Purrfect storm

I guess there is a new addition to our household.

My wife saw a stray kitten run into a culvert on the side of the road this past Sunday. She made several attempts to retrieve the cat, with no success. She even came all the way back home and had me go with her to try and figure out a way to get this kitten out of the culvert. So here we are, standing on the side of the road, trying to get this kitten out. We tried everything from calling it, to food, to one of us rattling a plastic bag at one end to try to scare it out the other end. Nothing worked.

We returned home and I tried to assure my wife that the cat would come out eventually and would be OK. She was worried.

The next morning while I was in the shower, my wife went back to the culvert and was successful this time in getting the kitten out of the culvert. So before I got out of the shower, the kitten was in our house and my 8-year-old had already named it, Dewey.

Let me say that I am not an animal person. I would never wish harm to an animal, but I don’t get all warm and fuzzy about animals, either. Please don’t judge me too harshly. I say that because during the whole escapade of trying to save the kitten on Sunday, my wife assured me that once we got it out she would find it a good home. I just didn’t understand that she meant our home.

We have an older cat named Jewel who has been with us for years and we were not sure how she would take to this intruder into her domain. After a few growls and some feeling out of each other, it looks like Jewel and Dewey will be able to cohabitate.

Of course, my wife and daughter are thrilled with Dewey. Everything the cat does is “precious” or “so cute” in their opinion. I, on the other hand, am not as impressed with Dewey. I guess if a meowing, fur ball is precious, then Dewey fits the category.

Robert Heinlein once said, “Never try to out stubborn a cat.” I know Mr. Heinlein has never been in my home, but if he had, I think he could have added to his quote by saying never try to out stubborn a cat or a cat lover.

My wife and daughter on the other hand would agree with the statement of Mark Twain when he said, “Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

I have no illusions of being able to move Dewey to another home. I have never confused my house with a democracy. It is more like a benevolent dictatorship ran by my wife and daughter. Oh I get a say in some things, but when it comes to decisions about things with fur, I may as well be like the child described in that 15th century English proverb, “seen and not heard.” So I say welcome Dewey. May you shed very little and lounge anywhere you like, except in my chair.