Fun fact: A cat can rotate its ears one hundred and eighty degrees.
I found Tiger and his sister Tigger on the highway in front of my home one summer afternoon. They were about six weeks old and scared. I brought them in with no intention of keeping them. I had a cat who didn’t get along with other cats and had just turned eighteen. He was also in end stage kidney failure, and I had resolved that I would have no more feline companions. It hurt too much to lose them when it was their time to go.
The kittens endeared themselves to my older cat, Quackers. More than once I would come home from work to see the three of them curled up sleeping on my bed.
After a couple of months Quackers succumbed to his disease and passed on. I bought my first home and was busily moving boxes and furniture. I was single and so with working full-time, unpacking became a slow luxury. As a result, I found myself sleeping on the couch since I had not found time to set up my bed.
One night, around two a.m., Tiger came bounding in and jumped on my chest. He began pawing my face, which he had never done before. I placed him back on the carpeting and rolled over. I was too tired to play. But he was relentless and repeated his earlier actions. This time he added a growl sound to his frantic motions. When I finally sat up, he ran to the kitchen. Thinking that maybe he wanted a treat, I decided to give him one if it would allow me another couple of hours sleep.
I made my way to the kitchen and was surprised to see him sitting in front of the back door. Instead of heading to his bowl or the treat cupboard, he placed himself there like a soldier on duty. When he saw I was near, he began to meow louder than before and then paw at the door. Since he was an indoor cat, I couldn’t figure out his actions. Then I saw it. The doorknob was moving. Someone was trying to get in.
I immediately turned on the lights and dialed 911. Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, the intruder had fled. I would later find out that there had been a series of break-ins in the area.
Needless to say, Tiger and Tigger both got treats galore that morning!
So while I took in two helpless kittens just a few months before, I lay the question before you: Who really saved whom?
~Pastor Wanda Christy-Shaner
