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True Stories About Dogs and Cats

Eliza Lee Follen

"I should like to have Hero for my dog," said Frank, "and live with
him in a place where there were no sheep; and then, after many
years, he might forget his bad tricks."

"I must say something in favor of the much-abused cat. Doubtless she
would be a much better member of society, if she were better
treated, if she had a better example set before her.

Sportsmen are very angry because she catches birds, and because she
is sly. They will themselves lie down in the grass so that the birds
may not see them, and be as sly as the very slyest old puss, and yet
they cannot forgive her for watching noiselessly for birds. Has not
she as good a right as any sportsman to a little game? She takes
only what she wants to eat. She does not kill them in order to boast
to another cat of how many she has bagged.

They say she must be bad, for she kills singing birds. Do not
sportsmen kill larks and thrushes? Were you once to see a lark
rising up into the blue sky higher and higher, and hear him singing
as he rises louder and louder, as if he saw heaven opening, and
wanted to tell you how beautiful it was, and call you up there; and
then to think of killing and eating him, you would say, What cat can
be so unfeeling as a man? Who, with any music in his soul, could do
so? Yet men do eat larks for dinner, and then scold at the poor cat
who treats herself with only one perhaps. Why should she not be a
little dainty? Men, women, and hoys and girls are often cruel and
unreasonable, not merely cats. The cat is as good as she knows how
to be."

"So you are, pussy," said Harry, taking up his pet cat in his lap,
and stroking her. "You never do any harm, but catch the mice in our
mother's barn. But you are a little sly, and, if you should catch
birds, right or wrong, I'm afraid I should box your ears. You must
learn to do without birds for your dinner."

"When I was in England," said Mrs. Chilton, "I saw, exhibited in a
cage about five feet square, rats, mice, cats and dogs, a hawk, a
guinea pig, a rabbit, some pigeons, an owl and some little birds,
all together, as amiable and merry as possible. Miss Puss sat in the
midst, purring. The others ran over her, or flew upon her head. She
had no thought of hurting them, and they were not afraid of her.

I found, on inquiring, that the way the keeper establishes such
peace and harmony is by systematic and constant gentleness, and by
keeping the animals all well fed. They are called the happy family.

The cage was always surrounded by a crowd of people curious to see
such natural enemies so happy together. Nothing but the law of
kindness could make all those creatures so civil and well behaved to
each other. But I must not forget my anecdotes of that respectable
animal, the cat.

You need not smile; I mean to make you respect, as well as love
cats. There are some men, and many boys who say they are domestic
tigers, that they are sly, that they steal, that you cannot trust
them; that the cat heart is bad, and that there is no harm in boys'
teasing them, since it is no more than cats deserve; that they were
made for us to plague; and that the only good thing they do is to
catch rats and mice.

Now, if this were true, and they were really ever so bad, they ought
never to be treated cruelly, never teased and tormented. None but
the meanest boy will ever torment any animal.

He who created us created also the little fly that crawls upon the
window pane. I am not now thinking of those boys who do not
remember, or have never learned this truth, but of those who have a
cruel prejudice against cats, of those who are kind to dogs and
horses, but unkind to cats. I shall speak to you of the poor cat
with almost as much respect and seriousness as if I were talking
about any of my fellow- creatures who were injured and ill treated.

We take it for granted that cats have no love in them, and so we
never act towards them as if they had any; now I believe they have,
on the whole, pretty good hearts, and, if they were treated with
justice and kindness, would be far more respectable members of
society than they are. To show this I will mention some facts of
which I have heard, and, some which I have witnessed.

In the first place, the cat is accused of never caring for the
inhabitants of a house, but only for the house itself. Now I knew an
affectionate cat who manifested much disturbance when the family
were making preparations for moving; at last, all was gone from the
house except herself and the cook. The cook, in order to make sure
that the cat should not escape from the carriage on the way, put her
into a cage and fastened her in.

When they arrived, the cat walked quietly out of her cage, looked at
her old friend the cook, went into another room where she met
another friend, and began forthwith to purr her satisfaction.

Two years afterwards, this family moved again. As soon as the cat
saw the preparations making for moving, she showed great uneasiness,
and went down into the cellar, where she remained during all the
confusion.

