The Cat That Heeled Betted Than My Dogs

Justin and I were walking our dogs, practicing loose-leash walking or rather don’t-strangle-your-dogs walking, when the worst thing that could possibly happen during loose-leash dog walking occurred: the dogs saw a cat.

Now for those of you wondering, yes, we do live with a cat. One of our dogs, Nathan, is perfectly fine with this cat. The other one, Teddy, is kind of obsessive and barky. We are a house divided by dog gates. The cat has one side the dogs have the other. Nathan has figured out how to by-pass the gates. He and Chi, the cat, hang out some days. Probably when he gets sick of Teddy and wants some different companionship. Teddy isn’t the most scintillating company. He spends 1/3 of his day at the gate waiting for the small chance that the cat will walk by so that he can practice his vocal skills and gate assaulting abilities. If he happens to be in another part of the house and hears a telling squeak, we all jump out of his way as he tears through the house to get to the gate to see if the cat has indeed changed positions. Sometimes Chi humors him and runs away. Other times they have staring contests that can last for 5 minutes until Chi, the more sensible of the two, gets bored, feels her point has been proven (that she isn’t scared of him) and walks smugly away. I think he had a childhood trauma involving cats because his obsession is fueled by fear. If Chi comes to close, Teddy is apt to run away.

We are 90% sure that he doesn’t want to eat the cat but rather meet her. When Teddy was at the shelter and we were doing a meet and greet to see if he would fit with our other dog, Nathan, Teddy was placed in a fenced in area and Nathan was led over to him to meet through the fence first. Teddy does not like fences. He was so irritated at the fence between him and Nathan, he began to bark. My hopes shattered as I thought that again, we did not find the “right” dog that could get along with Nathan. We went inside the fence, the barking ceased and Teddy was in love… with Nathan. Anywhere Nathan went, Teddy went. Anything Nathan did, Teddy did. Nathan peed, Teddy peed. Nathan chased birds, Teddy chased birds. We are 90% sure that Teddy would not eat the cat, that he barks because of the fence, it is the 10% of doubt that keeps us from testing that.

I already liked Teddy a lot at that point but Teddy loving Nathan as much as I loved Nathan solidified the deal. We only had one test left… walking by the cat pens. We had to make sure he liked cats (did I mention it has been over a year since the gate between Teddy and Chi went up?). We walked past the pens, stood next to the pens, even looked at the pens. Nothing crazy happened. I realized after several months of living with Teddy that this wasn’t because he was unaffected by the cats, he didn’t realize they were there. Teddy is amazingly oblivious. I have seen birds five feet away from him that took him 10 minutes to realize existed and then he would chase them. We hope one day the gates will come down.

For Teddy to see a cat on his walk is catastrophic. He loses his senses. His eyes roll back, the barks spew from his throat and he pulls against the end of the leash running back and forth. Then as if remembering that he has taken doggy classes and sitting gets him whatever he wants, he quiets, sits and stares intensely at the cat as if looking away will make it disappear. If we begin walking again he races to the end of the leash and begins the entire crazy process again. Nathan, our sane dog, also does the freeze, run, pull act. He does not bark but is just as determined to get to the cat despite the reminders I tell him of his friendship with a cat in our house.

The cat did not run away. It did not stay on its side of the street. Lacking all survival instincts, because I don’t think my boys intended to just say, “hello”, it walked over to us and came within a foot of Nathan who was in the lead (he does better at loose-leash walking). Justin started back-peddling. I had Teddy at that point. We switched dogs because Teddy, the dog we love, was gone and in his place was something that needed an exorcism. I could not handle it. I crossed the street with Nathan to walk past the cat. Justin was in the process of following but was delayed by training and stop-sits (if the dog pulls they have to stop and sit). The cat crossed the street and came over to me and Nathan. I could not escape it. It was quick and aiming for us. Nathan sat and because Nathan and Chi get along I did not run in the other direction but rather waited next to him, holding him tightly in case I needed to interfere.

What happened next must have looked comical to the neighbors because the cat approached, Nathan lunged, I lunged, his mouth opened inches from the cat, my hand covered it as a make-shift muzzle and we wrestled with the cat sitting there inches away, watching us. Nathan may only have been going to smell the cat but would you have risked it? Justin was across the street trying to restrain Teddy who began his barking and running trick (we trained him so well). After this success, we went to plan b, give Justin the dogs; he runs home and comes back with food for the starving cat while I wait with the cat. It was foolproof. I crossed the street to give Nathan to Justin. He’s off with the boys. I turn to go back to the cat and see that it followed me across the street. I looked at it and said, “Come on we’re going to get you some food”. I started walking, it walked with me, at my heels, doing a better impression of a trained dog then my dogs do. It stayed at my heels, occasionally running in between my legs and butting its heads against me, blocks back to the street my house is on.

It was an orange tabby that I thought, with my impressive biological knowledge of animals, was a girl. Justin was on his way back to us, arms loaded with food and water. The cat ate, we watched it. The cat snuggled with us on the sidewalk, we pet it. It was missing hair along its back, its legs, around its neck, its ears and on top of its head. It was covered in scabs as if it had been attacked by something. The skin that was revealed was stiff, red and irritated. Justin joked that it had eczema like him. Despite its injuries, the cat loved to be petted.

