Cat Lady Goes To The Dogs...Part 1

Animal lover Monetta claims that she is a true blue Cat Lady through and through. So why are there two dogs in her portrait? The Cat Lady explains:

When I was married in my 20s, I insisted on having a cat. "Must have cat!" I proclaimed one day. The groom wasn't crazy about the idea but set out to get me a cat. How he managed to find a three-quarter feral, woman-hating kitten, I still don't know! But that's what he brought home.

JukeTaylor [the cat, not the groom] routinely attacked me, and only me, even though I lavished love and kindness upon him. The groom was stern and unforgiving, and the less loving he was towards Juke Taylor, the more Juke Taylor worshipped and adored him!

There was a particularly traumatic episode when Juke Taylor had escaped and had been cornered under the house by the groom. There was yelling and cussing and cat-howling and man-screaming when Juke Taylor sank a fang or two into the groom's hand. They both came out alive, and were bonded closer than ever henceforth.

I still don't understand, but after that afternoon, Juke Taylor, by then a 15-pounder if an ounce, began riding on the groom's shoulder, like a parrot. It goes without saying that when the wedded bliss ended and the split came, we didn't even need to discuss who'd get custody of the cat.

Years later, I was at a 5K bridge race in Luling, LA and had won a bit of money in the women's racewalk event. The local animal shelter had a tent set up there with baby animals and I definitely recall saying, "Aw, let's go look at the baby kittens!" Next thing I knew, I was walking out with Boomer, an adorable little pup. I have no idea what happened in between!

She was speckled like a butterbean and they said she was a Catahoula Leopard Hound Cur, the state dog of Louisiana. Cool name, cool look. It wasn't 'til I got her back to Mobile and looked up Catahoula that I saw this: "WARNING: This dog MUST run one hour every day!" And boy, they were not kidding!

During her puppy years she was more like a dingo---all energy all the time, and heaven help me when we got around a crowd, 'cause she went into hyperdrive. Loves people, or I should say, LOVES people, and fully expects that the entire world loves her in return.

And she's so smart, I give her full credit for being as smart as me. She understands things a dog ought not understand---but I know she does. She's eleven now, losing her eyesight in one eye, and takes meds for her lumbar spine. Still if we don't get a "good" daily walk in, she'll lay her chin flat on the floor and assume a look like life isn't worth living...

Tomorrow: All about Piggy in Part 2!