THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407160052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
CATS ESCAPING death by a whisker after hitching rides beneath the hoods of cars . . . cats mistakenly tumbled in clothes dryers. . . cats that sing.
Hundreds of cat stories arrived by mail in The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star's Cats Contest, which ended last week.
I've enjoyed reading every letter. And I've learned a little about you and your cats. Some folks who live alone regard their cat as their best friend and recall instances when they have been sick and the cat comforted them by snuggling close, licking their face.
But most of the tales are about amusing things the cat has done. One reader wrote that her cat ``filled our hearts with the best medicine in the world - laughter.''
Here are some of the tales that arrived recently:
Joyce Lawrence of Virginia Beach has a kitty named Christopher that will not go to sleep in the evening until it has sung to at least one of the three stuffed animals that are its toys. ``My daughter has to bring the three stuffed animals to Christopher's bed and tuck them in.'' Joyce writes. ``If she doesn't, then Christopher looks for the one not in bed and sings to it.''
Jenny Rankin of Virginia Beach writes that she was awakened in the middle of the night when her cat, Amber, dropped something soft onto her face. ``I quickly brushed it off and turned on the light. To my dismay I found a small field mouse on my pillow!''
Annette Hoffman of Virginia Beach has a cat named Ashley that has collected 400 wine corks. ``She plays hockey, catch, fetch, baseball and Frisbee-jump with them. Sometimes she just carries them around in her mouth and deposits them in the bathtub, her water bowl or my shoes.''
Ever hear of a cat that picked a winning lottery number? Morris and Harriet Long of Virginia Beach say their cat Mia Meow did it. The cat loves to play with paper so the Longs put her basket atop the refrigerator and put folded pieces of paper with numbers on them inside. ``She climbs up and carefully picks out pieces of paper, one at a time, in her mouth and drops them on the floor,'' they write. After six numbers are collected the Longs jot them down and buy a lottery ticket for her using the numbers. A year ago the cat won $1,580 in the lottery by picking five out of six numbers correctly, they report.
Rebecca Cox of Virginia Beach says her sister's cat, Max, has a rubber band fetish. ``Max can sniff them out and hunt them up from anywhere and everywhere,'' she writes. Max brings the rubber bands to his bed during the night. His current record is 15 bands.
Ruth Hunt of Norfolk has a cat that will only sing at Christmastime when the radio plays ``Silver Bells.''
Lorraine Sweeney of Portsmouth has a cat named Patches that set itself up for a mess of trouble by crawling inside a drum before a band concert.
Heather Elford, age 11, of Norfolk has a black cat named Sebastian who sleeps on her pillow and gently paws the turkey out of her sandwiches while she's eating.
Finally, Eileen Mullin of Norfolk tells a totally believable and well-written Christmas story about her cat named Samuel Gomphers who was given a Christmas present of a bright red collar with a jingling bell. On Christmas Eve, Sam was let out of the house showing much irritation because of the annoying bell jangling in his ears. The bell was driving the cat crazy. He failed to return to the door. Hours passed.
As temperatures dropped the family concern grew. They searched all night for Sam. ``Finally, around 7 a.m., we spied him under the woodpile looking terrified and exhausted.'' Eileen recalls. ``Crawling on hands and knees, ever so slowly, we coaxed him out with an offering of Christmas turkey. Needless to say the bell was swiftly removed. Everyone crawled into bed, including Sam, where all remained the better part of Christmas Day.''
Our sincere thanks to all who entered the contest. The following winners will receive two tickets to the opening performance of ``Cats'' the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (based on T.S. Eliot's ``Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''), which will be at Chrysler Hall from July 26-31:
Debra A. Keane, Lois Curry, Pat Hoosack, Jen Fowler, Chris Long, Josephine Laposata, Paul Lampman, Lois Vastano, Cecilia Anderson, Ron Hamilton, Sunny Taylor, Andrea Allen, Sarah McCall, Pat Foster, Joyce Lawrence, Annette Hoffman, Rebecca Cox, Jenny Rankin, Heather Elford and Eileen Mullin. Winners can pick their tickets up at the Chrysler Hall box office at 7:30 p.m. for the July 26 performance. ILLUSTRATION: Lorraine Sweeney of Portsmouth has a cat named Patches that
crawled into a drum before a band concert.
KEYWORDS: CONTEST by CNB