Scarlett - Chapter 7 - Finally

The date came to take Scarlett in for her "little procedure" as my vet called it and we rounded her up to go.  Have you ever noticed how cats seem to have a sixth sense about these things?  Scarlett was nearly always under foot but come time for the vet and you discovered that what you actually had living with you in the house was not an ordinary cat at all.  It was instead a cat of stealth and cunning beyond your wildest dreams and Scarlett was no exception to this.  In fact, if anything, she improved not only her own sneaky skills but those of Miss Kitty as well.  There was not a cat to be seen anywhere.

 

Here we were, two adult and one tween human, crawling around on the floor, pulling out furniture and shaking little bags of cat treats like some primitive noise maker to scare away the evil spirits.  When I think about the things these little creatures manage to get us to do, it is downright embarrassing!  Do you ever wonder what the kitty equivalent of "Watch this!" is?  If we knew the signal maybe we would have a chance to thwart their intentions of making a total fool of us.

 

We finally did find Scarlett after a couple of false starts, thinking we had her but finding Miss Kitty instead, and my husband dropped her off at the Vet's.  Later that day when we arrived to pick her up we were greeted by a our Doctor holding a large book that was open to a page with a photo that for the world looked like Scarlett!  I had to look twice to see that it was not her, but another cat remarkably like her, and this cat was photographed in it's den with it's cubs! 

 

My vet explained that worked a lot of animal rescue cases and that he had worked on a case with a group of these cubs that were found abandoned a couple of times in the past.  He said this was a very rare breed of wild cat that lived in the Louisiana swamp but was being killed off by humans.  I guess Scarlett was from a group cubs such as this.  She was definitely one of the breed of cat, no doubt.  He told me that this was the reason he had questioned me so much about her.  Apparently they went to search the area around the grocery store where I found Scarlett the day I brought her to him the first time, hoping to find other babies but were not successful.  Since he was not 100% sure at that point that she was indeed a wild cat cub, he just left it alone and watched closely. This was the "unofficial" explanation.  Officially, it was amazing how much she looked like one of these cubs at first, but of course, it would be illegal to have such a cat in your home, so obviously she was just a domestic cat who looked a lot like a wild cat and was very smart like they are.  He also told me that she was probably a lot younger than I thought when we found her.  I had thought her to be 3 to 4 months old but he said she was likely 8 to 9 weeks instead. 

 

This was the reason for all the phone calls, to see if she was blending in and not causing issues..  He said they had hand raised the other kittens (cubs) and they had done very well with humans but were unable to return to the wild.  They ended up living in a rescue facility.  He figured that if she did well with us, she would have a happier life with another cat and family than she would all alone in a shelter.

 

So we gathered up our little sleepy bundle of cat and took her home with a better understanding of why she had always seemed a little odd for a cat.  She spent the evening in the bath tub, recovering from her anaesthetic, which was a good thing for her.  She loved the bath tub.

 

Scarlett and Miss Kitty were with us in the as my daughter grew to womanhood.  We moved from Louisiana to Indianapolis and at that time, I guess Scarlett decided it was time to return to the wild.  While the humans were away, one summer afternoon, Scarlett and Kitty chewed and clawed their way out of a screened in enclosure that they had enjoyed lounging in for many months.  They were in a very rural setting at this house and there were lots of other animals around as it was a farming area and there were many farm cats who visited our yard.  I spent months trying to encourage them back inside but they would have none of it.  They would visit from time to time, but the outdoors was home now and confinement to a house was not to be tolerated.  After a time Scarlett disappeared from the group.  She had been healthy and happy when last I saw her so I can only guess as to her fate.  It has been many years, but I still dream of her and wonder what ever became of her.  Miss Kitty stayed with the pack and eventually died at the very old age.  She also visits my dreams and thoughts.  They were special gifts, both of them, and I shall forever miss them.

Scarlett - Chaptern 6 - The Beast in the Chair

When Scarlett first came to our home It was in a bit of turmoil as some of you may already know.  Miss Kitty was at the vet recovering from her miscarriage that day and came home to find a kitten in the house waiting for her.  I was not surprised, then, when my vet's office made several phone calls to check on us over the next few days.  However, when the calls continued past the first days and the questions were mostly about Scarlett, I started to wonder about her.

When she was about 6 months old I took her back in for a check-up and to decide on a date for neutering and was again met with a ton of questions.  "Is there something wrong here?" I asked.  "No," the doc assured me, "I am just really curious as to where she originally came from and how she happened to be at that grocery store.  You do not often see a scene like this and it was even more remarkable because she was so young at the time."

