Ann Marie Tatangelo, age 12, Bridgeport', Conn:
Does a cat really have nine lives?
Mr; and Mrs. Rama pooka wish to answer this question in their own words. They also wish to take up certain other old catty sayings. Being cats, they should know the answers. Andy took notes as Siamese Rama and white Pooka told the story between them.
"Let's face it", meowed Rama* "The human race is divided into two groups, the pro cats and the anti cats.. You can't make a pro cat out of an anti cat and you cant make an anti eat out of a pro cat. Though both sides try hard and use propaganda,
"The catty old sayings are propaganda, mostly from the anti cat people, They blythly say, a cat always falls on its feet. True, we are supple animals and can turn right side up as we fall within reason. But a young fellow I know took that old saying too seriously. He dropped his kitten off the roof. She didn't make it. Too bad: The boy loved the kitten and the kitten loved the boy,".
"Excuse me", purred Pooka politely. "But let's get back to the question, Which side started the story that a cat has nine lives? The anti cat people, of course. If you believed it, you wouldn't much care if your cat dropped dead. You'd figure she had eight lives more anyway. Too late you would find out she had only one life, like every other creature.
"There's a lot of gossip about black cats?", said Rama, stroking his whiskers. "That dates back to when people believed in witches. A proper witch was supposed to have a black cat as unpopular as herself. People came to their senses and got over believing in witches. But some are still confused about a black cat and say she is unlucky. Of all the nonsense, she’s just an ordinary cat the opposite color from our Fookal"
"I'd never make such catty remarks about people," said Pooka. After all., we cats were their very first pets. Yes, I heard what Skippy said about dogs being man's first pets, But we had waited for the human family for 30 million years.
My, were we full of purrs when they finally arrived, "True, they were loveable," said Ramai "But they had no idea how to treat a small animal. They were rough and clumsy. We had to teach them how to be kind to their pets. We spat and used our claws to teach them we had to. In fact we have been teaching humans how to be kind to their pets ever since. Some haven’t learned yet."
'That's why some people are still anti cat,' purred Pooka. 'They fear, and hate us because we refuse to stand for rough handling. We scratch and claw to teach them proper pet manners. When they learn, we make it all up to' them with kisses, cuddles and purrs. Make no mistake, a cat can love a human being more than a dog can no matter what Skippy said. Shall we chase him Rama? Or shall we let him chase us?"