The Predator in my Bed

I didn't go fishing this weekend, but my cat Pavlov enjoyed great success in hunting. Late Saturday night, Kristine and I were awakened by him howling out in the kitchen. Fearing he'd hurt himself, we ran out there, but saw that Pavlov wasn't the one in trouble. In his mouth was a mouse, still struggling. He dropped it so he could run after it again (which he usually does), at which point Kristine trapped the mouse in a box and took it outside. I have a feeling it didn't last long. Half an hour later, Pavlov carried up another one already stone dead. We prefer it that way, so we don't have to convey a convulsing, bleeding mouse outdoors or listen to Pavlov braying and galloping around the house while he finishes it off.

However, either of those endgames is better than awakening to find him sitting in bed chewing on a mouse, which we did on Sunday night. That happened once before, too. They're crunchy, apparently. Kristine has told me that once when I was away, Pavlov jumped into the bed and dropped next to her.

Pavlov caught seven mice over the course of the weekend, a feat without precendent while we've been in this house. I hope this rodent invasion was an anomaly, partly because I don't want mice in the house and partly because I'd like a break from Pav's midnight mayhem. I'm glad he catches the mice, but I wish he didn't feel he needed an audience for the coup-de-grace (couldn't he just polish them off in the basement where he catches them?) . This is the downside of an affectionate cat who loves human company--he wants to share everything with you, whether you appreciate it or not. We always praise him for catching mice; maybe he took that as an indication we'd like greater participation in the hunt. When we took a wounded mouse from him Sunday night, he stalked off with his tail flicking. Oh, our ingratitude!

And so a cat being a cat, performing an act that is valued by us and that in large part defines his being, leads to miscommunication and hurt feelings. Many people see the problems of petkeeping as damaged furniture or biting. But the problems of communication may be greater, or certainly harder to solve. In that department, people being people, making rational actions and statements, is apt to produce poor results. I can think of few common experiences that do more to show up the limitations or the insularity of the sensibilities encourged by modern societies than trying to relate to animals in some non-instrumental way.