[Illustration: CHAPTER VIII.]
_Of some amiable Cats, and Cats that have been good Mothers._
To lead a “Cat and Dog life” means a good deal of scratching and biting;
but Dogs and Cats have been known to get on very amiably before now.
[Illustration: CAT AND DOG LIFE. _Page 139._]
There was a Cat which had formed a very warm friendship with a large
Newfoundland dog: she continually caressed him--advanced in all haste when
he came home, with her tail erect, and rubbed her head against him,
purring with delight. When he lay before the kitchen fire, she used him as
a bed, pulling up and settling his hair with her claws to make it
comfortable. As soon as she had arranged it to her liking, she lay down
upon him, and fell asleep. The dog bore this combing of his locks with
patient placidity, turning his head towards her during the operation, and
sometimes gently licked her.
Pincher and Puss were sworn friends. Puss had a young family, with whom
Pincher was on visiting terms. The nursery was at the top of the house.
One day there was a storm; Puss was upstairs with the babies, and Pincher
was in the parlour. Pincher evidently was disturbed by the thunder.
Presently Puss came down-stairs mewing, went straight to Pincher, rubbed
her cheek against his, and touched him gently with her paw, and then
walked to the door, and, looking back, mewed, as though asking him go with
her. But Pincher was himself sorely afraid, and could render no
assistance. Puss grew desperate, and having renewed her application with
increased energy, but without success, at last left the room, mewing
piteously, while Pincher sat, with a guilty face, evidently knowing his
conduct was selfish. A lady, who had watched this scene, went out to
look after the Cat, when the animal, mewing, led the way to a bed-room on
the first floor, from under a wardrobe in which a small voice was heard
crying. Puss had brought one of her babies down-stairs, and was racked
with anxiety respecting its welfare while she fetched the others. It was
as clear as possible she wanted Pincher to lend a paw--that is to say,
look after this isolated infant while she brought down the rest. The lady
took up the kitten in her arms, and accompanied Puss up-stairs, then moved
the little bed from the window, through which the lightning had been
flashing so vividly as to alarm Puss for the safety of her family. She
remained with the Cat until the storm had subsided, and all was calm. On
the following morning, the lady was much surprised to find Puss waiting
for her outside her bed-room door, and she went with her down-stairs to
breakfast, sat by her side, and caressed her in every possible way. Puss
had always been in the habit of going down with the lady of the house, but
on this occasion she had resisted all her mistress’s coaxing to leave the
other lady’s door, and would not go away until she made her appearance.
She remained till breakfast was over, then went up-stairs to her family.
She had never done this before, and never did it again. She had shown
her gratitude for the lady’s care of her little ones, and her duty was
done.
A gentleman, residing in Sussex, had a Cat which showed the greatest
attachment for a young blackbird, which was given to her by a stable-boy
for food a day or two after she had been deprived of her kittens. She
tended it with the greatest care; they became inseparable companions, and
no mother could show a greater fondness for her offspring than she did for
the bird.
This incongruity of attachment in animals will generally be found to arise
either from the feelings of natural affection which the mother is
possessed of, or else from that love of sociability, and dislike of being
alone, which is possessed, more or less, by every created being.
A Horse and Cat were great friends, and the latter generally slept in the
manger. When the horse was about to be fed, he always took up the Cat
gently by the skin of the neck, and dropped her into the next stall, that
she might not be in his way while he was feeding. At other times, he was
pleased to have her near him.
Mr. Bingley tells of a friend of his who had a Cat and Dog that were
always fighting. At last the dog conquered, and the Cat was driven away;
but the servant, whose sweetheart the dog disturbed, poisoned him, and his
body was carried lifeless into the courtyard. The Cat, from a neighbouring
roof, was observed to watch the motions of several persons who went up to
look at him, and when all had retired, he descended and crept cautiously
towards the body, then patted it with his paw. Apparently satisfied that
the dog’s day was over, Puss re-entered the house and washed his face
before the fire.
The Reverend Gilbert White, in his amusing book, tells of a boy, who
having taken three little young squirrels in their nest or “dray,” put
these small creatures under the care of a Cat that had lately lost her
kittens, and found that she nursed and suckled them with the same
assiduity and affection as if they were her own offspring. This
circumstance, to some extent, corroborates the stories told of deserted
children being nurtured by female beasts of prey who had lost their young,
of the truth of which some authors have seriously vouched. Many people
went to see the little squirrels suckled by the Cat, and the foster mother
became jealous of her charge, and fearing for their safety, hid them over
the ceiling, where one died. This circumstance proves her affection for
the fondlings, and that she supposed them to be her young. In like fashion
hens, when they have hatched ducklings, are as attached to them as though
they were their own chickens.
