Conference misery::feline_v1

699.0. "Perverse & Independent Creatures" by FDCV09::FPSJAN () Thu Aug 06 1987 18:58

It is easy to forget just how perverse and independent creatures cats can be.
They refuse to allow themselves to be understood or predicted.

We have 4 indoor/outdoor (they use a set of two cat doors so they can be 
wherever they want to be) cats (sorry, this makes them sound like carpeting).
Though there has been an occasional summer day for all of them when we do not
see them, only one, Eliot, has ever taken off for an extended time.  Of course,
his trips have always just happened to co-incide with our vacations, but he
always came back home a day or two after we were back.

Eliot is a very friendly and affectionate cat.  He feels that humans exist
primarily to pet and feed him.  He goes up to most strange humans quickly to
get to know them and has been known to adopt neighboring families for his own
summer vacations.  Since the neighbors know this, they usually let us know
when he has been vacationing at their homes.

I was away visiting my family last week and my husband joined me on the two
weekends.  He saw Eliot last the Thursday I was gone and so we did not 
immediately worry when we returned to find a note from our cat-sitter that 
she had not seen Eliot at all over the weekend.  He was entitled to his snit.
By Monday night my husband was worried and we started searching the area and
talking to the neighbors to see if he was vacationing.  Needless to say, no
Eliot.  Not Tuesday night either.  By Wednesday night, after Monday's rain, we
were both frantic and I sadly read several of the notes in the file by people
who had lost their beloved pets.  We put an ad in the paper in case he had
adopted some new people.

Wednesday night as we sadly thought about him I walked into the kitchen, and
guess who was there, looking no worse for the wear, and with his head in the 
food bowl.  No hello or attention to his humans (he was obviously still angry
at me for going on vacation).  Either his adopted humans had been feeding and
petting him (this cat CANNOT go for a week without pets), or he had been 
sneaking in a night.  So much for all our worry.

Cats do what they want when they want inspite of our best intentions.  I guess
that this is one of the reasons I am a confirmed cat person.  But next time I
vow to wait a week before I start worrying!!!!!

Jan

       Not worry for a week??!!
    
        Ha! It's part of a cat's charm to drive you crazy with worry,
    and it isn't going to take a week!
    
                                               Denise