She was examined from head to toe and given a clean bill of health.  The return date was set for a few weeks out  I took her home, again feeling like there was a lot more to know and wondering when I would find out.

Scarlett was getting really big!  I thought maybe she was a Main Coon cat because of her size, but her body shape and tail were all wrong.  Miss Kitty was nearly a year older yet Scarlett outweighed her by a pound.  I wondered how big she would get.

My husband and I decided it was time to replace the old dining room table so we spent a couple of week-ends shopping.  I finally decided on a table with heavily padded chairs and we packed it into the truck to bring home.  When we arrived and were unloading the stuff, both the cats were watching with great interest.  Of course, we had to keep them inside, which was the real challenge, or so we thought.  Since they had learned to open the doors, putting them in a bathroom or bedroom did little good.

This day they were more curious about what was coming into the house than what was going on outside and we managed to bring in the table and 4 chairs before trouble started.  As soon as I picked up chair #5 from the truck and headed towards the door, Scarlett went wild!  She screamed like the demons were on her tail and ran, leaping through the air and attacked the chair!  She was like the Tasmanian Devil whirling and clawing and tearing at this poor chair.  She bit and clawed frantically while I stood there stunned, wondering what had set her off.  All I knew to do was to try and get inside and put the chair down and get away from it before this fit of fury included my arms, hands or whatever else she decided to go for.

Once I was inside my husband could see what was happening and ran to grab a towel to throw over her.  I did manage to set the chair down and then watched in disbelief as she bit the back and seat a few more times, smacked it a few times and then sat on the chair howling like a cross between a lion and a wolf.  My husband reappeared with the towel but by this time, Scarlett was calming on her own.  She started sniffing the chair all over and pushing at it here and there with her paw.  We humans watched this spectacle play out, ready to act if the violence started again, but wisely leaving her alone with her kill.

Poor Miss Kitty had run and hid behind the sofa and was trying bravely to sneak up to the Kid's room for safety.  It was hours before she decided to revisit us.  

After deciding the chair was indeed dead, Scarlett jumped down and came to me purring and rubbing my legs.  She was obviously quite proud to have saved me from a grave danger.  The chair was showing signs of the battle, and since the seat and back were covered with vinyl, it was a mass of bite and claw marks.  We thought about taking it the rest of the way apart to try and see what set her off like that, but on examination of the chewed areas, all we could see was foam padding. Some things are not for humankind to know, I guess.

One thing was for sure, when the vet called to check on us the next time, I had a story for him!

Scarlett, Chapter 5 - The Baby Invasion

The months had passed very fast and Scarlett and Miss Kitty had agreed on the division of the house humans and the sleeping arrangements after a bit of a struggle.  At first it was like having two toddlers.  Mine, mine, mine!  Everything is mine!!!  Finally things settled out with Miss Kitty spending her sleeping time on my daughter's bed and Scarlett with my husband and me.  She would get on the foot of the bed on my side at first and then creep her way up until she was sleeping in the middle between us.  She had to have one set of paws touching me and the other touching my husband.  It was great fun to let her get into a deep sleep then move a bit so that her feet no longer touched.  She would not wake up from this, but would squirm and wriggle around until she again could touch us both.  If the humans were to get to close together making it hard for her to find room, she would use the back legs and push against one or the other of us until someone moved, allowing space for her.

She had also claimed my old wooden rocking chair as hers when we were all in the living room.  There was a small pillow I kept in the seat of this chair and Scarlett would curl up on it and enjoy the company of the family or sleep.  One day the tranquility of the household was turned upside down with friends came to visit bringing with them their 18 month old child.  My daughter was the the only non adult human in the household and Scarlett was used to her and her friends, but they were in the 8 to 10 year old range.  This little one was a totally new experience for poor Scarlett and Miss Kitty.  Miss Kitty method of coping was to retreat to my daughter's bedroom but Scarlett was not going to back off.  This was her house and no small human was going to change that.  Instead of running upstairs for the safety of the bedroom,  she chose to stay planted in the living room.  She did run to the end of the sofa for a bit, watching warily as this child toddled around the room.  The baby, thankfully, had no interest in Scarlett but was entertained a great deal by pushing around my (very light weight) plastic parsons table that served as an end table in my living room at the time.  Scarlett watch this for a bit, then ran the rest of the way behind the couch where she spent the next hour or so emitting a constant low growl.  We were wondering how she could breathe with all this growling but I knew what a fight it would be to try and remove her from the room, so I just kept a close eye on things and hoped for the best.

Have you ever had one of those times when you really wished you had a video camera running?  The next few moments of this day was one of those times.

