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

Satin was the best cat I have ever known. She was a fluffy, long-haired, black cat that belonged to my childhood friend. Her mother was the infamous neighborhood terror that once chased a boxer over a block, even though she did not have kittens at the time. I don't know how Satin was selected to remain with her mother, but it was a brilliant choice. This was a cat for little girls to play with.

My friend and I would regularly dress Satin in doll clothes. She never complained, even with a bonnet on. Placed in a doll bed wearing a nightgown and bonnet, she lay on her back with her paws draped over the coverlet and did not move. She always seemed happy to be with us. She never struggled, scratched or bit. She always purred.

Satin loved to go bike riding. We had baskets on our bicycles, and one day one of us put Satin in her bicycle basket and took off. I don't remember which of us did that first. I do remember that Satin sat in the basket as if she had been riding in it all her life. After that, we regularly took turns giving her rides, not once, did she jump out.

Satin did have one bad habit. Every Christmas, she climbed the Christmas tree which was usually about eight feet tall. Satin climbed until the tree fell over, then she never bothered it again. The result was her human family put the tree up undecorated and waited until cat and tree fell over. After that annual event, the tree was decorated and remained unmolested.

The whole neighborhood had a crisis the day a speeding vehicle hit Satin. The driver did stop. He received a scolding from the crowd that formed quickly. I doubt he ever drove down Karnak Street again. Satin's jaw was broken and had to be wired back together. Satin had to eat baby food for weeks. She recovered completely, but managed to convince her owners that she still needed baby food once a week. She lived to be an old cat. The whole neighborhood mourned her passing.

Labels: bike, black cat, Christmas tree, little girls, Satin