3. This Cat’s on a Hot Tin Roof
A few months ago I read a book about some amazing felines. It’s kind of a sequel to a book that you’ve probably heard about referring to cat named Dewey, thanks to Vicki Myron. I haven’t read Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat Who Touched The World, but I did read Dewey’s Nine Lives: The Legacy Of The Small-town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions.
It all started on a frigid night in January 1988 in Spencer, Iowa. The temperature was brutal at fifteen degrees below zero when a deposit was made in the book return slot of the library there. It wasn’t a book, music or movie, but a tiny kitten who stayed in the cold metal box for anywhere from ten hours to a day or more. When Vicki Myron opened the return receptacle, she saw a freezing eight-week old pussycat. She warmed him up as best she could, including a soothing bath followed by drying with a blow dryer. The little guy showed his thanks by pressing his nose against each staff member there. He acquired the name of Dewey, probably because someone suggested the connection to the library classification system.
His full name became Dewey Readmore Books and he fit right in to the place. Spencer was facing a farming crisis and the town needed something. Vicki was new in her position at the branch and Dewey saved her just as she had saved him. This same give, take and give back occurred time and again in the Spencer library. The number of patrons increased and the staff had a change of attitude. Things in town would never be the same. A really great thing had happened.
Dewey made people in the building feel good and he certainly didn’t mind the attention. He wasn’t partial as he was cozy with anyone nearby. Shy people petted him and soon knew about his night in the box – even those who weren’t cat lovers. When Dewey did readings and signed autographs, the crowds were overflowing. Obviously he was a smart guy, but come on, he couldn’t read or write even though books surrounded him.
Crystal was a student who had physical disabilities. She only stared at the floor but then the library feline headed for her wheelchair as she rolled along. Crystal began making sounds and before long, a smile covered her face when she caught a glimpse of him. Dewey and the children had a special relationship, and he especially loved babies. When he came near them, they may have petted him and tugged on his ears. He didn’t mind. Dewey may have napped a great deal, but the children all knew him as he spread love and joy to young and old alike.
One gentleman wrote that after his divorce, without Dewey, it would have been hard to go on. The feline restored his heart. A woman with muscular dystrophy read Vicki’s book and moved to the floor to kiss her dog. She rose from there without assistance. Sadly, her dog died shortly thereafter. Across the ocean, a British man had lost his wife a few months before and read the book about Dewey. Only then did he see that the two cats she left behind carried him through his sadness. There are other numerous instances of Dewey’s influence on people, which you can read about in the two books I mentioned earlier. You will also find tales of many other cats in Dewey’s Nine Lives. What follows is another story.
Sioux City, Iowa, is less than a hundred miles from Spencer. Glenn Albertson grew up there and was six foot four and two hundred sixty pounds at eighteen, playing on the football team, naturally. Not long after graduation, he married and had a son. Glenn pumped gas and repaired automobiles. Simultaneously, he trained to be a policeman. He later had another son and a daughter. One day Glenn brought his daughter home from Sunday school, and one of his friends answered the door. His marriage was over.
He took on all kinds of work, being a bouncer and bartender. He even sold insurance. He met an elderly gentleman, who had lived through the Depression. The latter advised him: Learn as much about many things as you can, because that way you will never have trouble finding a job. Glenn was appreciative of the advice and actually had been practicing that himself, as his list of jobs showed. He knew carpentry, plumbing and electricity. After a few years, he married a waitress and they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida.
He soon discovered that his new wife was doing the cheating thing. He married a third time, a friend he had known for years. The couple couldn’t have children, so they decided to adopt. In the process, they took in foster children, but unfortunately they left for some reason or another. They decided to adopt Jenny, a full-blood Sioux. Albertson’s third wife left, too, taking Jenny with her.
One day, Glenn was under the dashboard working on a car when something like a fur ball fell onto his stomach. It was a white and orange cat, about six weeks old. He soon had the name of Rusty. They became good friends, but Rusty wouldn’t come to Glenn’s house, at first. When the cat was five, he weighed about twenty-five pounds. Jenny and Rusty got along fine.
Glenn spent evenings attending divorced dads’ meetings and drove to dances to hear music. He may even have played his guitar at times, if asked. He soon played more often at Storm’n Norman’s Rock and Roll Auditorium. He handled chores there, too, such as carrying the keg, tending bar and unclogging toilets. One thing he didn’t do was dance, until one night. He spotted her and noticed the glow so he headed over to her. When he asked her to dance, she agreed. For now, we’ll call her, Ms. M, and she had health problems, including walking. She figured she could handle one dance, especially since the guy was so handsome. Somehow she did fine on the dance floor for more than a single dance.
Ms. M’s husband was a drunk and they had gotten divorced. Both Glenn and Ms. M liked each other, sharing much of their lives. As might be expected, neither wanted another marriage. However, they were suited for each other so they moved into the same house. They each had a cat in their lives, but the one in Ms. M’s life had died. He had been a library cat named Dewey. Ms. M was none other that Vicki Myron. You can find all the details about these relationships in her books about Dewey.
