My dearly departed first ever kitty was a scrawny all white 7 pound female who ran the roost. I named her Miz Kitty (how original). She had the deepest LOUDEST meow, and it was a MEOW!!!

The second night home she must have snuck out and I found her the next morning lying on the porch not looking to good. She had some big teeth marks in her so I took her to the vet and he said a coyote must have gotten hold of her but she was lucky and got away. She healed quickly and started her reign of terror on all creatures big and small.

Our 5 dogs were terrified of her. The Lady Bug would cower and whimper when Miz went by, she took great advantage of this and often corned Bug and jumped on her back to bite her. Even the horses would keep their distance if Miz was sitting up on the corral licking the salt block. The jackrabbits and quail didn't stand a chance either. She killed jackrabbits as big as herself and dragged (what a sight) them to the door for me to see before doing her thing with them. This hunter by day was a cuddly lap cat by night. When she got bigger she actually did her business in the toilet. I had never trained her to do this either, guess she learned by imitation. As she got older she confused the toilet with the kitchen sink and the burners on the stove. (that's another story).

Anyway, one night she was hanging out near the fireplace cleaning up her front paws and fur (she had just finished a yummy rabbit) and she decided she needed to be IN the fireplace. There were glowing embers and little flame licks from an earlier fire. Well she sauntered in slowly one side, went around the back of the fire and came out the other side. I sat there stunned, my brain was having a tough time registering this. I could smell burning fur. Her fur was totally singed on one side and had burned off quite a bit of fur on her tail. Nothing! Miz wasn't even phased! Acted as if nothing ever happened!! A few weeks later she was back to her fluffy self except for the tail fur, that never grew back. She continued here terror trip for 10 more years and trained 2 new cats (who were wimps by comparison).

Miz met her match with a coyote in the end. I was heartbroken but knew she went out fighting, a very fitting way for her to go. Back then I didn't know and thought cats had to go outside or they would go crazy. The desert is not a safe stomping ground for kitties. Every cat since Miz Kitty had been strictly an indoor kitty. I will always miss my little wildcat.

Copyright © Tambra Jo Gwozdz
August 7, 1998