MR. DOGLS AND CAT TROUBLE

It was a strange few days in Mr. Dogls’ household, Goldie the cat seemed to have turned over a rather bad new leaf.

The normally, happy calm cat was caught stealing things and toppling over pots and pans that lay on the kitchen counter top. Even the Little Master was frowning about it.

“What’s gotten into you Goldie?” Mr. Dogls overheard him telling the ginger cat quite sternly.

It was then that Mr. Dogls thought that he would find out for himself.

Goldie spent most of her days lounging on the parapet wall or propped up on the mango tree in

the front yard. When Mr. Dogls tried to sniff her out over the next few days, he found that she was in none of her spots. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen.

He went all around the lane and even the neighbourhood but she was missing.

On his way back home, he spotted Socks, Goldie’s friend and asked him where she could be.

“I haven’t seen her for days,” Socks shrugged his black-and-white shoulders. “The last time I saw her, she was running about with a black and yellow furry looking cat. Looked like trouble to me.”

Mr. Dogls frowned, something sounded quite odd. He didn’t know of any furry black and yellow cats in the neighbourhood. He decided he would watch Goldie carefully when she came for her lunch and then follow her to see where she went.

When lunchtime came, Goldie came mewing hungrily to the backyard steps where her lunch was laid out. Without a word she gobbled it up and quickly rushed back out, Mr. Dogls following close behind her.

Using his very good nose, Mr. Dogls was able to keep up with the cat as he lost sight of her over walls and trees. Finally, he found himself two neighbourhoods away and saw Goldie walking up to a furry black and yellow cat outside a tall black gate.

“Come on! The lady in this house leaves fish out in her kitchen,” the furry cat said. “If we go now we can get some for ourselves.”

Goldie followed her in through the gate as Mr. Dogls watched from a safe distance. So it was this cat who was teaching her how to steal.

In a few minutes, Mr. Dogls heard a loud clatter and scream from inside. Then out came the furry cat with a large chunk of fish in his mouth, followed by Goldie with another fish in her mouth.

Mr Dogls barked and Goldie turned. Looking very ashamed to see her friend, she dropped the fish and ran away. Mr Dogls ran after her asking her to stop.

“How could you steal like that Goldie?” Mr. Dogls having caught up with her barked out unhappily.

“I-I’M sorry,” she mewed. “It’s just that my new friend made it seem so easy and after a while I got so used to it. When I saw you I felt so ashamed. I remembered who I was before when I saw you.”

“Well then let me take you home. Your new friend doesn’t seem to be such good company don’t you think? And your old friends like you just the way you are.” Mr. Dogls said and Goldie nodded her head. They went home together that evening and the ginger cat never went back to stealing again. She preferred to spend her days on the mango tree and on the parapet wall dozing in the sun.