When my friends did leave Scarlett re-emerged to find that the little table had been pushed up to the front of the rocking chair seat and, to her great horror, her pillow was in the floor!  This would not do at all.  I was walking around the room, putting things back in place when I noticed Scarlett sitting in front of the rocking chair and looking at the pillow in the floor.  My husband and I decided that we wanted to see what she would.  Sure enough, she took matters into her own hands, (or, in this case, teeth) and the next thing we knew she was dragging the pillow towards the chair.  Once she got it to the base of the table, she carefully laid it on the floor and jumped to the top of the little table and reached down to pull the pillow up while she was backing into the seat of the chair.  She dropped the pillow when she had come to the back of the chair and could go no further, leaving the pillow on the table and not in the chair where it belongs.

The events up to now had amazed us.  The next thing she did totally blew us away. We figured she was done with this project and I was getting ready to help her out when she got up from the seat of the chair and went to the table, lying down in front of the pillow facing the back of the chair.  She then used her back feet to push this pillow the rest of the way into the seat of the chair!  We were dumbfounded!  How did this cat figure out how to do something like that?? 

I have known many cats over the years but I have never seen anything like the intelligence it took to figure this out in another cat.  Once the pillow was in place, Scarlett got on top of it for a well deserved nap.  My husband and I figured that she may have learned this little trick from all the times at night when she would push us out of the way.

Scarlett, Chapter 4 - Scarlett Growing up

Scarlett and Kitty settled in to a great relationship and, as expected, Scarlett grew very quickly and was indeed a large kitty.  Both were gray tabby, so they kind of looked like sisters, but Miss Kitty was on the smallish side with very sleek fur and had little other makings other than her tabby stripes.  Scarlett was a bit fluffier and had some white on her belly and feet.  She also had some under her chin.  There were these patches of gold on her, but they were very small, mostly outlining her gray markings and she had tufts of gold and white on her ears.  Miss Kitty's markings all pretty much ran in the same direction, around her body much like a tiger while Scarlett had much bolder markings and the big round patches on her sides. At first they seemed like mother and daughter but this changed as Scarlett grew and became more of a sister relationship after a few months.  Scarlett proved to be very clever at figuring things out.  At first many tasks required a team effort but as she grew she learned to do most things herself.  Together they could open any door in the house, as long as it was not locked.  This caused a good deal of change in the way I did things as I had always left the outside doors unlocked during the day.  The first escape taught me better.  Also, they learned to open the cabinets and chew into the food bags I had under there so I had to start storing all cat food and a lot of other dry goods in hard plastic to keep them out. One other thing that we soon learned with Scarlett.  If you wanted a bath alone, you had to lock the bathroom door.  Otherwise, Scarlett was in the tub with you as soon as she heard the water run!  She was also very curious about tap water and the drains fascinated her.  She would sit and watch as we ran water for various things then try to catch the water as it ran down the drain and out of sight. Non cat people think I am crazy when I talk about cat vocabulary, but cats do have a vocabulary and Scarlett and Miss Kitty were no exception.  One thing I noticed early on was that the vocabularies of the two cats were seemingly totally different.  It was not long, though, before Kitty had learned a whole new group of sounds and the two of them were very vocal with each other and us.  Miss Kitty had always been a very quiet girl before so we were very surprised by the change.. The activity level in the house could be frantic at times with the two of them chasing around and playing.  One day The Kid had come home with a pile of homework and left some assignment sheets lying on my old 1950's Formica table.  The cats were pretty good about staying off things like the kitchen counter tops and the dining table until it was chase time, then all rules went out the window.  Any surface was fair game. I was sitting at the table with The Kid looking over one of the homework sheets when the two of them came bounding down the stairs and zip, Kitty ran across the table top with Scarlett in hot pursuit.  Naturally Scarlett was running as fast as she could when she hit the table top and went leaping after Kitty.  The only problem was, her back feet were sitting on the homework paper, which went flying in the opposite direction of her travel when she tried to jump.  There she was, like a freeze frame in a movie, stretched out her full length in mid-leap but going nowhere.  All she needed was a little red cape and a big red S on her chest!  Cats have facial expressions, contrary to popular belief and right that moment Scarlett had a total look of shock on hers.  Boom!  Down she went right in front of me, landing on her belly with her feet stretched out in both directions.  There was no graceful recovery possible from this humiliating circumstance and Scarlett hated humiliation.  She got up and sat there, blinking, then began the "I meant that" obligatory bath that cats do. My daughter and I were roaring with laughter.  I told her that she had set a great cat trap without meaning to.  Kitty, by this time, was sitting on the floor in front of Scarlett waiting for the game to begin again, and before long they were off on another merry chase.  This time, however, no one came near the table.