We had a cat carrier and tried to get it in. I picked it up and brought it over. It didn’t scratch or claw or hiss. It snuggled a bit and then wiggled to be let down. This was better behavior than my indoor cat provides, especially when the kennel is involved. Justin then lifted it to put it in the kennel while I put on the lid. Again, it only wiggled to get free, never once turning on us. I got my car and we put her in this to go to the vet. She snuggled up on the dashboard and mewed a bit but if I pet her leg she was fine. We were going to take her to the 24 hour vet to get her looked at. It was past hours and our vet clinic was closed. Justin already had plans of keeping her as an outdoor cat. I was on the path to giving her to a friend, to be an indoor cat, and we could come and visit her. We got to the clinic. I went in, filled out paperwork and then came back to the car to help Justin get her (we named her Alexis at this point) into the cat carrier.

I didn’t like this vet clinic. We had used them before. I felt they were cold, unfriendly, and used fear tactics to get you to buy their products. Justin went back in and said we would wait, since it wasn’t an emergency, for our vet in the morning. Our vet, The Ben White Animal Clinic is wonderful. They are warm and welcoming. There staff is excellent and they handle everything efficiently and knowledgably. We were recommended to go their by our dog trainer whom we also adored. They are an awesome clinic and I recommend them to anyone.

We went to Petsmart and bought her food (dry and wet), treats, bowls, a mat and toys. I had started calling friends, seeing if anyone wanted a cat. The big reason we couldn’t get another cat, despite the dogs, was our cat hated other cats. Otherwise Alexis would have been chilling on the other side of the gate with our cat, Chi. We set her up in the garage, with a fan to keep her comfortable and played with her a bit. She, tired, snuggled up on one of the shelves after exploring the whole garage and started dozing. We stripped off all of our clothes, put the in the washer and then went and showered before interacting with the animals inside. We thought she had mange and didn’t want the other animals to catch it.

The next morning we were undecided about what to do. She had a better shot at finding a home at the shelter and would receive medical attention there. We don’t have a lot of money and vet bills are expensive but we couldn’t stand it if they euthanized her because of shortage of room. I went and swam with my mother. Justin and I did breakfast afterwards and then we went to the shelter. We asked them if they would contact us before they euthanized her. They said that they received over a hundred cats a day, everyone asked them that, and they did not have the ability to contact every person. We said “thank you” and called our vet. We would get her healthy and then find a good home for her. We would not risk euthanasia because some rather stupid people wouldn’t immediately realize how special this cat was.

The appointment was at 4 and I had work at 5. We put Alexis in one of the huge dog kennels instead of the cat kennel because she didn’t like the cat one. I took my scooter and Justin took the car. We went to the vet. She was an angel. They looked her over, examined her mouth, took her temperature (I think you all know how that is done) and through out it all she stood still, purred when she got pet and was just perfect. This cat was amazing. We have a cat, a good cat, and she hates going to vets and does not behave 1/10^th as well as this cat behaved.

I had to leave to go to work and Justin stayed. At work I asked anyone I ran into if they would like to have an amazing cat. There were no takers. Everyone already had multiple cats of their own. I sent out an email to everyone, listing Alexis’ many amazing and adoptable qualities. She would have been great for a family with kids because she could be handled in any way and was always calm, sweet and snuggly. After the event was set up and ready to go, I snuck away and called Justin to see how the visit went.

I learned that Alexis was a boy, not a girl and that she had Feline HIV. All of the hair loss, sores and stiff skin were a result of the disease and organ failure, not mange. The vet said that the disease was far along and Alexis’ health was only going downhill. They said they couldn’t tell us what to do but they recommended euthanasia. Justin asked what would be best for Alexis. The best choice was to put Alexis down to prevent him from suffering. They thought we were great for giving Alexis every chance we could, that we were taking care of him and that we were preventing him a lot of suffering. Justin stayed with him. He felt the cat knew what was happening. That’s why he was unafraid of the dogs. That’s why he chose us. That’s why he didn’t mind the needle they put in his arm or the shot they gave him. Before Alexis went, Justin gave him over half of the bottle of treats we bought him. The vet staff said that Alexis was the best cat they had ever handled. Justin is amazing and I am really glad he stayed with Alexis.

I cried. I was surprised too. Alexis did not act sick. He was adventurous and loved to explore. He moved around easily, ate, drank and used his kitty litter. We realized it was a possibility but I don’t think ever accepted it.

It’s silly, but Justin and I were in love with this cat just after one day. I can’t begin to express how great this cat was. Justin and I aren’t cat people (don’t tell Chi) and after Chi we will probably never get another cat. When I told people about this cat I mentioned its lack of survival instinct when it approached the dogs. Some people said that it could pin us for suckers and took the gamble to approach us despite the two dogs. I’m glad that it chose us, regardless of the ending. I am glad that we were able to help it. It deserved the good treatment and love that its original family did not or could not give it.

I don't have a picture of Alexis but I wish I did. He was a beautiful cat, even with the hair loss and scabs. He looked like a white-striped tiger with calm, green eyes.