The first public exhibition of a “happy family” in England, was one
started at Coventry, about thirty-two years ago, and began with Cats,
Rats, and Pigeons in one cage. The proprietor of a happy family gave Mr.
Henry Mayhew some amusing particulars on the subject. Among other things,
he said that Mr. Monkey was very fond of the Cat, probably for warmth. He
would cuddle her for an hour at a time, but if Miss Pussy would not lie
still to suit his comfort, he would hug her round the neck and try to pull
her down. If then she became vexed, he would be afraid to face her, but
stealing slily behind, would give her tail end a nip with his teeth. The
Cat and Monkey were the best of friends as long as Miss Pussy would lie
still to be cuddled, and suit his convenience. The Monkey would be Mr.
Master in a happy family. For that reason the proprietor would not allow
either of his Cats to kitten in the cage, because Mr. Monkey would be sure
to want to know all about it, and then it would be open war, for if he
went to touch Miss Pussy or her babies, there would be a fight. Now a
Monkey is always very fond of anything young, such as a kitten, and he and
Miss Pussy would want to nurse the children. The Monkey liked very much to
get hold of a kitten and he would nurse it in his arms like a baby. The
Cats and the Birds were good friends indeed: they would perch on her back,
and even on her head, and peck at her fur. A strange Cat was introduced
into the cage, and the moment she made her entry, she looked round in a
scared way, and made a dart upon the animal nearest her, namely the owl;
the Monkey immediately ran behind and bit her tail, and the other Cats’
hair swelled up, and they seemed on the point of flying at the stranger.
The Rats fled in terror, and the little Birds fluttered on their perches
with fear.
A priest of Lucerne, I don’t know how many hundred years ago, taught a
Dog, Cat, Mouse and Sparrow, to eat out of the same plate. There is also a
somewhat unsatisfactory legend of a maiden lady who induced twenty-two
different animals to live together upon friendly terms.
Lemmery shut up a Cat and several Mice together in a cage. The Mice in
time got to be very friendly, and plucked and nibbled at their feline
friend. When any of them grew troublesome, she would gently box their
ears. A German magazine tells us of a M. Hecart, who tamed a wild Cat and
placed a tame sparrow under its protection. Another Cat attacked the
Sparrow, which was at the most critical moment rescued by its protector.
During the Sparrows subsequent illness, the Cat watched over it with great
tenderness. The same authority gives an instance of a Cat trained like a
watch dog, to keep guard over a yard containing a Hare, and some Sparrows,
Blackbirds and Partridges.
Captain Marryat, in his amusing way, relates this anecdote. A little black
spaniel had five puppies, which were considered too many for her to bring
up. As, however, the breed was much in request, her mistress was unwilling
that any of them should be destroyed, and asked the cook whether she
thought it would be possible to bring a portion of them up by hand before
the kitchen fire. In reply, the cook observed that the Cat had that day
littered, and that, perhaps, two puppies might be substituted. The Cat
made no objection, took to them kindly, and gradually all the kittens were
taken away, and the Cat nursed the two puppies only. Now the first
curiosity was, that the two puppies nursed by the Cat were, in a
fortnight, as active, forward, and playful as kittens would have been;
they had the use of their legs, basked and gambolled about; while the
other three, nursed by the mother, were whining and rolling about like fat
slugs. The Cat gave them her tail to play with, and they were always in
motion; they soon ate meat, and long before the others they were fit to be
removed. This was done, and the Cat became very inconsolable. She prowled
about the house, and on the second day of tribulation, fell in with the
little spaniel who was nursing the other puppies.
“Oh!” says Puss, putting up her back, “it is you who have stolen my
children.”
“No!” replied the Spaniel, with a snarl; “they are my own flesh and
blood.”
“That won’t do,” said the Cat; “I’ll take my oath, before any Justice of
the Peace, that you have my two babies.”
Thereupon issue was joined--that is to say, there was a desperate combat,
which ended in the defeat of the Spaniel, and in the Cat walking off
proudly with one of the puppies, which she took to her own bed. Having
deposited this one, she returned, fought again, gained another victory,
and bore off another puppy. Now, it is very singular that she should have
only taken two, the exact number she had been deprived of.
