake became a soldier and went
off to WW II. There's a cute book about Chessie's history as an
advertising cat for the railroad. When CSX was still the Chessie
System, their "C" logo had an outline of a cat.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I had one cat a number of years ago who
lived with me for _eighteen years_ (April, 1978 through about that
same month in 1996). He was no kitten when I got him, so I assume he
was probably 20-21 years old when he died. He was a Russian Blue
longhair, and I named him 'Nicholas' after the Russian Czar of the
same name. He showed up on a snowy day in April that year, just
sitting in the entrance way to the apartment building I lived in. I
left him sitting in the lobby area downstairs for a couple hours,
thinking someone might come and claim him, but no one did. Two or
three hours later he will still sitting right there where I left him
so I took him in my house and he stayed for the next 17-18 years. I
moved to another house, and took him along; by that time he had a
'brother', a Calico cat I named 'Tarzan' since he had the propensity
to try and climb up the floor length curtains in my living room area.
Tarzan lived about a dozen years; I woke up one morning and found him
laying dead _at my feet_; Nicholas was still around. Since cats cannot
speak and tell you about their illnesses or pains, etc I decided then
and there that as soon as Nicholas began getting feeble I would not
selfishly keep him around; about a year later -- possibly because he
missed his friend Tarzan so much -- and possibly because he was also
getting so arthritic he got very lethargic; it was very difficult for
him to get in and out of my lap. I took him to the vet who expressed
much amazement at his age. The vet examined him and said it would be
best to allow him to leave now, and be rid of his pain and whatever
concerns (a cat might have). Nikkie (as I called him) jumped up into
my lap there in the vet's office just purring and 'talking' to me as
the vet did what needed to be done and euthanized him.
Although I thought about him off and on over the years following, I did
not get another cat right away. When I returned here to Independence
to live following my brain aneurysm, I was anxious to begin doing some
volunteer charitable work (that has always been my thing, as long as
I can remember). The lady who runs our animal shelter here (AWOL, or
Animals With Our Love) asked me to come and help her. I was there one
day and a _Russian Blue Longhair_ cat was there. Right away I thought
of little Nikkie from years before and brought him home here to live
with me; I named him Nicholas the Second. Trouble is, during his first
vet visit at the time of adoption, it turns out Nicholas was diagnosed
with FIV (the feline version of HIV in humans.)I think the people who
brought him to AWOL knew that when they brought him there and did not
bother to tell us. I tried to keep him here in my house all the time,
but that was not fair to him or the other cats. After a second vet had
confirmed the diagnosis of the first vet (about the FIV condition), he
was put down also. PAT]
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com