Cats and Dog

I would never say I am a cat person and exclusively a cat person. I have had a dog. Granted, I had A dog. I have not had dogs. My one foray into dog ownership was a dog no one owned, lest you consider the Lowcountry swamp a mother of sorts. My Minnie doggie was so named because on the day she switch landlords, Cab Calloway died. And she was Minnie the Moocher, a pirate, a rogue and a con artist. She was also a tricky little slut dog with moxie and a complete disregard for your opinion. Her other names, names she would answer to and come wagging and smiling included Baby and Trouble. She terrorized teh UPS man and chased his truck without fail. She was also the karmic return of some bigoted white man. She, simply put, she was a racist and she never missed the chance to sneer, bark or chase anyone of color that walked, cycled or drove past our house. I found this acutely embarrassing, but what are you to say? “Sorry, my dog is a bigot.” well…..actually I did apologize whenever given the chance. And when she went into heat, every big dog in the neighborhood prowled around our cracker house like zombies. Needless to say, her litter of puppies looked like a Frankenstein hodge podge lab, akita, rottweiler and sheppard. And Minnie is best described as a sheppard crossed with a corgie. We later found out she was a breed called Swedish Valhund. Whodathunk? She never acted as if she came from good breeding and pedigree. She also did not act like a blueblood fallen from disgrace or corruption. The dog had no shame. She was scrappy and courageous and a total riot.

I have always had a cat sans the years I was in undergraduate school. When I started medical school I got my first cat, Bingo. Over the years I have had a few others. Domino was my petite little Calico. Then there was my Winn Dixie cat, Billie. And then she had a litter of kittens and we kept one and affectionately named him Pepper. Those cats have all since passed. Then the boys got their first cats: Gumbo and Luther and those cats live at the dad’s. I have two new cats of my own: Dagney and Caprica. Caprica is my calico in reverse, a brindle and a fat tailed silent type. She wants food and not much else. Dagney is a demanding ninja of a cat. She thrusts her head into your hand, head butting you into petting her. She wedges away her sister for lapspace. She stands on the counter and watches everything. They both love water and regularly make a mess of their water bowl. You’d think I had pet raccoons for the amount of cat food kernels they leave in their water dish. They are indoor cats with the primitive urge to escape and in that, I think they may be channeling the spirit of my swamp dog, Minnie, who would never be contained or fenced.

[Their first furlough to the outside world. They stuck very close to home.]

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