Miss Scarlett, Chapter 3 - Scarlett Goes to the Vet

The next morning was a big day for all of us.  It was time to go to the vet, which was to be Scarlett's first check-up, and we were bringing Miss Kitty home to a whole new life with a new kitten.  My daughter wanted to stay home from school, of course, but I told her that things would go better if she went on to school.  She went grumpily out to meet the bus and my husband and I spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to find the cat.  She had been under foot all morning, but now that it was time to go out the door, she had decided it would be a great time to explore behind the furniture and was having a great time being very stealthy.

This drive was a much calmer experience for us than the one the day before had been.  We arrived at the office only a few minutes late.  Our vet was a very experienced doctor who had been practicing in that area for a long time.  He was also on call for the zoo, so was full of wonderful animal stories and usually had lots of pictures of new animals he was working with.  I loved going to see him.

We brought Scarlett in and sat her down.  She played around in the exam room until the Doc came in, then was picked up and put on the exam table.  He looked her over and asked me where we had gotten her.  I related the story of the grocery store, which had him laughing a bit, and then he asked me about the location of the store.  I told him and he said he knew the one.  The exam went well and he gave her a clean bill of health and her shots.

"You know this is probably going to be a big cat, don't you?"  he asked.  I had noticed that her paws were quite large as were her ears so I told him that I kind of figured that.  "She is probably going to want control of the house too.  Do you think Miss Kitty will adjust?"  he asked.  We talked a bit about the fact that Miss Kitty was not a very adventuresome type and that I thought she would be ok, but wondered why he was asking.  It was really to soon to know which of the two would eventually be the queen of the house, at least that is what I though.  He stood there looking at me for a bit with a very odd expression and then seemed to make some kind of decision as his whole mood changed.

"We should get Miss Kitty in here.  She will still be sedated but at least we can see how Scarlett reacts."  He turned and left the room, returning in a short time with a very sleepy Kitty and sat her on the exam table, tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth and looking very loaded.  By this time Scarlett was back on the floor playing so he picked her up and let her see Miss Kitty while he held and petted Scarlett, talking softly to both of them.  Scarlett was a bit curious but showed no sign of aggression.  Miss Kitty was to sleepy to care.

 

It was time for home care instructions, which I expected to get from the nurse but the Doc stayed instead to talk a bit more.  "Put Miss Kitty in the bath tub when you get home." he told us.  "When she is awake enough to jump out, she will be awake enough to not get hurt.  If you have any problems, just give us a call.  We are staffed 24 hours here for emergencies."

We packed up the fur babies and took them home.  Sure enough, within a few hours Miss Kitty did indeed jump out of the tub and come out to greet the new arrival.  I was expecting a lot of activity surrounding the meeting and was concerned for Miss Kitty because of her surgery that morning, but it went very well.  By the time the Kid came in from school, the cats were napping together on the sofa.

I spent the rest of the day wondering what it was that the Doc wanted to say and did not.  I had "that" feeling and as I learned months later, I was correct.

Miss Scarlett, Chapter 2 - Scarlett Meets the Kid

Scarlett's arrival into our lives was far from calm.  I knew that I really needed to confirm her health for many reasons, so I made an appointment with out vet to take her the next day as I was picking up my other cat, Miss Kitty. 

 

The first day with her was an adventure in itself.  This was one of the most confident cats I had ever encountered, even though she was very young.  She explored every inch of out apartment, making sure to mark the box every time she went past it.  She decided that her home was to be the foot of my bed, at least for the moment.  This was good as Miss Kitty was slavishly devoted to our daughter and that room was her safe haven. 

 

My daughter had left for school when the events of the day had started so she was unaware of all that had gone on.  She came home to discover several things.  Her little Miss Kitty was at the vet and there would be no kittens from her, also, Kitty was going to be spayed the next day, which was not a happy thing for my 9 year old.  She REALLY wanted to raise kittens at least once from Miss Kitty, after she knew the possibility existed.  Also she discovered that there was a young kitten sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor evaluating her like one would expect a warrior to examine the enemy for weaknesses. 

 

Scarlett had decided that our home was a fine place for her, but she was not sure about the people.  My husband had gone back to work after having come home to rescue Miss Kitty and I, so he was out of the evaluation process for now.  Our day had started early so by this time she had several hours in our house and was sort of warming to me.  She had followed me for a bit until I got the broom out and then had run under a kitchen chair to watch.  When I got fresh food and water out for her, she came and ate right away but I was still not allowed to touch her.  No growling or hissing, she would simply turn and walk away when she saw me reach for her.  I can not say she had relaxed because she was relaxed the moment her feet hit the kitchen floor and had showed no signs of being otherwise.  It was more of a "learning your environment" process with her.

