CAT TALES

You know it’s a slow news day when one of the Top Headlines of America On Line is: “Woman Finds Cat Living In Couch She Bought.” Of course, I’m interested in anything cat-like, so I clicked on the link yesterday and learned about a Seattle woman who bought a used couch for $27.00, took it home, heard weird noises for a few days, and finally figured out there was a cat inside her recent purchase. Callie the Calico was reunited with her owner, hungry but unharmed, a few weeks after the sofa had been donated to a second-hand store. The end.

The 160 responses to the story were ever so much better than the actual “news” itself. A lot of people wrote about their own cats, giving graphic details about their experiences with cat odor. Several more got into a debate over who loves cats more: Democrats or Republicans. Here’s a sampling of some of the other comments:

“That woman should thank her lucky stars that cat wasn’t a diamondback or cottonmouth.”

“Meowch!”

“I showed that article to my own cat and he said, “What a dummy.”

“I once knew a man named Joel Katz.”

Wow! A couch that costs $27.00 and comes with a free pussy. Where can I buy one?”

“This is why I have a dog. A dog would have shredded the entire couch trying to find a way out.”

“A cat tail to remember.”

“I used to have a cat that could play the violin, sing ‘La Traviata,’ and do the moonwalk--all at the same time!”

“Big deal. I once heard that same cat sing, but he could only do ‘La Traviata’ in English and not Italian.”

Well, so much for AOL’s hot news of the day. I need to rush off with an even bigger deal. My oldest cat Little Bit turned 14 last week and I have to take him to his driver’s ed. class. Later!