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

Snowball became my maternal grandmother’s cat. She first appeared as a white stray, claimed by no one in the neighborhood. Once I determined that the stray was a female, I knew I must act. Soon, she had been to my veterinarian, had a check-up, shots, and been spayed. She returned to become one of our household.

My grandmother (Granma) tolerated our cats, but they were not allowed in her room. We did not expect this cat to be any different. We were wrong. When Granma was a child, we learned that she had had an all white farm cat called Snowball. Granma informed us that our new white cat was to be named Snowball. Neither my mother nor I had any reason to object, so Snowball it was.

We soon discovered something even more shocking. Snowball was allowed to sleep on Granma’s bed. She had her space at the foot of the double bed on the side opposite from where Granma slept. Snowball was Granmas’s companion in the day, too, sitting beside her or even in her lap.

Granma was 96 years old when she died. Granma had seven children, all still living at the time of her death. All came to her funeral. One son and his wife flew in from Ohio and stayed with us. We gave them Granma’s room to sleep in. Not until the day they were leaving did we learn about Snowball’s behavior.

My uncle and aunt had visited before, so they knew Snowball and her special relationship with Granma. The first night that they slept in Granma’s bed, my uncle wound up on Snowball’s side of the bed. Snowball had taken her regular spot on the bed. My uncle nudged her with his foot to move her away.

Snowball bit his toe!

My uncle explained that it was not a vicious bite, more of a nip, but Snowball was clearly asserting her claim to her spot. I asked him what he did. He told me he simply moved his feet closer to his wife’s and gave Snowball her space.

Snowball would live for many years. She always slept on Granma’a bed.

Labels: bed, bite, cats, grandmother, sleep, Snowball, stray, white cat