Secrets of the Cat_ Its Lore, Legend, and Lives - Barbara Holland [99]
Countless once-loved cats are gassed in the shelters because of landlords. Countless lonely, law-abiding citizens live without companions because of them. Convalescents, the depressed, and the elderly, needing the medical benefits of pet therapy, go without it. It’s a mystery impenetrable that pets are not subject to the logic of leases, that no one will wait till the damage is done and claim payment for it, no one will wait till the neighbors complain and then evict the cat, no one will wait till it does kill someone and then demand restitution; it’s taken for granted ahead of time that pets will destroy the property, cause bodily injury, and enrage the neighborhood; they are guilty before the crime is committed by reason of being themselves.
Even more mysterious is why we, alone of the world’s peoples, put up with it.
Stains & spots: A cat that wolfs its dinner often throws it up again almost immediately, unchanged. Rarely on the kitchen tiles, rarely on the bare floor, usually on rugs and upholstery. No matter how promptly it’s cleaned up, it leaves a pinkish-brown stain. This is from the dyes added to the cat food to make it more appealing, more meatlike, to the human eye. Most of the scientific, non-supermarket cat foods are made without dyes, a good idea for vomiters. In the meantime, after wiping it up, wash the area with a dab of dish soap and douse it with club soda, which takes out the dye stains and odors. White vinegar works too.
A cat that has used the rug for toilet purposes may go back and use the same place again. After applying the above, cover the area with double-sided sticky tape, most disagreeable to the paws, until the matter has been forgotten.
Traps, household: Cats are always getting closed into things. It’s the nature of the cat to get into closable places, private, secret places like cupboards and closets and clothes dryers, bureau drawers and garden sheds and furnace rooms. Being well down below eye level, they get locked in unseen.
Before combing the neighborhood and posting frantic signs offering a large reward, open everything closable.
Before turning on the washing machine, dryer, or even the oven, feel around inside.
Up or underneath: There’s a basic psychological difference between the wary cat posted on high ground, on strategic vantage points like a bookshelf or a tree, and the cat squeezed underneath something and trembling in its farthest corner. Up is a good place to be; you can see farther, and you can leap down on the enemy, and you’re safe from dogs. Up is sensible; under is stark terror, and the hope of being unseen by an enemy against whom you have no recourse. A cat checking out its territory goes up, a cat in a hostile new household goes under.
This observation does not apply to the cat under the bed, who knows full well how hard it is for humans to rout it out and hopes to be left there until the people have gone to sleep so it can emerge and snuggle under the covers.
Variety: See Novelty, above.
Walking with cats: Country cats like to go for a walk with their people. Do not invite a cat to walk with you if you have a time limit, or even a purpose. Cats walk more slowly than people. Cats, except at dinnertime, do not think in terms of destination. And cats refuse to hurry when urged to and resent being scooped up and carried. If you’ve gone too far, they complain bitterly. A country walk with a cat should include various rocks, benches, or fallen trees where the human can sit and wait until the cat is ready to proceed.
People who want to sell us leashes and harnesses for walking city cats illustrate their ads with cats striding briskly along the sidewalk beside their owners. The truth is, a harnessed cat is no more goal-oriented than a loose cat, and the complex