When all else was gone, the cook went to the cellar stairs, and
called her. The cat came up directly. The cook stroked her, and
showed her a basket just big enough to hold her, and said, "Get in,
get in, pussy, and take a pretty ride!" The cat got in, and, without
the least resistance, allowed herself to be shut into the basket by
a cloth tied over it. As soon as she saw the different members of
the family in the new house, she manifested her contentment.

In six months the family moved again. The cat again submitted
herself, and showed her preference to her friends over their house.

A cat has been known to nurse and bring up a rat with her own
kittens. I once took a little rabbit who was starving to death from
the neglect of its own mother, and placed it before the same cat who
preferred the people to the house. She had just come from nursing
her kittens, and when she saw the little trembling rabbit before
her, her first thought was, evidently to make a good meal of it. I
took up the little thing and caressed it, and then put it down
again. She now approached it in a motherly way, and looked at it;
its ears seemed evidently to puzzle her. After a while, she tried to
take it up as she did her kittens, but saw she could not safely;
then she went to her nest and mewed, and then came to me and rubbed
herself against me; and then went to the rabbit and licked it
tenderly; I now ventured to put the rabbit in with her kittens, and
she nursed, and took the best care of it.

A friend of mine who killed a squirrel not knowing that she had
young ones, took all the little squirrels, brought them into the
house, and put them before his pet cat who had lost all her kittens
but one. Pussy looked at them for a while; probably her cattish
nature thought a little of eating them; but her better nature soon
prevailed, for she took them, one after another, and carried them
all to her nest, and proved a faithful nursing mother to them, and
ere long there was no part of the house in which the old cat and her
roguish adopted children were not to be found.

What will not cats submit to from a loving child? I have seen a
child lie down with a cat for its pillow, and the cat merely move
herself a little, so as to bear the weight as easily as possible.

A cat can be taught to stand and walk on her hind legs, which seems
at first very disagreeable to her.

I remember, when I was a child, seeing a Maltese cat come in every
morning and wait till my father had finished his breakfast, then, at
a certain signal, rise up on her hind legs, and beg for her
breakfast, and take just what was given her with the utmost
propriety, asking for nothing more.

I will tell you a well-authenticated anecdote which I read the other
day. A cat had been brought up in close friendship with a bird. Now
birds, you know, are the favorite food of cats. One day she was seen
suddenly to seize and hold in her claws her feathered companion who
happened to be out of the cage.

The first thought of those who saw her was that, at last, her tiger
nature had come out, and that she was going to make a meal of her
little trusting friend; but all the cat did was to hold the
trembling bird still, and, on looking around the room, it was
discovered that another cat had come in, and that catching the bird
was only the means the friendly cat used to keep it safe till the
intruder should leave the room. As soon as the other cat was gone,
she let go the bird, who it was found was not in the least hurt.

A cat who had been petted and always kindly treated by a family of
children, was present one day when the mother thought it necessary
to strike one of them for some bad action; the cat flew violently at
the mother and tried to scratch her, and from that time she never
could strike one of the children with impunity in the presence of
their faithful, loving friend.

A friend related to me that they had a cat in her father's family
who was a great favorite, and who was particularly fond of the baby;
that one day this child was very fretful, and sat for a long time on
the floor crying, and that nothing would pacify her.

The cat was by her side on the floor, and finding herself not
noticed, and perhaps wearied at the noise, she suddenly stood up on
her hind legs and boxed the child's ears in exactly the same way in
which she was in the habit of boxing her kitten's.

It seems that this cat was not so amiable as the other, and did not
object to giving a box on the ear to a naughty child.

I have another story from a good authority which is still more in
favor of poor pussy, and puts her upon a par with the most faithful
dog.

During a hard snow storm last winter, a kitten with a broken leg and
almost frozen hopped into the hall door of a gentleman's house in
Brooklyn, New York, and set up a most piteous mewing.

The master of the house ordered the servants to throw the kitten
into the street, when his little daughter, a child eight years of
age, caught up the poor little creature, and begged to be allowed to
keep and nurse it. The father, at first, refused. The child,
however, begged so earnestly that he at last allowed her to keep the
kitten.

