Tuesday, October 15, 2024

C. Stroup: All for the love of the cat!

If a cat has ever owned you…well you know how rewarding that can be! We’ve had several owners over the years and just like people they all have their unique quirks. Our current possessor has had us under his paw for 12 years. That is ample time to have become very familiar with his idiosyncrasies. His presence requires that most of the furniture in the house be draped in towels lest the clawing and kneading he does completely destroy them. But if that’s how he wants it, so be it. He prefers his toilet be cleaned every day and if we forget and “things” build up there’s apt to be a reminder “thing” on the outside of his facility. And when we use our facility it’s a given there will be a small paw curled under the door checking to make sure we’re in there.

We know not to disturb his highness when it’s nap time (and there seems to be a lot of that). Snoozes are taken in any room, on any surface and for any length of time. If we need to make the bed or fold the clothes in the laundry basket or sit in a chair or put on our shoes…that will just have to wait for a time he will choose.

When he desires to be petted he’ll let us know but this is on his terms. When he’s turned upside down and quietly purrs (with his belly invitingly fluffy and pink) doesn’t mean we are welcome to stroke that soft fur. And that wonderful fluff finds its way everywhere because shedding is part of what the cat is destined to share!

Not that we desire that he gets his comeuppance but when football season rolls around his catnaps are rudely interrupted. There’s excessive whooping and hollering when the Cowboys do decide to come play the game. The landlord, who has been dozing peacefully, bolts from his favorite chair and bounds down the hall. The view we have is of his bouncing dappled furry buns…totally entertaining, makes being owned fun! And once the raucous has died down, he with some trepidation, hops back up onto the chair only to repeat his scaredy-cat exodus next time they score!

Perhaps the only racket he detests more than that from a game of football is the commotion that accompanies a visit when the three grandkids come to call. This strikes terror in his very soul! Hard telling where he goes. But he has an innate sense of when they have left and can’t wait to check out his house to make sure it’s intact.

I’ve left out the fur balls a cat will cough up
But he’s not to worry as you (his maid) will clean up.
All and all being kept by a feline who rules where you live,
Is certainly worth it when purrs and kisses he gives!

C. Stroup
C. Stroup
Cindy Stroup is a Double Oak resident and has been contributing to The Cross Timbers Gazette for over 30 years. Read her column each month in The Cross Timbers Gazette newspaper.

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