My Pets

Do you have a pet? I do. He is a cat named Arab (ay'-rab). Arab has been with us a long time, through three moves and half a dozen other cats. He would have been the progenitor of a long line of other cats, had we not had the foresight to have him fixed in his infancy. I know this because even though he had no need to defend his territory agains other toms, he still became the "LeRoy Brown" of cats in our neighborhoods. ("Badder than old King Kong, Meaner than a junkyard dog" -- Apologies to Jim Croce)

At least one child I know now has a phobia of cats because of Arab. He would sit on her (outside) bedroom windowsill at night, and when cars drove by, the headlights would cast the shadow of a huge cat on the opposite wall of her bedroom. She still has problems whenever she sees a cat.

He is loving, caring and doting on all of his personal care items. The humans in his life he treats with a certain amount of disdain, depending upon how much they can do for him. He will run to the kitchen if he hears a can being opened, and want at least a taste of what is there, regardless of what it is in the can. Tuna is his favorite, though.

He loves to have his fur combed, and he likes his head and ears scratched. He does not like to have our daughter sit on him. She tries that a lot. He is grumpy when she does that, and usually bites, though only to warn, never to hurt. Arab has learned a great deal about what can hurt a child. He used to hamstring my second son, and bring him down like a lion on a wildebeest. This when my son was five and Arab only about seven months.

Now, Arab likes to sit in the sunbeams as they come through the windows on sunny days. He sleeps most of the day and night. He can hardly jump up on a regular bed, when he used to sleep on the top bunkbed. He probably does not have much longer in this world, and I'll miss him when he is gone.

I think everyone should have a pet like Arab.