It’s Lizzie’s adoption day anniversary! On January 28, 1996 two representatives from Animals In Distress visited and approved our home, and Pat and I immediately drove out to the shelter to pick up our new cat. We think of her as gentle and compliant, but she reminds us from time to time that she is also a Good Cat with a well-developed sense of right and wrong, as shown here in this true little story, exhumed from the archives of “What a Good Cat!”
 When we went on vacation last summer, Pat’s sister Joyce house-sat and cat-sat for us. It was the first time we’d been away from all 4 cats for an extended period, but Joyce said the cats quickly got used to her being there instead of us, and soon began to train her just as they’ve trained us. Joyce joined us for Thanksgiving dinner last week, but if the cats were happy to see her again, they did not immediately show it. It seemed as though they needed time to get used to her all over again; something was disturbing their daily routine, and they were on edge. At one point, Pat picked up Nicky, intending to pet him, but instead of relaxing and purring as he usually does, he became upset and scratched her hand with one swift swipe. She yelled in pain and set him back down on the floor. While Pat tended to the scratch, Lizzie appeared and evidently decided that Nicky needed to understand that what he did was wrong. She quickly licked the little black cat twice, then chomped one of his ears, and then she got to the point and gave him a hard cuff to his head, teaching him in the feline way that actions have consequences. |