Into the Woods

Lily reposes. Digital effects applied in Gimp photo editor.

I have raised several dogs from puppyhood, and so I have pretty well-developed theories about how to raise puppies. Lily, who is now about nine months old, was about eight weeks old when she came to me. I had to play kitten-raising by ear.

Dogs, of course, need training. Train a cat? Ha! They can learn basic rules fairly well: Don’t scratch, don’t bite, don’t get on the table, don’t scratch the furniture. Lily, I think, has turned out just fine. The guidelines for kitten raising, it seems to me, boil down to: Give them a lot of affection and attention, and always respond to them in a consistent, predictable way that they can understand.

I thought that Lily would never be motivated to come when I call. But these past few evenings, she has been doing that. She knows that one of the unbreakable rules is that she can’t go out until the sun is up, and she must be in before dark. She likes to stay out all day when the sun is shining and it’s not too cold. An hour before sunset, she’s probably sleepy and hungry. So when I go out and call her, I soon hear a meowing in response, far off in the woods. And before I know it, she’s at the door.

I’m pretty sure she’s aware that the woods are dangerous after dark if you’re a kitty cat.