Miss Kitty

I woke from a deep slumber to the sound of thunder pounding the sky above the small mountain cabin. Natures late summer night show of lights dancing across the sky and trumpeting sound bouncing throughout the mountain valley walls for almost an hour. The rain had been pounding the tin roof for hours and sleep was absent in the night.

Beneath the bedroom window I you could hear small creature’s surrey for shelter to avoid natures furry.  Moments later I heard the cat door open in the guest bathroom. I wondered if the cat was coming in to avoid the violent rain.  Soon I heard, Miss Kitty snuggle into her bed in the corner of my room.  The storm was starting to diminish and become tranquil with a cleansing rain.  I was able to drift into a slumber and sleep for a few more hours.

With summer storms sometime we get unexpected surprises that leave use wondering what happened and why.  This day was no different. I walked by Miss Kitty in the hallway and she was mowing up a storm almost equal to the night before. I wondered what her problem was. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. She was refusing to use her cat door. She wouldn't go into the guest bathroom and when I tried to make her she started to claw and gasp at the walls to get out of the room.

I wondered what it in world was going on with my cat. I started to reason with the cat, like that would make a difference. I finally picked her up and used the front door to let her out.  She spent the day outside sunning on the front deck. She was refusing to use her cat door or eat her food form the guest bathroom. That night she came and meowed at the front door to enter the house. I wondered what her problem was and went and looked into the bathroom again and found nothing usual. The cat water was full and her dish had been untouched.

This behavior, with the cat, went on for about three more days. On the fourth day I decided it would be a good day to clean and stock the bathroom. I was going to be getting married in the upcoming weeks and needed to clean the guest bath and get it reading for family I hadn't seen in years. I thought maybe if I cleaned the bathroom the cat might use her door.   I was putting away the guest towels underneath the sink and thought what kitty is doing under the sink. I was excited that she had decided to use the bathroom cat door to go freely to and from the house.  I opened the cupboard door and called to kitty and she meowed at the bathroom door.  I looked into the cupboard and to my surprise I saw the largest Pack rat I have ever seen staring back at me. I calmly shut the cupboard and looked at kitty and she seemed to have an understanding look on her face.  For the first time since the storm I understood what was causing her so much stress.

Pack rats are very cute little creatures. The have round ears like Mickey Mouse and there fur is camel color. However, they pack a smell that is retched and are filthy creatures.  I took a few minutes to sympathize with Miss. Kitty. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her when she saw the larger than life pack rat. The poor city cat had only seen small field mice when we lived in Idaho. She wanted nothing to do with the super size mouse and has never used the cat door since.  It has been three years since the pack rat incident and she meows at the front door to come in at night.