At War with a Cat

The house had been abandoned for a number of years. When Daniel began fixing it up, he discovered there were a number of residents already in place. A large mouse population had taken up residence in every nook and cranny of the house. As his neighbor had an abundance of cats, he selected one to help get the mouse population under control. However, the cat did not like her new duties, thus began Daniel's war with the cat.

Her actual name was "Concrete" because that was the color she resembled, though everyone called her "Connie." She was a conglomerate of cream, grey and white. She blended well with her surroundings and was as intelligent as any cat could be. She was also a very good hunter and would often bring presents to the door to show off before she would take them off to enjoy her meal.

As Connie was the best hunter of the bunch, Daniel selected her to tackle the problem with the mice running rampant in the old abandoned house. However, Connie was used to being a pampered house cat, coming and going as suited her mood. Her mood did not include spending nights locked up in the old house hunting mice.

The first night Daniel took her over to her new stomping grounds. He showed her the nice bowl of cat food, fresh water and a brand new litter box all ready for her. He had also made a soft bed in front of the heater knowing cats loved to nap.

Daniel left and locked the door behind him knowing that Connie had everything she needed for a night of hunting and doing whatever cats do.

Little did Daniel know, but Connie did not like the idea of spending the night all by herself chasing mice. She looked at the locked door and then went to sniff the food bowl. Nothing special, so she walked from one room to the next, casually exploring as she went. Finally, she ended up in the room farthest from the locked door. You see, Connie had lived in the area longer than Daniel had. She had been under the old house, in the old house, and had explored just about every angle there was to explore.

Within moments, she was in the bathroom and out the small dryer vent. She dropped to the ground and waited on the porch back at her house until someone let her in. The first battle of the war went to the cat.

The next evening, Daniel thought he had the war won. He had plugged up the dryer vent hole and just knew that Connie would be unable to forsake her duties another night.

Connie did not even stop to sniff the food bowl the second night. The moment Daniel shut and locked the door, she headed to the closet in the bedroom. Here, the access panel to the back of the bathtub was missing. It took her just a second to slip out and she actually managed to beat Daniel back to the house. Round two of the war went to the cat.

Daniel found her hole the next morning and put a board over it. He then used a suitcase to hold it in place. You can imagine how Connie just laughed to herself as she used her claws to drag the board and suitcase out of her way. She was almost home before Daniel was. Round three of the war went to the cat.

By now, Daniel is feeling a little miffed. All he wants is for the cat to help clear out the mice. He gets to work and puts a temporary door over the access panel. He uses inch and a half staples to block Connie's escape hatch and figures he has won the war.

Unfortunately for Daniel, he underestimated Connie's determination. The moment Daniel set Connie down, she headed for the closet. When Daniel followed her into the bedroom, she looked up at him and calmly began to wash her face. She was waiting until Daniel left before she would escape. Otherwise, he would just try to patch it up and lock her up again.

Finally, Daniel decided that she would not be able to escape and left.

It took her a couple of hours, but Connie managed to pull the board and staples off. When she appeared on the doorstep, she was let into the house. Round four of the war went to the cat.

Daniel was more than a little aggravated the following day. He used screws and blocked the hole with a suitcase and boots. He also locked the door to the bedroom so that Connie would not be able to get to the closet in the first place. Late that night, Connie could be seen through the window begging to be let out. Daniel laughed, figuring he had finally won the war.

The next morning, Connie raced out the door the moment Daniel opened it. Daniel stepped into the house and, to his surprise; Connie followed him from a distance. When he turned to look at her, she scampered back outside. A few minutes later, she was back, watching him from the door as she calmly bathed her face.

Daniel could not figure out what she was up to until he got to the smaller bedroom. There, sitting in the middle of the floor was the "gift" she left for him. For a litter trained house cat, she managed to get her point across in the smelliest of ways: "If you lock me up in here, you will pay the price." As soon as she knew her message got across, she turned and walked out the door, tail high and the look on Daniel's face was priceless.

It was the next night that Daniel decided he needed to get a different cat to help with his mice problem and the cat won the war.