Feeling Owned by Your Cat? Cheer-Up, You're not Alone!
It’s early Sunday morning. My husband and I are sleeping in. Suddenly we're awakened by the sound of our daily morning alarm. I glance at the clock; it's just after 7 a.m. I pull the bedcovers over my head and try to go back to sleep, but the noise continues with regularity and persistence.
I bury my head deeper into my pillow and hope the noise will go away, but it doesn't, and I reluctantly throw back the covers and give in to our unyielding wake-up call. I invariably must, because there is no button to push to silence the noise, no snooze button to press that will grant me 10 more minutes of uninterrupted sleep.
You see, our wake-up call comes from our three hungry cats, whose three sets of sharp claws scratch vigorously on our bedroom door every morning, like fingernails on chalkboard, until we get out of bed and feed them. We stretch, we yawn, and stumble sleepily to the kitchen; the morning feeding ritual has begun.
Three cans of cat food; three bowls of milk; three servings of dry food; some assorted flea preparations; medications; hairball remedies and brushing dispensed, and a half hour later my husband and I sit down to our breakfast--a cup of black coffee. If this morning ritual sounds like your household routine, take heart, you’re not alone.
Despite torn upholstery, scratched furniture, traces of kitty litter on the carpet, paw prints on newly waxed floors and table tops, wet nose prints on mirrors and window panes, snagged clothing, tattered nylons and wisps of cat hair on sofas, drapes and dark suits—pet owners would never, ever, give up their beloved companions. Pet owners (read servants) shouldn’t feel guilty about spoiling our pets.
Down through the ages some of the finest people of our time have succumbed to the demands of their adorable pooches and felines. According to the author Fernand Mary (The Life, History and Magic of the Cat), President Theodore Roosevelt was devoted to his cat, Slippers. Slippers was a gray, mixed-breed mouser whose greatest distinction was that he possessed an extra toe on each paw--a condition known as polydactylism.
It is said that Slippers would instinctively know just when to make his appearance at one of Teddy Roosevelt's elegant diplomatic dinners. Roosevelt was so devoted to his little pal that, on one occasion when Slippers was sprawled out on a White House rug at the main entrance to the dining room, the president insisted that the entire procession of dignitaries be rerouted around the sleeping cat, rather than disturb his beloved pet.
Slippers was the last cat to live in the White House until the Kennedy clan came along in the early '60s. They brought with them Caroline's little Tom Kitten, a small, black, American shorthair. Young Caroline thought nothing of bursting into President Kennedy's oval office, unannounced, with Tom Kitten tucked under her arm.
Tom Kitten's favorite toy? One of the President's golf balls, of course! Caroline also had a pet that sometimes wandered from his stall near the west wing of the White House and plundered into the oval office.
Macaroni was Caroline’s pet pony who could often be seen on the White House grounds with Carolina’s cat, Tom Kitten. The White House was devoid of cats until Amy Carter moved in with her elegant Siamese, Misty Malarky Ying-Yang. Amy was so devoted to her cat she insisted it accompany the family all during Jimmy Carter's 1976 campaign.
She also talked President Carter into taking Misty along on family vacations. President Lyndon Johnson and his beloved Yuki liked to perform in the Oval Office. Yuki was a stray found at a Texas gas station by Johnson's daughter Luci. But mongrel or pedigree, Yuki was one of the President's favorite dogs.
President Johnson also had two beagles, which he named Him and Her! But it was Yuki he would sing duets with in the oval office and Yuki he spoiled with treats taken from his well-filled pockets. President Johnson’s pockets were always filled with doggy treats and he didn’t mind at all that his dark suits were often covered with dog hair.
President Bush's dog Millie is the only First Pet to write a book. Millie had puppies while President Bush was in office, and her puppies were the most sought after pets of the year. All went to good homes. Millie loved to tag along on jogging runs with the president and Millie, like her owner, has been photographed with kings and famous world leaders.
When the Clintons came to the White House, daughter Chelsea brought homes a lovable, and now famous, black-and-white kitten. Socks, the cat, had the run of the White House lawns and gardens and, like his predecessors, he managed to override any restrictions placed on him, going where he pleased when he pleased. Although constantly pursued by the media, Socks always managed to play a winning game of cat and mouse with the nosy media photographers.
As for my own three spoiled cats? My husband and I have discovered, like all pet owners, that the rewards for taking care of our little friends far outweigh the nuisances. We treasure their loving nudge at our knees welcoming us home; the iridescent eyes that spring to the window the moment our car pulls into the driveway and the soft comforting purr that rumbles from somewhere deep down inside them as they nestle warmly in our laps.
Foremost and always, what makes it worthwhile are all the years they give to us of unyielding companionship and devotion. and devotion.
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