Messing with Mother

Part 2

When its time for the cats to come in and I either carry them or escort them, there’s a communication going on. Usually it is, “I’m not ready,” or “I’ll do it myself.” Pick Max up and he relaxes into a “whatever” mode and all 11.5 pounds of him limp. Indy is less relaxed about the procedure and squirms to walk into the house on his own power. And, from time to time, I’ll think the thought that we are done with the outdoors and the cats will head toward the door and without prompting enter entirely on their own. They are teaching me.

It was easier when we had the cat/dog door and I wasn’t the attendant to the cat’s comings and goings. In the last place however, while they had the run of the property—a couples of acres with a fenced back yard and a pool—there was a problem. The woods surrounding the property was home to feral cats that we wound up feeding. Whenever the large bowl of dry food became empty, the large tom cat—lord of the 8 that roamed and guardian/mate to the lone female—would come in and yowl to let us know of his plight.

This maneuver on his part while clearly communicating his wishes  was upsetting to our (then) dog and the indoor/outdoor members of the cat clan. And if “real food”—the stuff the indoor guys ate—was out, he’d dive into that. As a precaution, we locked the cat door each night and stayed conscious of the state of the outdoor cat’s food and water situation.

You’ve probably read or heard that cats are profligate—shamelessly immoral—and are known for “catting around.” What this cat showed us was a different picture. He won the affection of the single female who avoided the other males by crawling to the topmost of the trees.  Their heavier bodies would come crashing down from the heights to which she had scaled in her small light body.

After mating with her, this strange cat fended off all the other males in the group. He would sit with her during her pregnancy and groom her and would interpose himself between her body and anyone—cat or human--walking in her vicinity.

When the kittens were born, he protected them as well, herding them along during walks in the yard and chasing away the other cats when they were about. He didn’t guard the food bowl and instead allowed the others their turn—after his lady and her kitten were done. In the evenings he sat nearby as Caron and I watched the sunset from the porch swing. When she was inside he’d jump up beside me, not for affection or touch—which he avoided—but for companionship.

The stories I’d ever read about male cats being intolerant of their offspring and indifferent after mating were rewritten in my mind after our adventures together. We called him Toby, for no other reason than that seemed to be his name. Toby also showed us a thing our two about a cat being conscious and aware.

That experience also changed the expectations we had with “our” cats, Max and Indy. They were just getting their energy back and adjusting to the loss of our senior cat Al, about six weeks ago when the vole incident took place.

Approaching his 13^th birthday and wise well beyond his age, Al hopped the fence and threw himself in front of an oncoming car. Not to worry, he said, he’d be back.

I searched in meditation for the cause of his departure, coming up with the answer that it was time. Pretending to understand this cryptic answer and the mystery of the Universal process, I asked, “Why?” There are a thousand reasons the mind could give as an answer.

The recently departed cat spirit was more succinct: Commercial foods causing organ failure; rotten teeth; expectation of decline and pain.

Admittedly I live a strange and wondrous life as far as animals are concerned. The cat called Al had recycled once already, having contracting AIDs in a scuffle with a diseased cat; had his body euthanized and returned. This version of Al would return as well.

The day following his departure, Caron recounted her dream of Al communicating his return, presenting a visual image. This helped bring closure to the hole felt in one’s energy field whenever a dear one passes on to the next realm. Any pet lover knows what I mean.

So I wasn’t too shocked as we were finishing our weekly shopping tour when Caron announced, “Al is here.” We had just walked into Petsmart to pick up cat food and litter. There in the “adopt me” window was a tiny Siamese whose small voice could be heard through the glass partition as he animatedly waved out at us.

The papers said it was a Snow Shoe which to me sounded like a name to market more cats. True enough, however, with Siamese blue eyes and a raccoon-like mask, the small cat is a true product of American ingenuity. Possessing hybrid vigor as a breed, the creature is the result of crossing a Siamese with a domestic shorthair.

Al, after passing had shown he would return in yet his third Siamese body. Apparently it is easier for him to incarnate in the same line and he enjoys the genetic trait of intelligence. Siamese have been bred for centuries and are known for their communicative abilities.

