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Group Writing: In Praise of Hydrophilic Felines
The group writing theme this month is “Raining cats and dogs.” It took me a while to sign up because absolutely nothing came to me regarding this theme, other than looking up the origin of the saying. According to this site, no one is quite sure where it came from, but there are several theories.
But then I started thinking about rain and cats, as dogs are overrepresented in this theme, which led me to think about water in general and cats, which led me to remember a question that was asked once on “My Cat from Hell“: Which of the following is not a natural food for cats?
I don’t remember all the choices, but I do remember that the correct answer was “fish.” I got it right because when looking at the choices, it occurred to me that since cats generally do not like water and in fact, domestic cats seem to have arisen first in the deserts of the Mideast, it was unlikely that fish would be a primary food in the wild.
And yet, cats and fish have become inextricably linked to the point of cliche, in cartoons, commercials, and food bowls.
Certain breeds of cats and individual cats do, however, like the water and have been known to go for a swim now and then. Many owners report that their cats may not like to get wet, but are fascinated by water. I had one such cat, my beloved long-haired black cat, Boo. And her hydro-curiosity, rather than costing me money, actually saved me from a flooding disaster.
Boo came to me as a stray kitten whom I later found out was abandoned by a family that was told they couldn’t have cats in their apartment. I was in the same apartment complex but my illicit feline had thus far escaped detection, so when Boo found her way to my door, I took her in to keep my other cat company. Yes, I was a scofflaw, although in my defense, I was a student and when I got my first cat, there was going to be a vote on whether to allow cats in the complex. I was sure the answer was going to be yes, but was quite wrong. But since I was already harboring a fugitive, I thought I may as well harbor two.
Boo was from an early age completely transfixed by running water. She would put her head under the faucet to let the water pool on her head and then tip it to watch it drip off. When we moved to a complex with a pool (and where cats were legal), I saw that she ignored the “no pets allowed” sign and would slip under the fence to dip her paw in the pool.
She was a great cure for leaving half-full glasses around the house because she loved to tip them over to watch the water run out. Living in drought-prone California, I always catch the cold water in a pitcher while waiting for the water to warm up in the bathtub so I can use it to water the plants. In reality, you don’t have to run the hot water in the bathtub very long, because our complex has a circulating hot water line to ensure you never have to wait very long. So it would take several showers to fill up one pitcher. One night I was hearing some strange sounds from the bathroom as I was falling asleep but I was too tired to investigate. All of sudden my eyes flew open: Water pitcher! Sure enough, my little 8 lb. Boo had maneuvered the almost full glass pitcher all the way to the counter’s edge and was about to send it overboard.
Thus far, the astute reader may notice that Boo was more likely to cause floods than prevent them. But wait, there’s more.
Our building was scheduled for re-plumbing in order to move the hot water pipes from running under the building to running through the attic space. My unit is on the second floor so the plumbers had cut various holes in my walls to run the pipes and there was a gaping one in my hallway. I had covered it up partially, to prevent Boo from ending up inside the wall, as she never passed up an opportunity to go where no cat had gone before. The poor plumbers were there from early morning till well after dark trying to get the work done in one day so they could turn the water on. I was impatient because I had exercised that evening and wanted a shower. Finally, around 9 p.m., they had checked everything for leaks and gave me the all-clear.
As I was preparing for my shower, I kept passing Boo in the hallway. She was sitting and staring intently at the exposed pipes in the wall. I figured she was judging whether she could slip past my partial blockade and disappear into the wall. Just as I stepped into the shower, once again a lightbulb went off: Water!. I got out and went to the hallway. Sure enough, the object of Boo’s fascination was not the hole in the wall but the water dripping down the pipes. I ran outside in my bathrobe hoping I could catch the plumbers before they left. They were sitting around having a cigarette when I gave them the bad news.
I could see them rolling their eyes and one said it was likely condensation, but they agreed to check it out. One went up into my attic and all of a sudden screamed: “Shut the water off!” It turns out the pipe joint had not been tightened properly and was spewing hot water everywhere. By the time they got the water off, the light fixture in my hall was filling up with very hot water. I swear I could see it boiling and steaming. If it weren’t for Boo, the water would have burst through and flooded my hallway with scalding water while I was in the shower and the plumbers would have been long gone. Not only would it have caused considerable water damage but I would not have been able to get out of the apartment easily without risking burns as it was right next to the only door.
The plumbers thanked me for catching the leak but, of course, it wasn’t me, it was my hydrophilic feline Boo!
Postscript: Boo received a generous reward of freshly cooked halibut for several days and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it was not her natural food.
Published in Group Writing
My dog Bob congratulates your cat Boo for saving your apartment from a hydrophilic disaster.
That means a lot coming from Bob.
Some like fish, for some reason unfathomable to me.
I actually bought the fish specially for her because I generally have to be forced to eat fish.
I knew a cat that would go crazy for black olives, like it was catnip. He wouldn’t touch green olives.
A discerning cat and true to her Mid Eastern roots. Black olives are better. Your comment caused me to look up the difference between the two. Just as with black tea and green tea, it’s the same olive but black olives are ripened and are processed somewhat differently to reduce the bitterness.
