C is for Cats
If you visit here very often, you know that cats are a big part of our family. Currently we have three, Lucky, Annie, and Leo. However, here's a story about another one, Samantha, our very first cat.
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| Samantha as an older kitten |
By the time we got her to her new home, it was now late in the evening and time for bed. We decided it would be best to shut Samantha in the laundry room that night with everything she needed because we weren't sure how well she could be trusted on her own. There wasn't a door, so we blocked her in with a piece of plywood. We thought there was no way that the tiny kitten (6 weeks old at the most) could get over this makeshift door.
However, we were wrong. Soon after we had gotten to sleep, I was rudely awakened by a piercing pain in my leg. Samantha with her sharp, little claws had just jumped onto the bed and was scrambling to gain her balance. The little kitten, who had looked so helpless, had some how managed to escape the laundry room.
We had decided that we didn't want her sleeping with us, so I put her back in the hallway and shut the door. Soon I heard a thump and a rattle. When I got up to investigate, Samantha darted into the room. Trying not to wake a sleeping Ward, I took her out into the living room to try to calm her. I petted her for a while and then she wandered off. I heard a loud mew and then I watched as Samantha backed down the hallway, took a running leap and tried to get her paws around doorknob of the door to our bedroom. It looked as if Samantha was actually trying to open the door with her paws.
I put her back in the laundry room with every comfort imaginable and went back to bed hoping to salvage what was left of the night. So as you can probably guess, soon, the thud, rattle, rattle, started again. But I was determined to win. I didn't want to start the habit of sleeping with a cat, so I laid there for the next two hours listening to her intermittent attempts to join us. Bleary eyed, I finally gave in. I opened the door and she trotted right in, jumped up on the bed, and snuggled in. However, as soon as, we adjusted around her, she jumped down and didn't come back the rest of the night. She had made sure that I knew who had won the battle of wills, so her work was done. (After that, she only tried to sleep with us on very cold nights.)
Samantha was with us for the next 14 years showing us many times that she was one smart and determined cat. We have had five more cats since then but none of them have ever been as smart as our first cat, Samantha.
As a cat person myself, I love this story. I chuckled aloud several times at the fabulous imagery. Glad Samantha lived a long life! Glenda from
ReplyDeleteEvolving English Teacher
I've got several more stories about Samantha. She was the most story-worthy cat of the ones we've had. She was not loved any more than any of the rest, but she certainly was more interesting.
DeleteWow, what a cat! Love the story and the story telling, very good choice for the letter C.
ReplyDeleteLot's of choices for the letter C, but Cats was the obvious choice for me. For the sake of briefness, I left out some other extraordinary things Samantha did that night. She gave us quite an education.
DeleteJune - Do you have any photos of "Teddy?" (Not sure how you would fit him into the Alphabet, at least until later).
ReplyDeleteI'll have to think about how I can work Teddy in. The stories of contrasting Teddy with Samantha are a lot of fun. (Yes, we have pictures. I'll have to look for them.)
DeleteAwww... what a sweet story. Samantha was the name of my first cat too, and she was absolutely named after the character in Bewitched! She won all of her battles too - I was only 5 when we got her, and didn't quite understand the difference between a cat and a teddy bear, and I still have the scars from her attempts to discipline me! Unlike you, I did everything I could think of to lure her into my bedroom at night, but she only slept with me on very rare occasions. I can still remember trying to keep perfectly still on the few times when she jumped up on my bed so as not to disturb her.
ReplyDeleteSo your cat loving started early? I can just imagine you're red-haired little self, barely breathing hoping that your Samantha would come and stay.
DeleteLucy has been the only cat that we could really sleep with because she settled in so nicely. The others have been banished after a while, because the disruption to our sleep they caused. And also, I found out recently that I was allergic to cats and really should keep them off my pillow and out of the bed. Still working on this, but doing better.
I've had kitties all over the sleeping spectrum. At this point Smoky has to sleep with me - when it's really cold I have to relocate him to the foot of the bed several times per night or else I can't move, but the rest of the year he sleeps happily in the corner of the bed. He does require a few minutes of under the covers snuggling every morning before I get up.
DeleteJasper, on the other hand doesn't want any part of the bedroom. He'll occasionally snuggle with his brother on the bed, but it never lasts more than a few minutes. He prefers either his heated cubby or his cat bed - which I always tuck nicely against the recliner before I go to bed, and which he always moves back to the middle of the living room floor by morning. Go figure!
And if you're allergic, keeping them out of the bedroom is definitely a good idea!
Luckily, I only have mild allergies to cats. I only recently found out or I don't think we would have as many cats as we have.
DeleteLove this story. Cats are so smart. Mae me laugh that she came in and left, just to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteThere were many other examples of how she trained us to do just what she wanted.
DeleteThat is an adorable first couple pet story.
ReplyDeleteI am not a cat person but have always had dogs. I am one of those weird people who will not share my bed with a pet though. Our dogs always had their own beds and actually like d sleeping in them (or on the couch until they heard the bedroom door open) If we allowed Shelby (current dog) on the bed we are pretty sure she would stretch her full nose to tail length (about 6 feet) crossways on the bed so we would have no where to go.
Right now she is staring at me so she probably knows I am writing about her. Either that or she wants my lunch!
Before our first pet, we said that we never wanted an animal in bed with us. Well, we learned that that is not such a cut and dried thing. I know some people who have upgraded to a king size bed just to accommodate the animals (usually a big dog).
DeleteI think Shelby was using mind control to let you know that she knows you are writing about her and more importantly, you need to feed her.
Wow, that's one persistent cat! My husband fashioned a screen door at the base of our staircase to the basement to keep the cat downstairs at night--he has been known to leap it (twice) but he hasn't done it in awhile. It must be awkward for him, as he would land on stairs ....
ReplyDeleteWe put all of our cats in the basement at night, but there is a cat door that is locked from their side. One of them, who is not the smartest in any other way, has learned to get out. Sometimes that's a problem.
DeleteOhhhhh, I love that story. Made me smile!
ReplyDeleteA smile is always good. :)
DeleteCute story!!
ReplyDeleteSamantha was quite a cat to be our first one.
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