The Cat With Nine Lives

Okay, honestly, I don’t know if the cat in question had nine lives. I do know it had more than one. . .or two.

We were at my sister-in-law’s farm in Blackfoot Idaho. Tragically we were there because my 16 year old niece had died in a farming accident. The family was devastated, of course.

Their house wasn’t big enough for everyone to stay inside, so many of us stayed in tents on their property. They own a dairy farm. There are lots of animals. Cows, of course. Sheep. Horses. Dogs. And cats. Most of the animals had to work for their keep. And that included the cats. They were typical farm cats. They were half wild and had the run of the outside.

And that’s what got this particular cat in trouble. The cat was a Tom cat: an unneutered Tom. He decided that we were encroaching on his territory. So, like Toms will do, he started marking his territory by spraying the tents. This was very unpleasant for those of us who were staying in the tents.

My sister-in-law was not in a mood to deal with a cat, while grieving her daughter. She addressed her teenage sons;

I want the cat GONE!

Animals were killed when they outlived their usefulness. And in her opinion the cat had definitely reached that point. She left it up to her boys to take care of it. Now, one of her sons had recently returned from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was allowed to cut his 2 year mission short by a few weeks to attend his sister’s funeral. He got a .22 rifle and we took the cat out to the backyard. Their house was surrounded by alfalfa fields.

As we walked out to the backyard, I suggested,

Don’t you think we should secure the cat? As soon as you fire that rifle the cat’s going to run.

I won’t miss!

He took aim and:

BAM!

BAM!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

He eventually stopped firing because the cat run into the house. He missed.

So, shooting the cat didn’t work. They decided to capture the cat and secure it into a burlap bag.

It clawed its way out of the bag.

Eventually, someone from another farm offered to adopt the cat. It could be still alive as far as I know.

Not sure if it has nine lives, but it has at least three.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany II, an anthology including his latest short story, “The Mercy System” here

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