THE STORY OF MISCHIEF
My cat Mischief has a rather interesting story. When I first got her, I was trying to decide whether to call her Mischief or Trouble. But truthfully-speaking, either name fits her perfectly, because she gets into trouble multiple times every single day. I think her memory is about half a second long, because I will scold her for something, and she will be right back at it again without a pause. When she sets her mind on doing something, there is just no changing it. If I try to force my will on her, all I end up doing is getting frustrated myself. Thus, quite often, she wins the battle. She is one majorly stubborn, insistent, persistent and very independent cat. In other words, Mischief acts just like a normal cat! You cat lovers will know EXACTLY what I mean.
Mischief is what we here on Guam call a boonie cat. We have boonie cats and boonie dogs here. I guess in the mainland USA, you folks would call these creatures strays. Well, in our immediate neighborhood, there is a clan of boonie cats. They survive by eating moths, lizards, etc., and whatever else the neighbors tend to feed them. Years ago, they were initially an assortment of colors including black, tabbies and calicos. However, in recent years, it seems that the black variety has won out genetically-speaking. So, the current cat clan consists of maybe four or five black adult boonie cats, plus their kittens.
Well, that was until recently. There is a new tomcat in the neighborhood who I have dubbed "Whitey", and who I sometimes refer to as "Mr. Chunky", because he is a very muscular, well-built, white tomcat with light brown bars on his tail, and a slight tinge of brown on the tips of his ears as well. Even though he is an adult, he still has blue eyes. But this guy is really stocky; not fat, just stocky in build, as toms usually are. He is also very laid back and affectionate, and he loves to get his head, chin and body rubs from me.
Like the other neighborhood boonie cats, at first "Whitey" did not trust me. Thus, he would keep his distance. However, I know how to easily win the heart of a cat. It really isn't that hard to do. Not surprisingly, after just a few days of offering him canned tuna, "Whitey" soon realized that I am his friend, and not his foe. Now he regularly comes to my door waiting for a free handout. In fact, I have even let him inside my house to eat.
Anyway, I am not even sure how many neighborhood cats there are right now, because one never sees them all at the same time. Not only that, but in my case, I usually see them during the early morning hours when it is still very dark outside, thus making it difficult to differentiate once cat from another. Going by their size and age, and what I have learned about each one of them, I believe that there are approximately four or five different generations of cats in the immediate area right now.
At any rate, as some of you will know, I do my outdoor stairs exercise every other morning around 3:30 to 4:00 AM. That is, when I get started on time. Sometimes it is hard to drag my old carcase out of bed. I am not exactly a spring chicken anymore; so doing any level of exercise at my age is a real mental and physical challenge. It takes a lot of will power and self discipline.
But to continue my story, one day last year, 2020 -- I can't remember exactly when; probably between March and May -- as I was doing my exercise, I heard a tiny meow coming from under the stairwell. So, I eventually got my flashlight in order to have a peek. Even with the flashlight, it was still very dark, but I managed to see two kittens in a makeshift nest. I would later discover that there were actually four kittens in the litter in all: two black ones, and two gray ones.
As much as I love animals, one thing which I had never done up until that point last year was feed the outdoor cats, because I knew from experience what would happen if I did feed them. Some of you reading this no doubt know as well. They would constantly be at my door wanting more food like a band of freeloaders.
However, being soft-hearted as I am when it comes to God's creatures, I took pity on momma boonie cat because she was nursing. Thus, I started feeding her and her kittens two 5-ounce cans of tuna every other morning when I went out to do my stairs exercise. This became a regular routine which they came to anticipate. In fact, eventually, momma and the kittens, along with daddy cat, would come up the stairs to eat just outside my door. I had gained all of their trust.
But one day, perhaps two months later, for reasons which I didn't understand at the time, mommy and daddy cat, and three of the siblings just disappeared from under the stairwell. Two days later when I went outside to exercise, I heard this most pitiful cry coming from the nearby bushes. After some coaxing, a little, black, scrawny, hungry kitty came out. I felt so sorry for her. She was left totally abandoned for some reason. I knew that she would not survive on her own. She probably hadn't even been weaned at that time.
So, naturally, I continued to feed her whenever I went out to exercise every other morning. But, my gosh! Then she started following me up and down the stairs as I did my exercise, and it would trip me up and break my stride. So, I got smart and started feeding her between my front door and the screen door, so I could continue to exercise while she ate. If she finished before I did, she would start whining and climbing the screen door in her attempt to get out.
Well, I knew where this was headed. What a little con artist she was! That little kitty was already scheming against me and slowly weakening my resolve. The truth is that she had already won my heart, and I knew it. However, after losing my last three cats over six years ago, and after developing DVT, Pulmonary Emboli, and longer-lasting chest coughs in 2017, I decided that having another cat just wouldn't be a very wise move. In other words, litter dust and cat hairs wouldn't be good for my lungs, or for my computers and other electronic equipment.
That was my firm position ... at least until Mischief was deserted by her family. So, it was on November 7th of last year -- 2020 -- that I let her into the house to eat for the first time. My friends, she felt right at home, probably because I had already fully gained her trust. And that is how Mischief went from being an outside boonie cat, to being an indoor house cat. We have been together ever since.