The little girl, whom we will call Emma, nursed her pet until it got
quite well. The kitten returned, in full measure, all the love of
her gentle nurse, and was never quite happy away from little Emma.

Some time afterwards, the loving child was taken severely ill, and
was confined to her bed. Kitty had grown into a cat. It was found
impossible to keep her away from the bed of her suffering friend.
The cat would watch at the door when turned out of the room, dart in
again, and mew, and jump upon the bed where little Emma lay. There
Kitty was quiet.

As the child grew more ill, it was impossible to get the cat out of
the room; until, at last, when little Emma was dying, pussy
stretched herself out near the bed, and seemed to be dying too.

The cat was taken into the next room, and put gently upon a rug.

"Take care of my poor kitten!" said the kind little Emma, as she saw
them take it away; and her loving spirit went to the land of loving
spirits.

When the sorrowing friends went into the adjoining room, the life of
her "poor kitten" had departed too.

Does not the fact that love and kindness can make such an irritable
animal as the cat so loving and grateful, teach us all their
heavenly power? Ought we not to do all which we can to bring out
this better nature?

We have made cats our slaves. We have taken them from the woods,
that we may have them to catch our rats and mice. We make them do
just as we please, and ought we not to make them as comfortable and
happy as we can?

Can we not be patient with their bad or disagreeable qualities, and
encourage all their good dispositions? We never know the true
character of any living being till we treat that creature with
entire justice and kindness. I therefore am the friend of the poor,
despised, abused, neglected, suspected, calumniated cat. I confess
she is sometimes a little disposed to thieving, that there are
strong reasons for supposing that she is somewhat addicted to
selfishness, that she may justly be suspected of occasional
hypocrisy, and that she is to blame for too readily using her claws.

These are, all of them, human as well as cattish faults; but, if
pussy has in her the capacity for something better, for self-
forgetting and devoted affection, we must treat her with such
patient, enduring kindness and perfect justice as may cherish all
that is good in her nature. In short, can we not overcome her evil
by our good? Let us try, boys!

One thing I have not yet told you in relation to cats, and that is
what pets they are made in France. No drawing room seems complete
without a beautiful cat. The cats are well trained and are very
gentle.

The Angora cat is most prized. She is fed with the greatest care,
and, in all respects, is treated like a respected member of the
family; and noticed, of course, by visitors. I have seen a beautiful
cat go from one guest to another to be caressed like a little child.

These pet cats are playthings. They are not expected to catch rats
and mice, but are idle creatures, and only amuse themselves and
others. It is considered a special attention for any gentleman or
lady to make a present of a pet cat."

"What's the use of cats who can't catch rats and mice?" said Frank.
"Do the French pet the mice, too? I wonder what comes of the bread
and cheese?"

"O, the people have another set of cats, whom they call gutter cats,
who catch rats and mice. The gutter cats never come into the drawing
room; but they are treated well in the kitchen, and made as happy as
possible.

I was told that these working cats were far more intelligent than
the pets of the drawing room.

I knew a French seamstress who had a gutter cat, of which she was
very fond. One day the cat fell from the roof of the house. She
seemed dead, but her faithful friend put her upon a soft bed, gave
her homoeopathic medicine, and watched all night by her to put a
drop of something into her mouth if she moved. At last the cat gave
signs of life, and by good nursing her life was saved.

I saw once in Paris a man carrying about a splendid large mouse-
colored cat, dressed up with ribbons.

The creature was twice the common size, and gentle as a lamb. He was
for sale; the price, sixty francs, which is twelve dollars. Every
body who was not too busy, stopped to stroke Master Puss."

"He would have done to wear boots," cried Harry. "I should like him
right well. Such a big cat would be worth having."

"The French are very humane to animals, and never inflict
unnecessary pain upon the meanest. In the street in which I lived in
Paris, there was a hospital for cats and dogs."

"Is not a hospital a place where sick folks go to be cured, Mother;
and do they like to have dogs and cats there?"

"This was a hospital devoted to sick cats and dogs."

"Do they have cats and dogs for nurses?" said Harry, giggling as he
spoke.
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