Naughty kitty

My cats are typically well behaved, but sometimes they are disobedient. Frankly they sometimes listen... like a cat.

They were born in the bushes, and a neighbor girl brought them to me when they were only around 4 weeks old. I took them to the store to buy milk - only until I could take them to the animal shelter. I placed them in a basket and after buying a couple of items, opened it up and saw them curled up together, glancing up at me. I thought, "Oh no... I'm hooked", and ended up buying toys and other items for my new kittens. Once I bottle fed them, and heard their meows with the milk flowing down their face, I knew for sure that I was in for the long haul.

Tabby is the brother to Sabrina, and has always had an independent streak. When he was only about 7 weeks old, he ran through the front door when someone opened it. He learned quickly that we didn't want him to go outside, so he would climb a tree and stay just out of my reach in order to obtain a bit of freedom. He didn't know how to get down, and so a neighbor girl (the one who gave them to me) would have to rescue them. Soon Sabrina would follow her brother out the door, and I would have two kitties in a tree who didn't know how to get down.

Once a hawk flew overhead when Tabby was stuck, and I prayed, "Oh God, please save my foolish kitty. I couldn't bear to see him carried away by a bird." He was saved from harm, but another time when I was able to grab him, he had a bit of fur plucked away by a bird who got a bit too close. Tabby survived his escapades and soon became a friend to many of the neighbors in our apartment. He was a small kitty, but would take on any alley cat who attempted to come into the yard. Yet a mama kitty - half the size of him - earned his respect when he got too close, and she bopped him on the nose. My cat - who wasn't afraid of bigger tom cats - learned to stay a respectful distance from her.

Tabby still loves to go outside, and will come inside periodically. Yet when the sun starts to go down, he will run off if I call him, and kind of look at me as if to say, "You can't catch me." And it's true. I wouldn't be able to. (I've tried, and it only frustrated me.)

When we lived in Kansas he learned to come inside during a thunderstorm, though a few times he seemed to feel brave enough to hide under some bushes.

During a recent California storm, my roommate called for him frantically. I'm sure that he was thinking, "What's the big deal? That distant thunder doesn't frighten me."

Our first winter in Kansas he was startled by the snow on the porch, and tried to shake it off his paw after he ran back inside. He glanced at me as if asking me to please get rid of the snow so that he could go outside. I told him that I couldn't do that, and he would have to wait for it to melt. He never went outside during snow days, but would look longingly out the window until he could explore the outside again.

The next winter he happened to see a rabbit hopping through the snow. He decided that if the rabbit could do it, so could he. I was surprised to see him walk gingerly down the steps, jumping onto some bricks, and then somehow finding a spot under a bush without any snow. He would stay outside for about twenty minutes at a time and then come back in.

Now that we are back in California, he seems to feel that just about any weather is okay to venture out into. About the only thing that stops him is a stronger wind, usually if accompanied by heavier rain.

Tabby still tries to run off at night, and if he ever comes in late I'm sure to keep him in for a longer time in the morning. I tell him that he has to say he is sorry for being naughty, and he will then nuzzle my hand and give me kisses. I know it's an act, but he has to show at least some humility before I will let him out again. Sometimes he will even come in on his own, in order to ensure a bright and early start the next day. He is allowed to wake me in the morning (which he does by sitting very close and staring into my eyes until I look at him) but only if he has behaved himself the night before. Otherwise, he knows that I will simply ignore him, and so he lets me sleep in.