Every cat that comes to a new area in London, appears to me to be obliged to fight till he gains undisturbed possession of it; at least so it has been the case with my cats. A very fine, bold, powerful tabby, did this twice with perfect success; but after repeated combats, although victorious, the struggle made him fierce and occasionally sullen. Another who was a very beautiful creature, but much weaker, used to come in with his handsome ears slit, his cheeks swollen, his fur torn off, his frolic and vivacity gone; and he sat crouching by the fire all day. At night he was roused by the fierce defiance of his enemies; and the contest continued till he died from his exertions.
One cat belonging to me had a curious manner of shewing her disappointment or anger, whichever it might be; for the instant she was affronted, she walked away and seated herself with her back to the offending parties. A child of hers was an instance of the effect of judicious education, for fair and gentle treatment transformed her, from a violent, outrageous kitten, to a well behaved cat, and it was curious to see the instantaneous effect which the voice of his preceptress produced. Cats will learn all sorts of antics, and form all sorts of contradictory attachments; young birds, puppies, rats and mice frequently being the objects. My mother-in-law had both a favourite canary and an equally beloved cat; the former lived in her bed room; and when alone, she suffered him to fly about the room, for she could there exclude the latter. Chance, however, discovered that puss was as fond of the canary as she was; and, to her surprise, on raising her head from her work one morning, she saw the bird perched upon the cat's body, without fear, and the cat evidently delighted. After that there was no further restraint, and the two pets were daily companions. Their mistress, however, received another fright; for Puss gave a slight growl, and seizing the bird in her mouth, leaped on to the bed; her tail swelled out, her hair erect, and her eyes as big as four. The bird was of course given up for lost: but the door being accidentally left open, a strange cat had come in; and it was for the preservation of the bird, that the cat had seized him, and as soon as the intruder was driven away, she set the prisoner at liberty. Cats have often been trained to act as game-finders, without offering the slightest damage to their capture; they have given the alarm when thieves have been breaking in; and manifested great proofs of reflection and thought, which may be called reason, without degrading this act of the intellect. One belonging to my sister invariably goes to her room when she rings her bell; but does not offer to stir when any other bell in the house is sounded. Another, in the service of a friend, was in the habit of going into the garden, catching a bird, and bringing it to the cook, appearing to ask her to dress it; and yet it was perfectly her own suggestion.
A brother of mine had a favourite tortoise-shell cat, named Monkey, who always sat on his shoulder when he was shaving, and evinced every sign of deep attachment. He left her under the care of some friends when he went abroad; and, two years after, these ladies were surprised the evening he was expected home, at the extreme restlessness of the animal. She heard the arrival of the carriage at the garden gate before they did; and ere the bell was rung, she was furious to be let out to meet him. Her joy was indescribable; and the next morning she took her place on his shoulder as usual, when she saw him prepare his razor. Such attachments have been known to continue after death; and cats have died of grief on their master's grave.
I have already noticed a great friendship between a pug dog and a cat; and the following proof of a similar strength of love is taken from the pages of M. Wenzel, in his "Observations on the Language of Brutes." "I had a cat and a dog, which became so attached to each other, that they would never willingly be asunder. Whenever the dog got any choice morsel of food, he was sure to divide it with his whiskered friend. They always ate socially out of one plate, slept in the same bed, and daily walked out together. Wishing to put this apparently sincere friendship to the proof, I one day, took the cat by herself into my room, while I had the dog kept in another apartment. I entertained the cat in a most sumptuous manner; being desirous to see what sort of meal she would make without her friend, who had been hitherto her constant table companion. The cat enjoyed the treat, and seemed entirely to have forgotten the dog. I had had a partridge for dinner, half of which I intended to keep for supper. My wife covered it with a plate, and put it into a cupboard, the door of which she did not lock. The cat left the room, and I walked out on business; my wife meanwhile sat at work in an adjoining apartment. When I returned home, she related to me the following circumstances:—The cat having hastily left the dining-room, went to the dog, and mewed unusually loudly, and in different tones; which the dog, from time to time, answered with a short bark. They went together to the door of the room where the cat had dined, and waited till it was opened. The two friends then immediately entered the apartment. My wife rose from her seat, went softly to the door which stood ajar, to observe what was going on. The cat led the dog to the cupboard which contained the partridge, pushed off the plate which covered it, and taking out my intended supper, laid it before her canine friend, who devoured it quickly."
The following anecdote almost places the cat on a level with the dog:—"A physician of Lyons was requested to inquire into a murder that had been committed on a woman of that city. In consequence of this request, he went to the habitation of the deceased, where he found her extended lifeless on the floor, weltering in her blood. A large white cat was mounted on the cornice of a cupboard, at the far end of the apartment, where he seemed to have taken refuge. He sat motionless with his eyes fixed on the corpse, and his attitude and looks expressing horror and affright. The following morning he was found in the same station and attitude, and when the room was filled with officers of justice, neither the clattering of the soldier's arms, nor the loud conversation of the company, could in the least degree divert his attention. As soon, however, as the suspected persons were brought in, his eyes glared with increased fury, his hair bristled, he darted into the middle of the apartment, where he stopped for a moment to gaze at them, and then precipitately retreated under the bed. The countenances of the assassins were disconcerted, and they were now, for the first time, abandoned by their audacious atrocity."
There are several instances on record of cats finding their way back to their former abodes under circumstances of great difficulty, and the following appears to me to be one of the most striking of them, and quoted from a letter:—"When living at Four Paths, Clarendon, Jamaica, I wanted a cat, and had one given to me, which was nearly full grown; it was brought from Morgan's Valley Estate, where it was bred, and had never been removed from that place before. The distance was five miles. It was put into a canvass bag, and carried by a man on horseback. Between the two places there are two rivers, one of them about eighty feet broad and two feet and a half deep, running strong; the other is wider and more rapid, but less deep; over these rivers are no bridges. The cat was shut up at Four Paths for some days, and when considered to be reconciled to her new dwelling, she was allowed to go about the house. The day after obtaining her liberty, she was missing; and, upon my next visiting the estate she was brought from, I was quite amazed to learn that the cat had come back again. Did she swim over the rivers at the fords where the horse came through with her, or did she ascend the banks for a considerable distance, in search of a more shallow place, and where the stream was less powerful? At all events she must have crossed the rivers, in opposition to her natural habits."
A singular malformation in the cat has been perpetuated, till a race of tailless cats is now in existence, and which is certainly no improvement on the original stock; for nothing can be more graceful than the attitudes of the cat's tail, or more expressive of its feelings of joy or anger.