We have one of those water loving kittens as well. All the rest of the herd (we have 5 total at the moment) stays clear of everything but the circulating water fountain for their drinking needs. But Eowyn loves to jump up on the counter and stick her head under the faucet for a drink while I am cleaning dishes or getting water for something.
Her sister Tauriel once inadvertently joined me in the hot tub in our bathroom. I typically only open half of the tub’s cover, and she will sit and keep me company while I read in the tub. However one day her footing was bad, and in she went. It was without my encouragement.
She did not exactly spaz at the complete soaking, but doesn’t join me as frequently as she use to….
Tauriel,
And her sister Eowyn,
Delightful kitties! I have a friend who accidentally started the washer with her cat in it. One of my cat-owning nightmares. Fortunately, it was a front loader and she noticed right away. The kitty was traumatized but fine after $1500 at the veterinary hospital. I hope Eowyn is more careful!
Only one of the cats we have had exhibited any fondness for actual fish. One other liked “fish flavored” cat food, but would turn down actual fish. Most of our cats were more interested in poultry. Then there was the neighbor’s cat that would appear if, and only if, we were cooking beef.
A former coworker tried using a squirt water bottle to help teach his kittens not to do certain things like scratch the furniture (a squirt from the water bottle whenever he found them doing a behavior to be discouraged). Unfortunately for the teaching process, one of the kittens decided the stream of water was fun to play with, defeating any deterrence effect.
Eowyn has never been though any traumatic learning experience, so she keeps doing dumb things. Tauriel has had two revolutions in the dryer.
Linda was loading from the top loading washer to the front loading dryer, and Tauriel was sitting on the “cleaned*” clothes basket in front of the just emptied dryer bin keeping her company. After Linda tossed the last bit of wet clothing into the dryer, flipped the lid up, punched the start button, turned and bent over to pick up the basket….. And quickly noticed no kitten. She immediately pulled the dryer door open and sure enough that silly cat hopped in unnoticed on the last toss of wet britches into the breech.
She was shaken and stirred, but otherwise fine. I really don’t think it was too life altering for her since she will still occasionally hop into the open dryer on a nice pile of warm clothes. So now we have a “cat check” procedure in place before anyone hits the start button.
*Clean in our house now includes a certain count of cat hairs, it’s inevitable.
Yep. You’re singing from my hymnal, brother.
Amen!
Our daughter’s late cat insisted on drinking from the bathroom sink faucet. If either household human was in the bathroom, she insisted the faucet be turned on for her to take a drink. She (the cat, not my daughter) rarely drank from either her still water dish or from the circulating water fountain the humans supplied for her.
A hydrophilic cat is far better than a dousing stick, apparently.
This conversation is part of our Group Writing Series under the August 2019 Group Writing Theme: Raining Cats and Dogs. Share your favorite story of rain, reign, and maybe cats and dogs, however loosely construed. There are plenty of dates still available. Our schedule and sign-up sheet awaits.
Interested in Group Writing topics that came before? See the handy compendium of monthly themes. Check out links in the Group Writing Group. You can also join the group to get a notification when a new monthly theme is posted.
And of course, her humans humored her. I know that because I know I would! You wonder what goes on in their little heads (and ours). I had one cat who preferred the dirty water in the plant saucers to her clean water dish, even a fancy aerated one.
I am clearly in the right group of people here!! Cats rule us, too. And the cat hair count is just a part of life, and has been for the entire 45 years we’ve been married…
Veloce
This is the hydrophilic kitty who used to own me many years ago. She learned to turn on the kitchen faucet so she could play in the water. Problem was, she didn’t learn to turn it off when she was finished playing, so we’d come in and find the water running and nobody around. We finally had to change the faucet handles from the elephant-ear style to a harder to turn variety.
Or maybe she didn’t choose to turn it off.
I had one cat, the one and only Pooh, who loved tomato sauce.
One of my quirks is that I enjoy eating chilled stewed tomatoes. At one point in my life I would keep a couple of cans of stewed tomatoes in the fridge.
So there I was, one day after work, sitting on the back porch, eating chilled stewed tomatoes out of the can with a spoon. Pooh was at my feet demanding his share of my tomatoes, which I wasn’t planning on sharing with him.
But, since he was being adorable I stuck my spoon into the can and reached down to stroke him and scritch him behind his ears. As I leaned down Pooh, seeing his opportunity, busted a move: he leaped up and batted the handle of the spoon, flipping it out of the can along with a small serving of tomato and tomato juice, which splattered on the concrete patio. Victory!
Pooh, now ignoring me, enjoyed his winnings.
Pooh was the best cat. I loved him.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re a Tolkien fan.
It’s a limb with a very strong base.
I had a friend with a pair of Maine Coons that were trained to do numerous canine-esque tricks (High-5, Fetch, Roll over, etc).
The training process was not cheap as the reward was Sushi….
He sounds like a cat I would like to have known. Deviousness coupled with adorableness is a winning combination in a cat. Even when they do something wrong, you can’t help but admire their machinations and skill. Perhaps that is the way the domesticated cat first got hold of fish.