Cat Tails: Loaf cat

The Cat Club meeting was called to order promptly at 8:00 pm on Friday night. Although Greymalkin had calmed down about running the Cat Club like it was a board of directors meetings, she still liked to maintain a certain standard. There was lots of old business to attend to this week. LT asked for a report on bear sightings, since all the cats were a bit alarmed by the idea of bears in the area. Fuzzy said that he'd seen several bears and chased them all away, but no one really believed him, particularly since none of the other cats had seen any bears at all. In fact, none had even seen any trace of bears. No bear scat, tracks or even garbage pails knocked over. Snoogums said that maybe the police had caught the bears and put them in jail. Everyone laughed at the idea of bears in a jail cell.

LT reviewed the procedures for bee patrol with the cats. Last year after the Mommy was stung and got so sick bee patrols had been organized with the idea that the cats could alert the Daddy if there were any bee or wasp nests around. They'd all found lots of stray bees and wasps, but no nests, at least none anywhere near the house. Bunny had found a yellow jacket nest near her house and the four cats who lived there had alerted their Mommy, who'd had someone spray the nest. They didn't want their Mommy to get stung either, even if she wasn't allergic to bees and wasps.

Fox sightings were also discussed. It was clear that Inariko was not a threat to anyone, but they still liked to keep track of her, since she was such a tricksy fox. Fuzzy again reported that he'd chased her off a couple times, but again everyone ignored him, since Inariko had shown that she could run circles around Fuzzy, both literally and intellectually. Mr. Snuggles said that he'd seen Inariko on the roof tree of their garage, and wondered how she'd gotten up there. Since the cats were convinced that Inariko was a kitsune, or fox spirit, they concluded that she'd probably materialized up there just to give Mr. Snuggles a scare.

For new business, Peep brought up her concerns about the loaf cat. Although he'd been around for months now, no one had been able to get a word out of him, and he was looking kind of shopworn recently. He was very skittish and wouldn't let anyone near him to help with grooming, and everyone knows that there are certain spots that you need another cat to help you reach. She asked if there wasn't something they all could to to help him.

Rudy proposed that she could sing to him. She said that her beautiful voice would relax him and then they could make friends. The other cats had all heard Rudy sing, and knew that she was completely tone deaf. What was beautiful to her was caterwauling even to other cats and not just to the humans. LT thanked her, but said that her singing might relax him too much and make him vulnerable to predators. LT knew how to handle Rudy's ego - if he'd said that she sang like the rejects from American Idol she'd make his life miserable. By appealing to her kindness, she could appear magnanimous in caring that the loaf cat not get hurt.

Ladybug asked why they called him "Loaf Cat" anyways. Yeah, he seemed to loaf around a lot, but not any more than the rest of them. LT explained that the yarn lady had named him that because in the winter when he was crouching in the cold with his paws tucked under his body he looked like a loaf of bread. Ladybug snickered, because she knew exactly what the yarn lady meant. He did look like a loaf of bread, although a grey one with a head.

After much discussion, it was agreed that they would all try to be quiet and welcoming to him and to offer to help groom his ears and neck - two notoriously hard to reach spots. Peep thanked everyone for their agreeing to do this, as she'd come to feel very sorry for the loaf cat. He just looked so lost and sad, and Peep had a soft heart and didn't like anyone to be sad if she could do anything about it.

The Cat Club meeting adjourned soon after, with the cats heading quickly home. Bears may not have been seen in the last week or so, but that didn't mean there wasn't one around.