Mishap....

I recently learned that my cat, Kathman (short for Kathmandu), is part Bengal cat. This is a relatively new breed (about 20 years or so) that came about via mixing the small, wild, Asian Leopard cat with a domestic like the Burmese, Abyssinian, or, possibly, whatever seemed attractive at the time. They're the best of both worlds, in my opinion - intelligent, loving domestic cats that have an air of the exotic.

Bengal cats have all kinds of interesting traits, and researching this info gave me greater insight into the lovable quirks my own cat has, such as 'herding' me to the cupboard with the cat food when he's hungry, ambushing me when I walk by, splashing all the water out of his water bowl, once joining me in the tub, and often trying to enter the shower. Bengal cats have an affinity toward water, it appears.

In some of the reading I learned that a number of owners often will harness their cats and take them walking, because they've got an apparently insatiable appetite for exploration - especially when it comes to trees. This would explain why he likes to perch on the high steps going upstairs at home.

So, I prepared him with the topical anti-flea and tick stuff, and got a harness and one of those snazzy little self-recoiling leash things, and we set off to explore the backyard. Lately, he's been looking out of the window and coming to the door when I go in or out. When he first came to live with me, he was terrified of the outdoors. I thought his curiosity might be peaked by summertime and seeing all of the activity outside.

First off, I carried him out into the backyard. My thought was getting him and the leash thing all tangled up in the deck rails if he decided to take a route other than the stairs to get to the yard. I took him over to the giant old maple tree, and he slunk around a bit - climbed a bit - generally seemed happy to explore, if a bit timidly.

Then, something piqued his interest. There is a tomcat in the neighborhood that I desperately despise but can do nothing about. Apparently this skank has been spraying along the side of my deck, and Kathman picked up the scent. In a flash, it was like an entirely different personality erupted. He started bounding left and right, in and out of the viney undergrowth, howling, growling, and hissing. I had to unhook him because he'd tangled himself up in the leash, and figured I'd take him inside - enough excitement for the day.

When we got inside, I discovered the bonus to our adventure - he'd been hopping around in some sort of nettle-like undergrowth, and was covered with millions of little velcro-like seeds the size of bb's. I mean MILLIONS. He was also panting - audibly (loudly!), tongue out and all. So, I pushed my thoughts of taking evening strolls down the sidewalk with my perfectly mild-mannered cat into the back of my mind, and set to try and de-nettle Kathman.

He'd had enough of me by that time. Wouldn't let me come close to him for the rest of the evening. Ironically, I was also trying a new feeding routine with him that day. Since he came to live with me, he has literally inhaled his dinner. He's perfectly healthy, but maybe from causal factors predating entering my life, he literally opens his mouth like a snake unhinges his lower jaw and scoops up his food like a front-end loader. The problem is, he starts pleading for more food (and he's borderline beginning a weight problem). Then, probably because he ingests so much air by eating this way, he gets gassy after eating. Not the typical kind of pet gassy - but burpy! Which is pretty funny.

At any rate, I learned that by putting his food on a plate, instead of in a bowl, it causes him to pick up and eat each piece of food, and eliminates the scoopability factor.

So, from Kathman's perspective, it was a pretty horrible day.

"Yeah, a real winner. First, my woman tied me up in this horrible thing, and then actually carried me outside. Where the squirrels and rabbits, and for chrissakes, even the birds could see my human toting me like some newborn. Then I smelled that catbastard from next door and got really riled up, looking for a fight. Instead of letting me go take care of business, my human - dammit - picked me up again!! - and brought me inside. I had all these neat little prizes stuck to me. But, it was feeding time, so my human could redeem herself. Instead, she added insult to injury by putting my food on a goddam plate! I was so freakin' hungry - rage makes you that way - and here I had to eat my dinner piece by piece, like some raccoon!! Bad enough I wasn't eating that catbastard from next door instead of those little fake-prey-clumps. But to make me have to pick up each one was just too much. So I gave the human the cold shoulder all night. She kept trying to pick my prizes off my fur! Don't know what's with her, but I'm going to give her a wide berth for a few days. She needs a hobby.”