Regarding the rest of her family which had mysteriously disappeared one day in 2020, I eventually learned that our landlord had taken away momma cat and daddy cat, along with three of the kittens. When I questioned him about it some months later, he smiled and told me that he had taken them to another one of his rental properties, in order to help take care of the snakes. But I guess he hadn't realized that he had missed one young kitten, which eventually became my dear Mischief. Come on now, everybody. Awwww! How cute!
But let me tell you. Mischief is living the good life! Boy do I spoil her! Her diet consists of Iams cat food, canned tuna and milk. Of course, she prefers the canned tuna. In fact, at the time that I first wrote this piece in November of 2020, she was enjoying a mixture of tuna and Thanksgiving turkey. That feast lasted for about a week. She also likes scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, chicken, and on occasion, cheese crackers.
But the truth is that Mischief wants to try every single thing that I eat, even though I know that she won't like it. I will give her a tiny bit, and then she will realize that I was right. She is really insistent on wanting to try peanut butter, but I always resist giving it to her, because it would probably really mess up her digestive system. However, I do let her lick the bowl after I have eaten a peanut butter honey sandwich. Oh well; it is just a small compromise.
A month ago, Mischief went into heat for the first time, and she has gone into heat since then as well. With tropical cats, estrus occurs about once a month. But let me tell you. It is enough to drive a person crazy. She will sit next to the front door in the middle of the night and make cat calls to the cats outside, because she wants a boyfriend. It is called caterwauling, for those of you who are not familiar with the term. When female cats caterwaul, it sounds as if they are in agony and dying. It can be really intense. On top of that, in her desperation to get outside, she will do her best to climb to the top of the door frame, which is about seven feet from the floor. I have made a few videos of her doing it.
But the worst part of Mischief being in heat is that she constantly wakes me up during the night, because she is so insistent that I open the front door so that she can look outside for a while, and make cat calls. In fact, I think that is what drew "Whitey" into our neighborhood for the first time a few weeks ago. He probably picked up on her pheromones in the air. He has become a permanent fixture since then, which I enjoy because he is so lovable. I now feed him regularly, along with all of the other boonie cats.
Mischief is extremely insistent about me opening the front door for her, and she will persist until I surrender and get out of bed. In fact, she has this strategy where she will purposely sit on the bed right next to my head, and softly meow as if to say "Hey lazy bones! Why aren't you awake? The night is still young! Get your butt out of bed!"
Now, if I resist getting up, she will then begin the paw treatment. What she does is place her paw lightly on my face, usually on my nose, and then withdraw it. She will then sit there silently, waiting to see if I will react. If I don't react, it is a light paw on the face again, and another silent moment as she waits to see what I will do. This will go on until she either gives up, or until I yield to her feline demands. I think you already know who usually wins these nighttime battles for dominance. Yeah; not me!
And, yes, as you may possibly suspect, Mischief is like a child to me. You other animal lovers will know EXACTLY what I mean. I didn't realize how emotionally attached I had become to her until about a week ago when she escaped from the house to take a daytime romp. The thought that she might never come home really saddened me and stressed me out. I went outside multiple times during the day to call out her name, in the hope that she would return. Well, about twelve hours later, after it had turned dark outside, Little Miss Independent, the renegade cat, finally came home, thank God! She knows where love, food, a warm bed and safety can be found. You little freeloader!
My friends, I hope that I never have to go through that kind of ordeal again! It was heart-wrenching, to say the least! But ever since that adventure occurred, Mischief constantly patrols the front door, and is constantly demanding that I open it at all hours of the day and night. She has no regard for my need to sleep ... even though she sleeps anywhere from twelve to twenty hours a day! You little hypocrite!
Anyway, I have so many stories I could tell you about my dear rascal, Mischief. We have grown very close over the past five months since I first took her in. She regularly sleeps in bed with me, sometimes laying right across my chest while I softly stroke her head, neck, chin and back. Like all cats, she just loves her rubby dubbies. She has piles of toys, most of which were made from household items. But her most favorite toy at the moment is a catnip fishy toy which she plays with every day, and constantly carries around to different rooms in the house.
Being as we are so close, it should come as no surprise that I have been making videos of Mischief, just as you would make regular family videos. In fact, I just checked, and to date, I have made a total of 108 videos of Mischief and her friends, which are from about two minute to twenty-five minutes in length. I have been making them to send to my elderly mom who lives in the US mainland. She is also an animal lover and really enjoys watching them. We now call her Mischief's foster mom.
In fact, a few months ago, my mom purchased a really nice PetSafe automatic, hooded litter box for Mischief on Amazon. It was on the expensive side, but it works really well, and it saves me so much time from not having to scoop litter every single day. Plus, there is so much less litter dust in the house now, which is good for both my health, and for my electronic equipment. Mischief took to the new litter box in less than a day, and she has no fear of the motor whatsoever.
Anyway, that is an introduction to my cat, Mischief. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
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