Mr. Squiggles Goes to Sudbury

I find it quite entertaining to watch the relationships between young children and cats. One encounter stands out in my mind. I got a call at Small Things some time ago. A mother wanted to adopt a resilient young cat. She had a high-energy three-year-old, who I’ll call Elmira, and she loved cats.

Normally I would be a little hesitant, but we had this cat on site whose nickname was Psycho 3. P3 wasn’t evil – he was actually very sweet. Rather, he was an orange and white bolt of lightning that didn’t stop when he reached his destination – he simply bounced off one wall and banged into another.

When Elmira arrived, she immediately stuck out both hands and yelled “Kitty!” She grabbed P3 and started zinging around the shop with him – holding him by the chest, his lower body and legs swinging back and forth.

Her mom and I intervened to show her another way to hold the cat – but if cats truly can smile, this one was making the Cheshire cat look sulky. And P3’s purr rivaled that of an Evinrude outboard. Last I heard, this new couple was motoring along very happily and speedily.

Understandably, when I learned my 13-month-old granddaughter, Emma, and her folks, Anna and Neal, were going to join us for Thanksgiving, I was looking forward to seeing how she would respond to a houseful of cats – and they to her.

In truth, there was almost no response at all. I say almost because Emma was mildly interested in the cat treehouse – a good place to pull herself up to a stand. And she was somewhat entertained by their toy mouse - which was made primarily of yellow rope and which was slowly unwinding off the frame. She got minutes of amusement pulling the strand off even more.

And the cats, while non-plussed about Emma, LOVED her Go-Go hamster toy. It’s one of those gadgets that when you rev the wheels backwards, it moves around the house on its own steam for about 10 minutes. Mr. Squiggles has, according to the box, forty unique sounds of chirping and squeaking.

We have to take that on faith as the poor thing didn’t get a much of a chance to perform.

At first our cats didn’t know what to make of the robotic hamster – and just followed it around. Then our youngest torti, Ruby Tuesday, picked Mr. Squiggles up in her mouth and made off with it. She would go so far, put it down, and then it would start zigzagging its way around the house, and make its way back to us – or fall down the stairs. Tough little toy, that Mr. Squiggles. More than I can say for Mr. Yellow Rope Mouse.

Hmm, I’m still plotting and scheming though about how to activate Emma’s crazy cat lady gene. “Her” room at our house is plastered with cat pictures; I’ve stacked her library with cat books; and she has catty clothing and accessories.

Wait a minute – I’ve got it. She only has one cat – Mêché – and Emma is one. It stands to reason – or at least my reason – that when Emma hits two, she automatically gets a second cat. At age 10, ten cats. You get the picture.

Daughter Anna is a tad skeptical about this plan, but didn’t cynical Mark Twain himself say something like “a house is not a home without a cat?”
And if bricks and mortar can become a home with just one cat, Anna’s and Neal’s house could be Casa Loma by the time Emma is a teenager.

OK, both Mark Twain and the owner of Casa Loma were forced into bankruptcy, but not by their cats. In fact, Maneki Neko, the Asian beckoning cat, is thought to bring good fortune and protection. Just think what 16 will bring. Sweet!

Jan Carrie Steven is a volunteer with Cat Adoption Trust Sudbury (CATS) and the co-ordinator of Small Things: Kitty Boutique and Cat Adoptions. For more information, go to www.smallthings.ca.