The Vent and Rant Thread

[Taylor514ce]

No offense to those fond of cats, to each his own - but I only ever loved one cat. Samson, a stray Manx, jet black except for the scars, with a big block head seemingly the size and weight of a cannonball. He never purred, he clearly enunciated the human word "meow" in a basso profundo, and rarely at that. His principle mode of communication was to head-butt, leaving bruises. He was like a panther. Not for him any anthropomorphic human affection. He wished to be fed. He wished to fight neighborhood dogs. He wished a spot to recuperate from his weeks-long absences. That was all.

One day he left never to return. I like to think he was killed in a knife fight with fifteen Pit Bulls, because that is what it would take.

There never has been and never will be another cat like him, so I own dogs.

[zelda_pinwheel]

my cat was rescued as well. she was actually pregnant when she was rescued, which is why i technically have 2 cats.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

No offense to those fond of cats, to each his own - but I only ever loved one cat. Samson, a stray Manx, jet black except for the scars, with a big block head seemingly the size and weight of a cannonball. He never purred, he clearly enunciated the human word "meow" in a basso profundo, and rarely at that. His principle mode of communication was to head-butt, leaving bruises. He was like a panther. Not for him any anthropomorphic human affection. He wished to be fed. He wished to fight neighborhood dogs. He wished a spot to recuperate from his weeks-long absences. That was all.

One day he left never to return. I like to think he was killed in a knife fight with fifteen Pit Bulls, because that is what it would take.

There never has been and never will be another cat like him, so I own dogs.

you know what, i'm pretty sure that was the same cat we used to call "prometheus". we were convinced he was our cat, but little by little we slowly discovered that everyone else in the neighborhood was also operating under the impression he was their cat, and fed him every few days (or whenever he deigned to show up). you should have heard some of the silly names they gave him. it would not surprise me at all to discover that he ranged as far as texas, or canada, or japan, or wherever it was you knew him.

[Taylor514ce]

Oh, but no one else actually wanted Samson, even my Mom, who was convinced that if she didn't have four boys to protect her, he'd be able to drag her into the woods. He was muscle, scars, and attitude. Biker gangs gave him right-of-way.

It warmed my heart to see dog-walkers have to cross to the other side of the street, because Poochie-poo simply refused to cross in front of our house when Samson was in residence.

[Patricia]

My cat had a strange penchant for fighting with dogs too. He would sit on the gatepost and drop onto passing alsations, claw them a bit, then jump back on the next gatepost and claw their noses when they jumped up at him.
The local St Bernard would run away whenever he saw my cat.

I've never found another one quite like him.

[zelda_pinwheel]

oh, prometheus would fight *anything*. he knew no fear, and he was huge. really, i think these are all just one same cat who actually managed to travel the entire globe (i wouldn't put it past prometheus). he might in fact be a mythical creature. he's probably still out there somewhere, allowing other people to beleive he's "theirs" for a while (in the sense of, "their" unpaying occasional houseguest and mooch).

[Patricia]

You may be on to something there, Zelda. It would explain a lot.

[Taylor514ce]

I like that idea. An immortal being (a god? an alien?) roaming the earth for ages, in the guise of a large, black cat. "Real" cats shun him. Dogs fear him. Only children seem to like him, and he tolerates them. Most of them. Sometimes.

He is the source of every "black cat" myth.

We didn't meet by accident, ZP. We were drawn together by this cat. One day all whom he's chosen will be drawn to a certain spot, on a certain day, for a reason we can't even begin to fathom.

[zelda_pinwheel]

in the context of prometheus, nothing would surprise me.

[vivaldirules]

Love it, PH (except that it's a cat, of course). When will the first draft be ready?

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Ricky, do you think that restriction on animals would hold up? Inside your own house? In TEXAS?

I mean, you're actually an attorney, whereas I'm merely someone who had the misfortune to be sued once (not for keeping cats-- I still have my cats), but that sounds weird to me.

That's why I'm fighting back. The crap-fest town passed a law that also limited the number of animals you could have .... so I'll be taking them to Federal court soon, for violation of several of my Constitutional rights.

Yeah .... we're gonna have us one fun fight.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

No offense to those fond of cats, to each his own - but I only ever loved one cat. Samson, a stray Manx, jet black except for the scars, with a big block head seemingly the size and weight of a cannonball. He never purred, he clearly enunciated the human word "meow" in a basso profundo, and rarely at that. His principle mode of communication was to head-butt, leaving bruises. He was like a panther. Not for him any anthropomorphic human affection. He wished to be fed. He wished to fight neighborhood dogs. He wished a spot to recuperate from his weeks-long absences. That was all.

One day he left never to return. I like to think he was killed in a knife fight with fifteen Pit Bulls, because that is what it would take.

There never has been and never will be another cat like him, so I own dogs.

Sounds like a cat people would simply have to love, because he would demand it, but on his terms and at a good distance.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Patricia

My daughter would really like you, Ricky. She too rescues cats. At the moment she only has three: one was found abandoned in a ditch, and is now very happy and healthy. The second was a kitten abandoned on a local mountain. She's since lost her tail in an accident, but seems to be managing well without it, and has recovered from a couple of months of spine paralysis. We think that she got run over by a car, but can't be sure.
The third was left for a month in an empty flat and found by bailiffs who were repossessing it. He survived by drinking water from the toilet bowl, and is recovering from kidney damage. He's put on some weight and is a slim black cat. My daughter has named him after Nelson Mandela, on account of his unjust imprisonment.

My own cat was a rescued animal, but died at the age of 16.

Well, I like you already and I'm certain I would like your daughter too. One of my cats, Peyton, was used to "blood" a fighting dog. That left her with a broken neck and back, so she was partially paralyzed for a while. But lots of therapy took care of that. Now, she moves just fine ... but doesn't much like the other cats (except for Brian ... sweet, socially inept, Brian). She doesn't much care for me either, come to think of it.

Newton was about 17 when he finally died (he was my first rescue). It was AIDS that finally did him in. He got an infection that just wouldn't be cured. I was so depressed for so long after he died. And Winston (my second AIDS boy) just sat by the door waiting for his best friend to come home ... day after day for months.

[nekokami]

I think I met Prometheus, actually. He was going under the name of Sampson at the time. He lived with some good friends of ours in upper New York State. About once a year we'd get together with them and bring out some lobster and they'd provide steak. He was the only cat there who was completely uninterested in the lobbies-- he wanted broiled cow. We used to joke that he was the Mafia hit-man of the cat neighborhood.

My Raven, on the other hand, was really a black lab (Labrador Retriever) in a cat's body. Only cat I ever met who had a guilty conscience (or any other kind of conscience, really.) Stomach cancer got him a few years ago.

[Taylor514ce]

Uncanny. I can see "my" Samson killing a cow, felling it with a running tackle. Of course, I never actually saw him run. He had three speeds: 1) immobile 2) saunter 3) one of those cartoon blurs with the odd paw and dog parts here and there appearing in freeze frame.