Our cat Bonnie has a new nickname: Cop Car Border Czar. She earned it.
We adopted Bonnie almost three years ago. At the time she was a four month old adorable young cat who was all ears and eyes. Now she’s our mostly lazy house cat. Her precious pink paws have never touched grass or the bark of a tree. She has multiple scratching post options throughout our home. Yet, she oftentimes prefers the right side of my recliner.
Today’s story is how she’s a keeper despite the last sentence.
The incident occurred one very early July morning. Most days I get up before the sun. On this summer morning, I opened our front door inviting the only cool air of the day into our home. Our screen door is one of my favorite features of our home.
On the day Bonnie became our hero, there was something different about our screen door. The day before my husband, Larry, had removed the welcome mat which rests snuggly against the slightest opening at the base of the door. He had power washed it and left it to dry just feet away from the door.
Apparently a very tiny mouse decided to seize this opportunity to gain access. That’s when the feline instincts of our house cat sprung into action.
My husband was the first on the scene. By the time he discovered our cat and the intruder, Bonnie had been “playing” with her living toy for a while. That’s when the above photo was taken.
Though still alive, the mouse seemed to have assumed a posture of surrender. My husband reached down to retrieve the now tortured uninvited guest. Before he could grab it, Bonnie did. She ran down the hall with a mouthful of mouse, dropping it just before it scurried under our bed.
By now, the tiny trespasser’s mouse moxie was depleted. Larry was able to retrieve the mouse without resistance.
Bonnie was not ready for the feline festivities to be over. She spent the rest of that day, guarding underneath our bed.
From that morning on, she waits each morning at the front door for her living toy to return. We’ve wised up. Never will I open the door unless the welcome mat is securely in place. But, our cat doesn’t know that.
In between napping and scratching furniture, Bonnie waits in “caticipation” for her next adventure.
“Your house will always be blessed with love, laughter, and friendship if you have a cat.” Lewis Carroll
Oh no, no little rodents running loose around the house, please!
Caticipation. I love it. My family only learned to appreciate cats (we are dog people) when we had a rodent problem 15 years ago. We went to the local animal shelter and found one cat who was known to be an avid mouser. That was the one. She did not disappoint. She even taught one of our dogs to hunt mice!