A lady had a tortoiseshell Cat and a black and white one. A few years ago,
the latter was observed to carry her kitten, when two or three days old,
to her companion, who brought it up with her own kitten, though of a
different age, with all the tenderness of a mother. This was done time
after time, for several years; but last year it was reversed, the black
and white Cat taking her turn to discharge the duties of wet-nurse to the
kitten of the other. It is probable that a deficiency of milk was the
cause of the Cats not suckling their young.
I find in the _Leisure Hour_ this story:--
“A lady of the writer’s acquaintance was once walking amid the scenery of
the Isle of Wight, when she observed a little kitten curled up on a mossy
bank, in all the security of a mid-day nap. It was a beautiful little
creature, and the lady gently approached, in order to stroke it, when
suddenly down swooped a hawk, pounced upon the sleeping kitten, and
completely hid it from her sight. It was a kestrel: our friend was greatly
shocked, and tried to rescue the little victim; but the kestrel stood at
bay and refused to move. There he stood on the bank, firmly facing her,
and all her efforts to drive him from his prey failed. The lady hurried
on to a fisherman’s cottage, which was near at hand, and told of the
little tragedy with the eloquence of real feeling.
“But the fisher-folk were not so disconcerted, and, laughing, said--
“‘It is always so; that hawk always comes down if anybody goes near the
kitten. He has taken to the kitten, and he stays near at hand to watch
whenever it goes to sleep.’
“The case was so remarkable that the lady enquired further into its
history, and learned that the kitten’s mother had died, and that the
fisherman’s family had missed the little nurseling. After some time, they
observed a kestrel hawk loitering about the cottage: they used to throw
him scraps of meat, and they noticed that he always carried off a portion
of every meal, dragging even heavy bones away out of sight. His movements
were watched, and they saw that he carried the stores to the roof of a
cottage. A ladder was placed, some one ascended, and there, nestling in a
hole in the thatch, lay the lost kitten, thriving prosperously under the
tender care of its strange foster-father. The foundling was brought down,
and restored to civilized life, but the bandit-protector was not
disposed to resign his charge, and ever kept at hand to fly to the rescue
whenever dangerous ladies threatened it with a caress.”
The following instance of maternal courage and affection is recorded in
the _Naturalists’ Cabinet_:--
“A Cat that had a numerous brood of kittens, encouraged her little ones to
frolic one summer day in the sunshine, at a stable-door. A hawk sailing
by, saw them: swift as lightning it darted down on one of the kittens, and
would have carried it off, but the mother, seeing its danger, sprang upon
the common enemy, which, to defend itself, let fall the prize. The battle
that followed was terrible, for the hawk, by the power of his wings, the
sharpness of his talons, and the keenness of his beak, had for awhile the
advantage, cruelly lacerating the poor Cat, and had actually deprived her
of one eye in the conflict; but Puss, no way daunted by this accident,
strove with all her cunning and agility for her little ones, till she had
broken the wing of her adversary. In this state she got him more within
the power of her claws, the hawk still defending himself apparently with
additional vigour; and the fight continued with equal fury on the side of
Grimalkin, to the great entertainment of many spectators. At length,
victory seemed to favour the nearly exhausted mother, and she availed
herself of the advantage; for, by an instantaneous exertion, she laid the
hawk motionless beneath her feet, and, as if exulting in the victory, tore
off the head of the vanquished tyrant. Disregarding the loss of her eye,
she immediately ran to the bleeding kitten, licked the wounds inflicted by
the hawk’s talons on its tender sides, purring while she caressed her
liberated offspring, with the same maternal affection as if no danger had
assailed them or their affectionate parent.”