 

My daughters jaw dropped.  "Where did that come from!" she demanded.  I told her the tale of the grocery store and why I had brought this little one home, which pacified her for a bit, but she was really not happy at the moment.  Welcoming a new family member was not her top priority.  After a peaceful standoff, both the cat and the Kid went off in different directions.  The cat to the food bowl and the Kid to her room without a word to me.  Knowing that I had to give my daughter time to process, I left her be and shortly she came back down, hungry and wanting to see the new kitten.

 

"What have you named her?" she asked.  I thought about it and told her I had not really come up with a name but was wanting to use something that indicated one that was strong and courageous as this kitten was both.  We had watched "Gone With The Wind" in the past days, so the name was the first one we thought of.  It fit, for sure.

 

By this time Scarlett was sitting in front of my daughter looking up.  "Hi Scarlett!" she said and reached for the kitten.  To my great surprise, Scarlett was happy to be picked up.  She even purred!

Miss Scarlett, Chapter 1 - Scarlett's Arrival

New Orleans in the 1970's was a very interesting place to live.  We were on the West Bank, just across the river from the French Quarter.  It was kind of strange where we lived as it was not a rural area yet there were still plenty of wild growth areas and lots of animals.  The grocery we shopped at most often was a very new building and the area surrounding it was still fairly undeveloped. 

One day while shopping, a commotion broke out just behind me and a small streak went running past, right between my feet.  This was followed closely by 3 or 4 (4 or 3 if you are Cajun) men who were store employees and they were shouting things like, " It got back in!" and " Get a box or something to put it in!".  Of course I could not let this go un-investigated, so I followed along right in step with the rest as we made our way straight to the meat counter.

The scene was incredible.  Here was a very young kitten, 3 months old by my estimate, and at least 4 grown men.  The kitten was in the meat counter, guarding a package of hamburger and behaving like any angry, hungry and frightened cat.  This tiny kitten had the four of them clawed up, bleeding and swearing in at least two languages.  None of them wanted to go anywhere near her but they knew they had to get her out of the store so they were trying, and failing I might add, to contain her safely in a box.  I was about to suggest they just step back and allow me to remove her gently when a female employee showed up, flanking the kitten from behind and threw an apron over her.  This woman then picked up the kitten along with her prize and with very little other issue put her in the box and carried the entire thing to the back area of the store while the men were all going for first aid.

Since rabies is a very big issue in the New Orleans area I figured this little kitten's fate was sealed, that it would be sent to animal control for testing.  Imagine my total surprise when I went out after making my purchases and saw this same little kitten sitting on the sidewalk in front of the store trying to eat a cheese and peanut butter snack cracker!  I knew then it was fate, I had to take this baby home.  Somehow she had been spared the certain death I thought awaited her and here she was, it seemed to me, waiting just for me to come along and claim her.  If only I had known.....

Getting from the store to home was an experience in itself.  It took all the resolve I had to rescue this little one as she had other ideas.  She was not in the mood to be picked up and made her disapproval known by wildly clawing and hissing at anything she could see or reach.  I figured she would settle down as soon as she knew I was not intending on hurting her, but that was not to be either.  My husband drove us while I sat in the passenger seat holding my new reluctant baby by her middle, both hands around her belly and all four of her legs were in constant motion.  Front clawing at the carpet and my legs and back rotating like a windmill.  Amazingly she did not manage to claw me up, just made it really hard to hold on to her.  Looking back, I think that was her plan all along.

At home, I was already set up for a cat, complete with food and water down and ready as I had another gray tabby at the time, Miss Kitty.  Poor Miss Kitty was at the vet's having a miscarriage that day.  She had come into heat earlier than I expected, so I had not managed to get her spayed in time and the outcome was not good.  She was young and smallish.  She had gotten out one night as we were taking out the trash and did not show back up, much to the great dismay of my daughter, for 2 days.  In just a few weeks after this event she, obviously pregnant by this time, went into labor prematurely and lost the litter of 13 kittens.  She was recovering and awaiting her surgery the next day so her dry food and water were still down, just waiting for the arrival of Miss Scarlett.

As soon as I managed to get inside the house with my new little ball of fury everything clamed down.  I sat her down and she went straight to the food bowl and began eating as if she had always been here and this was her bowl.  No fear, no nervousness, nothing you expect when bringing a new cat into a house where other cats live.  This was claimed as hers now and she had all the confidence in the world in her rulership of her new home.  Miss Scarlett had arrived and was now in control.