The difference between cats and dogs

A dog says: These people feed me, they pet me, they play with me, they take care of me, they must be gods.

A cat says: These people feed me, they pet me, they play with me, they take care of me, I must be a god.

After we lost Mr. Mouse and his mom, Coweeta, we thought about being "empty nesters" so we could travel more freely. Well, that lasted about as long as it took Liz to find Mocha at the local animal shelter.

Mocha was a victim of the Las Vegas mortgage meltdown in late 2008. When her family, who lived in our neighborhood, was foreclosed upon, Mocha was left behind to fend for herself. Someone eventually took her in, but Mocha didn't get along with the current cat residents, so she was relegated to the garage. After some time, Mocha was taken to a local animal shelter where Liz visits.

Liz wanted to bring Mocha home, but resisted at first. When she finally gave in and went to pick up Mocha, she found an "Adopted" sign instead. Liz was disappointed, but sometimes things were just meant to be.

Mocha's new family took her to the vet for some reason we don't know, but then refused to pay the vet's bill, so the vet refused to give the cat back. Instead, Mocha ended up back at the animal shelter. When Liz visited in February 2009, she was surprised to find Mocha back in her cage, and the rest is history.

Mocha must have had a hard life with not very nice humans because she wasn't very friendly and did a lot of batting with claws and biting with teeth when she first moved in with us. She realized quickly, however, that this isn't a bad place to live, and during the first month or so with us refused to go outside. She goes outside now, but continues to show little interest in going in the garage. After a few months, she calmed down but played roughly, but mostly held her claws back and only made fake bites. She even realized that petting can be nice and began to purr a little.

After almost two years with us, she is turning out to be a pretty good cat, which is to say, she is an easy house partner. She isn't much of a lap cat, but we've kept the house cold this winter, and Mocha spends considerable time sitting on Liz. She also likes the electric blanket on the bed.

On warm days, Mocha likes to go outside and sit in the sun or watch birds. So far as we know, she has never tied to catch a bird, but she likes to watch. With her brown color, she sometimes sits under the bushes beneath the bird feeder, blending with the shadows. The birds come by, but she only watches.

The saga of the big, brown cat continues ...