A lady writer says:--
“Soon after I came to Middlehill, a small tortoise-shell Cat met my
children on the road, and followed them home. They, of course, when they
saw her, petted and stroked her, and showed their inclination to become
friends. She is one of the smallest and most active of full grown Cats I
ever saw. From the first she gave evidences of being of a wild and
predatory disposition, and made sad havoc among the rabbits, squirrels,
and birds. I have several times seen her carrying along a rabbit half as
big as herself. Many would exclaim, that, for so nefarious a deed, she
ought to have been shot; but I confess to having the feelings of the
unsophisticated Arab, the descendant of Ishmael, and as she had tasted
of my salt, and taken refuge under my roof, besides being the pet of my
children, I could not bring myself to order her destruction. Before this
we had discovered her lawful owner, a poor cottager, and had sent her
back; but each time that she was sent away, she returned to our porch; so
we made her by purchase legitimately ours. She seemed to be aware of the
transaction, and from that time became perfectly at home, and adopted
civilised habits, though she still continued very frequently to indulge in
a rabbit-hunt. I had added a fine dog to my establishment, to act as a
watchman over the wood yard and stables. She and he were at first on fair
terms,--a sort of armed neutrality. In process of time, however, she
became the mother of a litter of kittens. With the exception of one, they
shared the fate of other kittens. When she discovered the loss of her
hopeful family, she wandered about looking for them, in a very melancholy
way, till, encountering the dog Carlo, it seemed suddenly to strike her
that he had been guilty of that act of barbarous spoliation. With back up,
she approached, and flew at him with the greatest fury, till blood dropped
from his nose, and though ten times her size, he fairly turned tail and
fled. Her surviving kitten was the very picture of herself, and inheriting
also all her predatory habits; when it grew up, I was obliged to give it
away. It left the house in the neighbouring town to which I sent it,
however, and was afterwards seen domesticated in a stable yard. Pussy and
Carlo now became friends again; at least, they never interfered with each
other. Pussy, however, to her cost, still continued her hunting
expeditions. The rabbits had committed great depredations in the garden,
and the gardener had procured two rabbit-traps; one had been set a
considerable distance from the house, and fixed securely in the ground.
One morning, the nurse heard a plaintive mewing at the nursery window. She
opened it, and in crawled poor Pussy, dragging the heavy iron rabbit-trap,
in the teeth of which her fore foot was caught. I was called in, and
assisted to release her; her paw swelled, and for some days she could not
move out of the basket in which she was placed before the fire. Though
suffering intense pain, she must have perceived that the only way to
release herself, was to dig up the trap, and then she must have dragged
her heavy clog up many steep paths to the room where she knew her kindest
friends, nurse and the children, for whom she had the greatest
affection, were to be found. Carlo was caught before in the same trap, and
he bit at it and at everything around, and severely injured the gardener
who went to release him, biting his arm and legs, and tearing his trousers
to shreds. Thus, Pussy, under precisely the same circumstances, showed by
far the greatest amount of sagacity and cool courage. She, however, not
many weeks afterwards, came in one day with her foot sadly lacerated,
having again got caught in a trap. So although she could reason, she did
not appear to have learned wisdom from experience. She was for long a
cripple; perhaps this last misfortune may have taught her prudence. Poor
thing! she went limping about the garden, in vain endeavouring, even in
the frosty weather, to catch birds.”
I know of a young man who was accustomed to leave home on a Monday morning
and return on the Saturday, and who had a Cat that used to come home a few
moments after him, and watch him wash and dress himself, and then sleep on
his clothes until the following Monday, when soon after the young man went
away, the Cat would go too, and not return all the week.
I also know of a Cat that once rushed into a house, and took her seat
between the master and mistress while they were at tea; from that time she
took up her abode with them, and every afternoon a hamper in which she
slept, was heard to creak in a cellar below, and she would come up and
partake of their afternoon meal.
You have all heard of dog-stealers selling a dog and afterwards stealing
it from the purchaser, so as to sell it again to some other person; but I
have had a story told me, upon good authority, of a certain dishonest
owner of a very curiously marked French Cat, who made quite a nice little
income by selling his feline property to the ladies in his neighbourhood.
You see Pussy had no notion of what an un-principled ruffian he was, nor
what was the nature of the contract between him and her other owners. She
loved him very much, and fretted in her new home, waited impatiently for
an opportunity, and at last, finding the door open, returned to her robber
master rejoicing.
He, worthy creature, also rejoiced at sight of her, and hugged her to his
manly breast. Then he gave her some nice warm milk, and a large slice of
meat. Next day he sold her again, if he got a chance.
This little game went on very comfortably for some months, and might have
gone on longer, had it not been for an awkward mistake. An old lady, who
had been one of the purchasers of the Cat, changed her residence, and our
ingenious friend, unaware of the circumstance, called upon her again, and
tried to re-sell her the animal; thereupon, some unpleasantness occurred,
and I believe the Cat-merchant got into trouble.