ADVENTURES WITH CATS – Act I
Helen Wilson (Phil & Pearl’s cat-grandma)
As newlyweds in 1970, we discovered a very pregnant cat living in a cave near our apartment complex. I put out a dish of milk, and we soon had a regular visitor. When her time arrived, “Spooky” was persuaded to come in and delivered a litter of three kittens under our bed.
Pets were not allowed, so we faced a dilemma when we took a road trip to West Virginia, a very long ride from Connecticut. The night before takeoff, I decided to put Spooky in the car for a test drive. She was not happy! We purchased some cat tranquilizers, and the next day she settled in the backseat with her babies, howling occasionally. We played lots of music to settle her down, and for a while she rode on the front dashboard, surveying the countryside.
My next good idea was a roadside picnic on the PA Turnpike. We spread out our blanket next to a field of cows. Interested in the pastoral scene, Spooky darted into the field through a barbed wire fence and could only be persuaded to return when I gently squeezed one of the kittens, causing it to mew pathetically!
We stopped for the night at a motel, which did not allow pets. We snuck the little family in at dark. Spooky was very happy with the deep shag rug in the room. She settled the kittens in and was disappointed to have to leave the next morning. When we arrived in West Virginia, the relatives were amazed that we had cats on board! They were of the school of thought that cats and dogs lived outside. Spooky promptly hid her little ones in the stone cellar, amidst the jars of pickled vegetables. When it was time to leave a few days later, our cat family was nowhere to be found. Uncle Ken, a country man who knew his way around animals, called around and found them tucked into some old rubber boots! Eureka!
Spooky enjoyed West Virginia and might have liked to stay, but we decided to drive straight through to Connecticut. Amidst lots of howling on the New Jersey Turnpike, two nice young men asked us for a ride at a tollbooth. They played with the kittens in the back seat, and something they were smoking seemed wonderfully soothing to Spooky! She began to purr.
We arrived safely home, and within six months had to move. The management had seen the cats peeking out from behind the shades and issued an edict: get rid of the cats or move. We were a family, and so we moved. Their next destination was an easy 20 minute ride away.
Eight years later, Spooky took the long ride with us to live in New Hampshire. By then, she had a modern cat carrier, and was a seasoned traveler.