Sunday, November 15, 2020

Fables of the feline

 Today I passed by the pet supply place at the base of the hill where I live. Not too surprisingly, someone was walking in holding a leash. But what was on the end of this leash? At first I assumed it was a small dog. But that wasn't quite right. There's a difference in movement between a small dog and a long cat. And this cat was quite long, actually larger than some dogs.

It also had quite short hair. Not quite hairless, but sleek. I was going to say a Sphynx, but I've looked up pictures of Sphynx cats, and this didn't look anything like that. So that part remains a mystery.

2 comments:

susan said...

I can understand seeing a large cat on a leash as something unexpected. The biggest cats I've heard about are Maine Coon Cats that are quite huge but they're also known to be fluffy rather than sleek. I hope what you saw wasn't somebody out walking their pet leopard.

One of the weirder things we see around here are women (never men) pushing what appear to be modified baby strollers containing little dogs or sometimes cats. It always reminds me of the opening of the book 'The Children of Men' where much the same thing goes on because children are no longer being born.

On another note I remembered another set of very short epigrams (sic) or perhaps poems that were composed by Piet Hein. Called grooks, I wonder if you've run across them?

Ben said...

Yeah, this definitely wasn't a Maine Coon Cat, although those are quite big. While it's now been some time since I saw the cat, but some research I did recently indicated it might have been a Donskoy. As for leopards, I think only insane rich people keep them as pets. While University Heights is at the base of the East Side, this neighborhood isn't that posh.

I might have seen people pushing dogs and cats in strollers. I can definitely imagine it. It doesn't seem to be doing them any favors. They like to walk with you and get their exercise. If you have something that can't keep up - a really small ferret, say - just carry it.

Grooks are new to me. They're pretty ticklish. Some remind me of Ogden Nash. I very much liked this one.

Two words express
My love galore:
Nevertheless,
Alwaysthemore

Hein was apparently a mathematician and inventor too. You probably knew that.