Must Have Cats

We are really enjoying life here in South Carolina this winter. The last 2 days were quite cold by southern standards – and it chilled even us to the bone. It actually went into the teens overnight the other night – and this cold snap reminded us why we left New Hampshire this winter to begin with.

But it isn’t just the differences in weather that set each region apart. There are all sorts of differences that we’ve noticed. For example, last night we visited with some of our new friends down here (have I mentioned how friendly everyone is down here?), and the talk turned to our respective cats. First, if you’ve been reading along in the blog lately, you may recall in my entry about the Miracles of 2008 that we recently lost our own little Kitty. So, I still get choked up when we talk about cats…

I had never had a pet when growing up in suburban New Jersey. So, having a pet was a totally new concept to me. The idea of having a little furry companion initially appealed to me when I moved to northern New Hampshire, after having worked for several seasons in Antarctica. In the mountains of New Hampshire, I was alone for most of the year with no family, and I didn't know many people - this was a very quiet area. After the experience of working with hundreds of amazing people in Antarctica over the course of the last 7 or 8 years, life was pretty lonely. That's when cats entered my life, and I've never looked back.

During my years in NH, I worked for a short time for the Mount Washington Observatory, which is a great educational non-profit organization that has been monitoring weather from the top of Mount Washington since the 1930's. They have a wonderful staff, some of the best folks I've ever worked with.

And at the summit (of Mt. Washington), they also have a cat. This has been a tradition for decades. One of my favorite photos from the Observatory, taken of the crew that witnessed the world-record high winds of 231 miles per hour on April 12, 1934, includes a little cat being held by one of the observers.

Just a year or so ago (December 2007), a nationwide primary vote was conducted to find the next summit cat since longtime mascot, Nin, was retiring to live in Gorham, NH. It's a lot of work being the summit cat, and it was time for a younger cat to take the controls. About 8,000 votes came in, and the winner was Marty, a cat from the Conway Area Humane Society, who of course has big paws to fill, but as I understand, is adjusting beautifully.

Back to South Carolina. While we were at our friends’ house, I was petting her newest cat, an adopted shelter kitty who is battling to regain his health. Thinking of how much I miss my Kitty, I mentioned how difficult it is to find a rent that will accept cats – and yet, quite a number of places will allow dogs. Our friend explained one of the reasons for this – cat dander is difficult to remove from the rental units, and some people are highly allergic to cat dander.

Somehow, the discussion turned to the topic of bugs. You know, like spiders, and such. There is this unusual bug that we’ve recently encountered called the Palmetto bug. Oh. And another bug I had never seen before called the cockroach. Evidently, Palmetto bugs are ever so slightly different than the common cockroach – at least that’s what the Bug Man tried to explain when he came to our unit for the monthly pest control routine.

Now as I understand it, cockroaches are just about everywhere in this country. I just had never seen one.

When I did see one, I reacted how some people react when they first see a mouse.

Now, the funny thing is, some of the folks I’ve met down here have said that if they saw a mouse, they would freak out. I mentioned that up in rural northern NH where we have our house, mice are so common that I hardly even notice them.

Except when they skitter and scratch in the walls, waking me up during the middle of the night.

Of course, I noticed them when Kitty would leave one in the hallway at our bedroom door as a gift – obviously placing it there so we would be sure to find it (kind of like anticipating giving out presents on Christmas morning).

So it’s all kind of relative, I guess.

Back to last night. Well, after an absolutely wonderful evening, we drove back to the condo complex with our other new friends staying at the same place – who also have a cat. Fortunately, they were able to find a unit that accepts cats.

And, maybe this is a coincidence, and maybe it is not – but they don’t have any Palmetto bugs or cockroaches in their unit.

I then recalled that another new friend of ours here was telling me how her pets chase the bugs like mice.

And I got to thinking that these condo owners have it all wrong. They should be INSISTING that we all have cats. Even if they only caught a few bugs, the cats would certainly earn their keep. And think of how far this would go in helping raise the pet adoption rates.

John and I began talking about how we would handle mouse control at our New Hampshire house if we decide to use it as a rental property. After all, it is in a gorgeous area, and a lot of people really love the views we have. But, then I’d be concerned. What happens if our renters have the same reaction to mice that I have to the Palmetto bugs and cockroaches?

That’s when John said, “Well, that does it. They’d have to have a cat.”

So here’s our potential rental policy statement:
“You must have a cat. Any mice your cat dispatches can and will be used against the costs of rodent control. You have the right to more than one cat. If you cannot afford a cat, one will be provided for you.”

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention – When I see a tick crawling up my leg in the summer in NH, I react in a similar fashion to how I reacted when I saw the Palmetto bug.

At least the Palmetto bugs don’t crawl up my leg.

(Note: There are so many homeless pets, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to me when I visit animal shelters. I realize that we can't all have pets, and that some people should NOT have pets - and of course we can only have so many pets...

But, if you are in a position to have a pet - please consider adoption, and visit your local animal shelter, or visit http://www.petfinder.com/ or similar website.

This is a public service message from me, because I really miss my Kitty.

If you can't have a pet, please consider helping your local shelter in some other way. The Humane Society of the United States has a lot of information about adoption and how to help at their website here. Thanks for reading!)