Cat-ostrophic

Through the years, anyone who had a cat for a pet knows that they can keep you in stitches with the antics they perform. Here are a few amusing anecdotes I have collected.

Mushi lived in Germany during World War II and even though
she was well loved, food was hard to come by. Table scraps,
sausage casings and an occasional fish head was all she got. One
Christmas season, after the tree was decorated, the lady of the
house came down hard on her two children, ages four and six.

"You have a heck of a nerve, eating the special candy I hung on
the tree for a Christmas treat, " she scolded. The children denied all
knowledge of the deed and started to blame each other. Suddenly,
from behind the tree came Mushi, blandly carrying a half-eaten
chocolate, still attached to its golden string. A very annoyed mom
tried to keep Mushi away from the candy but had to give up when
two days later, the tree came crashing down with Mushi holding on
for dear life near the top.

Another time, a daughter of Mushi, Mushi II, spent most of her
days outside, looking for food. After an unsuccessful jaunt, she
liked to return to the kitchen to check her dish. Unfortunately, the
only way into the house was the open window overlooking the
sidewalk. Being situated too high for her to jump, Mushi II waited
for a neighbor to pause and say hello and gossip with the mistress
of the house through the open window. Timing the jump to
perfection, Mushi II bounded to the neighbor's back and launched
herself through the open window, much to the consternation to the
lady of the house and the shock to her friendly neighbors. Mushi II
did all her business inside. Not only was she trained to go on the
toilet, but as a finishing act, make a leap to the pull chain and flush
the toilet!

My own cat, Sassy, can lie contentedly with us watching TV all
night without moving. But if I decide that on one of my many trips
out of the room during the evening to get the nail clippers from the
bedroom to do her nails, she immediately hides under the covers
and starts to complain. We think she hears the sound of the
armoire door as I open it over three rooms away.

We only had the pleasure of a cat named Madie (Girly in
German) for less than a year when she fell down an embankment
and got killed in the street. She was the cuddliest cat in the
world and she loved to sleep with us, keeping our feet warm under
the covers in the winter and acting like a living muff around our
necks, purring all the while. At Night when it was time for us to
retire, Madie would race us to the bedroom and fling herself on the
bed between the pillows, looking for all the world like the winner of the race.

The friendliness of all the cats we ever owned was measured
against our wonderful Madie. None ever surpassed her.

We've owned one dog and at least ten cats (not all at the same time).