Thursday, July 05, 2007

Death in the House

Today Ella drowned her mouse.

When I got up this morning, I found it floating, belly up, in her water dish. The water had taken on a distinctly tan color.

I've heard she does this at home with her favorite mouse, which she's had since kittenhood and which now resembles something out of a horror movie. No one knows why she does this. Maybe she figures she can't kill it any other way. Maybe she likes the taste of old catnip that seeps through the cloth to flavor the water. Who can fathom the mind of a cat?

This is the first time she's attempted murder in our house. In the last two years, she's stayed with us off and on when our oldest son and his wife have been away a week or so. The new, stuffed mouse we bought to keep here has always been just that - a new, stuffed mouse.

Today it is drowned.

Ella is a short haired, dark tortoise shell cat with big, green eyes. She loves staying here. It's always an adjustment when she comes, however. She gives us kisses and asks for her head to be scratched, goes potty, eats a few chows and laps a little water, then she explores all the high places and ends her arrival by crawling under a bed to sleep for the next twelve hours.

On this visit she's reached the point of trust where she allows us to pick her up. Perhaps this is why I found the soaked mouse this morning. Perhaps she's letting us know she feels comfortable enough now to even commit murder in this place.

Who knows. Do you?

Dee Ann
heists2683@mypacks.net
Posted by Dee Ann Palmer 12:32 PM 4 Comments:

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