Karnak Street Kats

Velvet was my childhood pet, a longhaired, black cat. She was a mostly indoor cat, but did occasionally go out during the day. She was always in at night and remarkably well-behaved.

There was one night…

Our house was old with solid wooden walls that were covered with wallpaper. Under the wallpaper was a layer of cloth, the paper adhered to that layer. That one night, Velvet decided to remove the wallpaper and cloth from a large section of wall. She stood on a bookcase and worked upward, then moved to the floor and stripped paper from the lower wall. She worked for hours.

When my grandmother came into the living room the next morning, she was met with shambles. The wallpaper and cloth had been removed to the boards, and the floor was a litter of pieces of paper and cloth. Velvet had sense enough to hide and was nowhere to be seen.

My grandmother told me that she was ready to send Velvet packing or to, at least, become an outdoor only cat. I don’t think that she really would have done that to Velvet, but I do believe she was very upset.

Luckily for Velvet, my grandmother stopped to examine the wall that the cat had spent the night stripping. When she examined the wall, she discovered small insects were crawling all over it. She called my mother who had been raised in Texas. Mom knew instantly what my Wisconsin born grandmother did not. Those insects were termites.

Velvet was forgiven. Thanks to her, the exterminator was called and the termite infestation destroyed before any real damage was done. She must have heard the termites crawling between the wood and the cloth and gone after the source of the sound. Her diligence stopped the damage . Since then, we have had yearly termite inspections.
Velvet saved the house.

Labels: 7Vel.vet, black cat, grandmother, house, termites, wallpaper