Cat and Mouse

Our cat, Minnie, has a nightly ritual. It involves a little finger puppet mouse that once belonged to our girls. 

When we have gone to bed and the house is quiet, Minnie finds her mouse, picks it up and carries it, yowling loudly as she goes. Her little rhapsody, almost painful to listen to, lasts just a minute. At the end, the mouse is deposited and Minnie goes off to sleep. 

Every morning we find the mouse in a different location; outside our bedroom door, on the stairs, next to Clovis' cage. This morning it was in my art room where I petted her good night before I went to bed last night.

I believe in her little cat mind, she goes on a nightly hunt in the dark jungle, capturing a wild animal and leaving it to us as an offering.  A generous contribution to the family.

Spotlight Cat

At night as I am closing up the house, the last thing I do is turn off the front porch light.  The light shines through the window of our front door onto the carpet of our living room.  Quite often I find Minnow laying in the light, waiting for me to say goodnight, a few pats on the head and a good neck scratching.  It amuses me that she chooses this spot, like it is meant just for her. 

When I see her there I call her my Spotlight Cat.

Bunkmates

I'm feeling a bit guilty about how I described Minnie.  She does have a sweet side. I am reminded of her interaction with our other family pets. Our daughters' hamster, Charles, for example.  She used to lay beside his cage at night calmly watching his little activities.  She was content to watch our goldfish, Ed, whose bowl was her preferred source of drinking water.  We never feared for his safety. (Ed lived to be at least 12 years old, can you believe it?)

And she doesn't observe Clovis as though he might be her next meal.  We have his room fenced off and she'll come sit next to the fence and watch him.  If he comes close she'll look away.  I think she thinks if she can't see him, he doesn't see her.  If he turns his back to her, she'll reach through the fence and bat him with her paw. Of course he ignores her and runs off. The other night, after I put him to bed in his cage, I found her bedded down too atop his cage. Two little bunkmates.