Cats Anyone?

Cats Earl Plato

For my cat loving relatives I have to write at least one article every few years. Yes, I am a dog lover. With black Labradors and a sheltie on the two farms and now a little poodle in town we have been sans cats. Don’t get me wrong. I like cats and my childhood stories confirm that.
I was told that “Whitey” was born the same year I was. She was no albino with pink eyes but still a pure white cat. She was my cat. My mother told me to watch Whitey when she crossed #3 highway. I did. Whitey looked right then left and repeated the process as she crossed busy Garrison Road. She was headed for mousing in the fields to the south. Our mailbox was also on the south side of the highway. My mother would point out to me how Whitey crossed the highway. I never forgot the lesson. Crossing a road and driving a car always look at least twice both ways before entering an intersection.
Eight years passed and Whitey disappeared. Pal, our German shepherd, was put away at that time. A few years passed and some of us had ridden our bikes up to the abandoned Good house. Young boys, we challenged each other to enter the derelict building and climb the stairs to where the ghosts were. You can imagine the scenario. The four of us mounted the steps two by two. Sam let out a yell and we all ran back down the stairs terrified. I ran out the front door and to my right. The ground cover was high tangled weeds. I was scared and anxious to get as far away as possible. Then I saw her. Whitey! I stopped. The other three came up to me. “What’s wrong, Earl?” “I saw Whitey right there!” I replied. No Whitey in sight but San stopped and shouted, “Look out! There’s an old well here.” If I had proceeded running north a few minutes before I could have plummeted into the old well with its rotted covering. Whitey or another white cat had made me stop in my tracks. Had Whitey saved my life? Quite possible. We searched the area for several minutes. No Whitey.
The Buffalo News in an article by Gina Spadafori recently tries to debunk some old cat tales. Here are a few excerpts for you cat lovers.
Cats purr when they are happy. Right? Expert cat observers know that purring isn’t just a sound of contentment. Cats also purr if they are injured, while giving birth - even when dying. British zoologist Desmond Morris has observed that purring is “a sign of friendship - either when the cat is contented with a friend or when it is in need of friendship, as with a cat in trouble.” Like the cat story? I have more to share at another time.
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