Family Fur

Lassie the Cat

When I was in college, way back in the late '70s ... I had a sudden attack of Fur-sickness. The disorder came about gradually, but then it caught up with me all at once. Fur-sickness, for those of you who have never suffered from this affliction, is what happens when you realize that there are no pets in your life. It is a close cousin to Home-sickness.

Before I knew what was happening, I found myself browsing the nooks and crannies of Mary's Pet store. The place was alive with puppies, kittens, birds, gerbils, guinea pigs, rats, mice, fish,  turtles, and lizards. Critters were all over the place.

The funny thing about that visit, was that most all of those critters paid very little attention to me. I suppose they were used to gawkers, poking bald gawker noses in and out of their cages. Even the puppies seemed more interested with chewing on each other's tails.

But then, I walked past a little cage full of kittens. Same story there, except for one little white-faced kitty with a pink-nose. She was standing up on her hind legs, and looking me right in the eyes, meowing with all her might.

(don't stop... there's more)

Domino, Part 4: Dances with Spirits

They say that children and animals are especially aware of the spirit world. Of course, you know who “they” are. Someday I will have to write an article about those “they” people that we hear so much about. After all, “they” spend an awful lot of time discussing issues and ideas somewhere behind our backs.

In any case, there seems to be something to that idea. The old house I wrote about earlier, which burned down, was a spooky place for a young boy. In fact, there was more to the basement in that house than just a scary dark nook off a creepy dim passageway.

Perhaps it had something to do with the extra-sensitive nature of children, and perhaps it was just the nature of children to be easily frightened. The logical mind will want to jump on the second of those two choices, but having been “that child”; I am not convinced either way.

Domino, Part 3: The Lion in Cat’s Clothing

One attribute that demarks true human-style intellect, is an ability to play. Now, I’m not talking about normal play such as chasing, tackling, rolling around, and swatting. These activities are common across the animal kingdom, especially among animal “children.”

There is a “next-step” in play activity, which involves active planning, plotting, and execution. The advanced nature of this kind of play requires that the individual thinks far ahead, and sees a perceived reward at the end of the process. Clearly, this falls outside the norm for non-human mammals. Unless, of course, you are something entirely different, even though you look like a cat.

Domino was always ready to accept a playful challenge, and he was a worthy adversary in roughhouse play. One of the most exciting activities was a game of “Blow and Die”. This game took several minutes to complete a single round, because it looked like slow motion to an observer.

Domino, Part 2: The Purple Pillow Stomper

We all have quirks, oddities, and sometimes-even eccentricities. That, in my humble opinion, is the frosting on life’s cake. Some of our traits are adorable, while others fall squarely into the disgusting category. There is a reasonable certainty that I am composed of a sprinkling from both recipes, and whether anyone wants to admit it or not, that is true to some degree of everyone.

Domino was quirky too. One might describe this Siamese cat as a fur-bag with four legs, filled with quirks and purrs. He was cunning, playful, and somehow dignified all at the same time.

Domino, Part 1: A devil redeemed

This was a very special day. My biggest sister Suzy was moving home after finishing her college degree. Amongst her many fascinating possessions was an extra special bonus… her pet cat. As a freshly anointed Spanish teacher, she thought it only natural to give him a Spanish name, which was Diablo (Diablo is Spanish for Devil). I think she thought the name was fitting, because of his impish personality.

The family was more than happy to invite Diablo to live with us, but there was an underlying problem. No one felt particularly good about living with “the Devil”; whether he spoke Spanish, cat-0-nese, or any other language, so it wasn’t long before Diablo was renamed, Domino.  He was a very handsome Siamese, so my guess is that his coloring had something to do with the new name.

As a side note, while looking up the word “Diablo” in an online dictionary, I discovered that the Spanish for “Devil” is actually split between “Diablo”, and “Demonio.” Perhaps for a Spanish teacher, there is a world of difference; but for those of us who are addle-minded and mono-linguistically challenged, “Demonio” looks and sounds an awful lot like “Domino”.  Hmmm…

Kitty

Yes, I completely understand that "Kitty" may be a lame name for a pet cat, but that is the name of the first pet cat I had the pleasure of knowing. Perhaps to add insult to injury, we ended up keeping one of her kittens, and promptly named her... "Pussy."

Now, when you really stop and think about it, Kitty worked pretty well, especially when calling for her at the door.  Here Kitty-Kitty-Kitty is much easier than saying... here boots-boots-boots.  Of course, times have changed a lot, so yelling for the other cat may cause some to cringe.

I've had a Furry Life.

There are people in this world, who have for whatever reason, never had much contact with animals large or small. In fact, there are people who have never had any contact with animals at all. What a mystery these creatures must seem.

Here's a question that is perplexing about our little furry friends, especially when the question is so difficult to answer about humans. Is there an afterlife for animals, or are they little more than "Meat Robots", put on Earth to entertain those whom God created in His image?