I’d like to tell you that he was immediately welcomed by his older cat brothers, having occupied the space of being their mentor and guide during their early years. No such luck!

Cats will be cats and adult cats will accommodate a kitten in a household. Allow is the operative word and experts say that up to a month is needed for integration. The process involves hissing and growling and staking out territory as the tiny handful grows into cat.

Within a few hours, however, Al already seemed to know his place in the pecking order. He avoided confrontation with the adults and spent a peaceful first night.

I don’t pretend to understand the incarnation cycle of cats. From what I have read though, the BIG CAT is an angel, a deva who manifests its (him and her) creativity in the varieties of cat. Cat lives are recycled in time on an evolutionary progression.

Al is clearly back. All 1.5 pounds of him was today acknowledged into the household, having touched noses with and bowed before each of the adult cats. It has taken less than 24 hours; so much for the “expert” opinion. His energy has shifted over night and he looks different to me. Al scurries around the house in stops and starts of energy moving like a swat team drilling—run here, pause there, and peek out from here and dash ahead.

The future may hold a dog project as well. I’ll be curious to watch how it unfolds in the grand harmony of the Universal play. Cats and dogs do get along—at least in our household—and well. In his first incarnation as Al, and a purebred Siamese, he wandered off or, more likely, was picked up while strolling alongside the road and disappeared. We called around and left filed a “missing cat” report with the humane society and assumed that he was gone.

About six months later a call came from the animal shelter on the other side of the lake—too far for a cat to have ever wandered off. The caller described the cat in custody and it was close enough for me to go and see. So I drove the 45 minutes to reclaim him. It looked to be our Al and he had grown and changed only slightly.

I redeemed him by paying his room and board and carried him to the car. He passed the true test of identity when I opened the tailgate of the Jeep and tossed him in beside the Great Dane where, after chirping a greeting, he laid along side him for the trip home.

That dog is gone to doggie heaven or wherever the dog deva lives and won’t be back again having successfully served his time as a living example of unconditional love and loyalty. But that’s another story for another time.

Living in harmony with Nature has meant for me having unconditional regard for all creatures, large and small, those that walk, creep and crawl. By and large, despite a few nips like with the liberated rat     and attempts at leashing the flying squirrel, it has all been good and I’ve learned a lot. The creatures have had much to teach me when I’ve been open to them.

This Al is presenting a challenge to us. Apparently his traumatic early kitten hood leading up to being jailed first at the Humane Society and then at Petsmart could lead to a behavioral problem. He has some “rough spots” in his personality and has, at times, threatened to bite or otherwise extend play too far.

His survival instincts may have been triggered early as well. Though only a couple of months old, he is displaying dominance behavior usually associated with testosterone in a more mature or adolescent cat and triggered by earlier generations of cat smells. Less poetically stated, a peeing cat brings no joy.

He’s scheduled for his operation as part of his “plea bargain” with the authorities and a condition of his release from his Petsmart cell. I’m trusting that will end the unwanted behavior and, to be sure, we have a spray bottle of cat repellant to discourage furniture scratching and other inappropriate expressions.

The domestic cat is a ferocious creature if left to develop on its own. Socialization is needed if you plan on handling them at all, much less petting them. Building cooperative communication between human food providers and littler eliminators and cats calls for time invested.

Al is still recovering from his humble beginnings with fleas and internal parasites that arrived in the kitten package. We are ending the third week since his arrival and his colon is still being shared by an inharmonious life form.

Stuffing liquid down a kitten’s throat isn’t my idea of the way to endear one’s self or build trust. The process, however, is made simpler in that he doesn’t mind the taste and the plastic syringe quickly sends the dosage on it way. Caron, meanwhile wraps the cat in a hand towel up to his neck holding the scruff of his neck up like a mother cat would. I, more directly, coax him to open his mouth as he turns his head away in reaction to the procedure.

In another couple of weeks the drama will fade into its next scenes as he learns about the outdoors, birds and insects. Stay tuned.

I am hopeful that his personality issues will fade as he progressively feels better. Caron and I will work on his energy body in the meantime, soothing the cat and smoothing out his energetic ripples. Our communication up to this point has been 99% positive.

(Continued next month)