December 2, 2017

The cat.


ADDED: I found that tweet via WaPo, which has photos of Max, various efforts to write the children's book that the original tweet said was halfway written, and details of the library's ordeal ("An employee is very allergic to cats, and some people worried Max would get locked inside"), and the news that Max isn't being allowed to free-roam outdoors anymore ("He’s going crazy. He cries and howls and paces around, looking out the windows. I’m really hoping he takes to walking on the leash").

33 comments:

David said...

clever.

whitney said...

I live with a cat like that. He has many homes in the neighborhood. I have text relationships with people I've never met who write me to tell me how much they love him and that he's hanging out on their couch right now. He does annoy some people though. A surprising number of people do not like cats

Achilles said...

"Max wanted to be in the library"

"Please do not let Max in the library."

next line:

"Max is a male cat that sprays smelly pee everywhere. It is gross."

buwaya said...

It used to be SOP to let cats have the run of most workshops, and of course ships.

I always thought it would be nice to have an office cat. Not quite practical in a high-rise.

Cat allergies seem to be a new thing, its not in anything pre-20th century that I know of.

Gahrie said...

Once a cat becomes an indoor/outdoor cat, it is cruel to try to restrict them to just being an indoor cat.

Yancey Ward said...

My neighbor has a cat that we have pretty much adopted and feed regularly- to the point he spends almost all day under the carport. He comes in to check out the food situation every now and then since we also have an indoor cat. We also let him come in when it is very cold (under 20 F he usually won't leave until the morning), though in east TN, such cold is fairly infrequent. Our neighbors brought him with them from Wisconsin, and say he has always been an outdoor cat, so he is tough if he spent time outdoors in the Winter there.

rehajm said...

Hey...Hey...Hey...This is Library!

rehajm said...

The Cat...Shat.

All the way to being a cat poem.

mockturtle said...

What is a literate cat to do??!

DRP said...

All cats should be indoor cats. They shouldn't be allowed to roam for the same reason Ted Bundy needed to be locked up. Furry little serial killers.

Gahrie said...

Furry little serial killers.

It's the cycle of life...you know, nature. The U.S. would be overrun with rodents and birds if it wasn't for all the cats.

Gahrie said...

My two are doing their share.

Big Mike said...

You can walk a cat on a leash? Since when?

rehajm said...

Some outdoor cats are Coyote Chow.™

whitney said...

Poor Max. I have my cat now because my sister moved someplace where he couldn't go outside and he was miserable so he moved in with me. And if I move somewhere where he couldn't go outside, I'd find another home for him. That's how much we all like him

mockturtle said...

You can walk a cat on a leash? Since when?

When my parents traveled with their cat they had a harness and leash to take her outside to do her jobs.

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gahrie said...

Some outdoor cats are Coyote Chow.™

We're back to the cycle of life....

mockturtle said...

Our cat lived to be almost 18 years roaming freely in the suburbs of Seattle [lots of raccoons], and at our cabin on Puget Sound, where she had a cat door and brought in mice and let them go to catch again and again. Her last ten years were spent in the Selkirk Mountains of NE WA, where we had coyotes, bears, cougars, wolverines and even a few wolves. She was a smart kitty and died of an apparent stroke in her old age.

Etienne said...

The nice thing about free-ranging cats, is that a truck will come along and squash them as they try to jay-walk.

Etienne said...

I was talking to my neighbor who's little dog got out, and all he found was the head and some fur. He thought it might be a coyote. So we got in his old junk truck at the back of the property with our shotguns.

We weren't there for 20 minutes when four coyotes started coming towards the truck. I had to go warm-up my tractor to bury them.

I was wondering why I hadn't seen many cats prowling around lately. Those coyotes were getting fat for winter.

DRP said...


It's the cycle of life...you know, nature. The U.S. would be overrun with rodents and birds if it wasn't for all the cats.


Felis Catus isn't native to North America. They're an invasive species. There are plenty of native species available to kill vermin that don't kill for sport. Cats actually have no impact on the level of vermin in suburban areas and are well known for concentrating on easier prey, like endangered songbirds. Other than perhaps a barn cat, which is really a working animal, there is no reason to allow them to free roam other than a selfish desire to avoid changing litter boxes.

tcrosse said...

The coyotes are coming down from the hills, and our neighbors who have pet flaps are advised to nail them shut. It's illegal here to shoot them, and in any case it's illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits. In spite of this my neighbor, an 87 year old widow lady packs heat when she takes her little shih tsu for a walk. Our cats stay indoors, because there's nothing for them outside.

Gahrie said...

Other than perhaps a barn cat, which is really a working animal, there is no reason to allow them to free roam other than a selfish desire to avoid changing litter boxes.

Or perhaps understanding the basic nature of cats and loving for them as the actual animals they are, not some overly domesticated plaything.

Danno said...

This is my neighborhood in Saint Paul. I've never heard of this cat before reading this story in the Pioneer Press online today.

mockturtle said...

My daughter's Persian cat was terrified of the outdoors and never stepped a paw outside. Cats, like people, are varied. Our cat loved to roam and play 'jungle cat'. She would proudly lay her trophies on the front doorstep.

rcocean said...

See Max.

See Max get into the Library.

No, Max, No.

rcocean said...

Max is probably going to the Library because:

1) Someone feeds him,; or
2) He thinks its "His" territory; or
3) He knows people don't want him to go into the Library.

tcrosse said...

Max is lucky if he doesn't have to cross Snelling to get to the Library.

Jim at said...

"He’s going crazy. He cries and howls and paces around, looking out the windows ... screaming at the sky."

Poor Max.

walter said...

Interesting drawing of Max

tim in vermont said...

It's pretty good exposition for a story. Just waiting for the complication to be introduced. Maybe some problem occurs that requires Max's presence inside the library. An outbreak of mice eating rare first editions of which only Max and a small child who is being ignored by adults, is aware.

tim in vermont said...

All cats should be indoor cats. They shouldn't be allowed to roam for the same reason Ted Bundy needed to be locked up. Furry little serial killers.

Same with foxes, lions, polar bears, sharks... the list goes on and on.