The Cat

When I received this cartoon yesterday a flood of memories came back about 'the cat' that made my life pure hell on earth for months when I lived in a condo in Carson City. The new neighbors consisted of eight boys and three cats, and parents all crowded into a small three bedroom condo. At first I thought the boys might be a problem, but that was not the case, it was Mr. Tom Cat himself, a large furtive, sneaky hulk that thought he owned my little box garden which contained lovely rose bushes and some black eyed susan and orange nasturtions.

The cat was let out every night to roam and do its thing which happened to be poop in my garden, and I am not the world's greatest pooper picker upper. I decided to make war with this feline and plotted and planned using chili powder, other spices, bleach in water containers, crowded the box with pots and even wire mesh. I tried a ceramic barking dog, green gloop from the pet store that was to create a large dog poop smell. If it did, the cat must have loved it because he kept coming back night after night.

One night I looked out my second story bedroom window to see this huge ball of fur sitting on my son's jeep, lollying away like he owned the world. He heard my barking at him and didn't move a muscle. He heard me hissing at him and he was very nonchalant. The more I tried to unsettle him the more unsettled I got. Then the light bulb went on and I quieted down, snuck down the stairs, opened the outside door very carefully, walked gingerly across the patio, climbed up on the wooden edge of the planter with a hose in my hand and took him by surprise . . . I aimed. I missed. He jumped off the jeep in one motion and got away. I slipped, got all wet from the hose. Well, how did I know it would back fire on me.. All I could do was dry off and get back to bed in hopes of having better luck next time. The moral of the story . . . I moved .

When I belonged to a Writers Group in Gold Beach, I wrote a short essay about the cat. It was amazing the suggestions I got on how to handle the problems, but shooting it with a b-b gun just didn't do it for me, although I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind.

I hope you have well behaved animals that you do not let out at night to poop in your neighbor's garden. I have several cats visiting but I don't mind as there are rats, raccoons and other beastly things skulking around at night . Make today a special day, take your dog for a long walk, or let your cat out to bask in the sunshine.