Thanks to Myron, the whole world knew about the cat in the library in Spencer. Her book was a best seller in Portugal, Korea, Brazil, England and China. When Dewey died, he had lived nineteen years. His obituary was printed in the Sioux City paper and ran in almost 300 newspapers. Fans signed his condolence books by the hundreds. His memorial was attended by the same amount. Letters from around the world were sent to the Spencer library and for months, librarians were approached by reporters and others to learn more about Dewey. Dewey was laid to rest outside near the wing of the children’s library.
In the late 1970s, pet therapy barely existed. At the Steere Housing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, which dealt with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients, Henry lived in the building as it was being constructed, so he stayed. He was a stray cat named after the benefactor, Henry Steele, and the feline remained for a decade. He was such a force that half a dozen cats replaced him over time. In the twenty-first century, the tradition was repeated, but one stood out: Oscar. He wasn’t named after the wiener, I don’t think.
Oscar visited many of the residents, but usually didn’t remain long in the room. If he stayed, it meant that death was close at hand – most likely that same day. If a resident was moved to the hospital and about to leave this planet, Oscar would hang out in the room where the resident had been. He did this often. At times, after someone had died and Oscar spent time in the resident’s room, staff noted that Oscar seemed in need of a vacation – tired and worn out. Obviously it affected him.
Dr. David Dosa was the resident physician and he was aware of the feline’s skills. His scientific background made him question Oscar’s talent. Was the latter really that attuned to the suffering of the residents? He witnessed and talked to family members. He knew of many instances of this great cat’s work. David wondered what Oscar would do if two people were dieing at the same time. It did happen, so he would go to one and then the other as soon as he could.
Ida mentioned her cat, Patches, always knew when Ida’s arthritis was bothering her or when she was ill. On those occasions, the feline would stay with her while other times – when Ida was fine – Patches was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he went to the track. Sadly, Patches died of cancer. Kathy said that Oscar was in the room for her mother, but he soothed Kathy just as well, maybe more so. Oscar relieved her of her loneliness at a troubling time, making her realize that the feline knew exactly what was happening. This occurred again and again.
Dosa would write a book about Oscar. Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift Of An Ordinary Cat is an amazing story. Oscar took up residence in the nursing home but wasn’t there because he was collecting social security or suffering from an accident. He had concern for the patients. Cats may not all have nine lives, but they do have a sixth sense, and Oscar exemplifies that by his love for the residents. He performs a service, without pay – all right, he gets some cat chow and is finicky. Oscar didn’t care whether you were rich, poor or what your background was. He was there for the people – staff, residents and their families. This is just like the good done at various Hospice places by therapy animals. Dosa’s book is about a one-of-a-kind cat, nursing homes, dementia, Alzheimers and the transformation of the author, who really got to know Oscar. Many words describe his book, but perhaps the most fitting is remarkable.
Jenna is another remarkable cat who lives in Buffalo. Len, a Eucharistic minister from St. Joseph University Church, told me about this tortoiseshell kitty. Also known as a tortie, Jenna is mostly black and carmel. She’s a hunter, maybe related to the panther since she has brought rabbits to Len. My cat Jaspurrr also brought me presents, but they were mice and birds. Jenna is one tough cat as she can get her prey even when she’s on a leash. You would think the bunnies would learn to stay away.
I need to pass along the tale of a really cool Siamese, named Koko. This dude is the main character of Lilian Jackson Braun’s novel, The Cat Who Talked Turkey. All right, so it’s fiction, but it’s an amazing and amusing story of a smart Moose County journalist, Jim Quilleran, and his pets. Koko’s partner in crime is Yum Yum. Some people overlook the intelligence of four-legged creatures, but clairvoyant Koko’s insight might convince these doubting Thomases otherwise. Braun has written more enjoyable novels regarding Quilleran and the pair of Siamese.
Returning to the real world, Anthony Ace Bourke and John Rendall left Australia and settled in London in the late 1960s. They went to Herrods’ Department Store and saw two lion cubs there, one male and one female, and thought they would buy the former, which they did. His name was Marcus, but it didn’t seem quite right so Ace and John decided on Christian. It had something to do with Christians being fed to the lions. Before they picked up the cub, they had to make sure that the accommodations were adequate.
Their apartment was too small, so they found another place, the building where they worked. It housed a shop called the Sophisticat, which seemed fitting. It had a huge basement so the only other search was for a large garden where Christian could roam. Friends provided that. During the day, Christian would sit on the furniture in the shop window. One day someone mentioned that a child saw the cub and said to his mother, Mummy, there was a lion in that shop window. His mother replied, Don’t be ridiculous. If you don’t stop this lying, I’ll get your father to thrash you.
Christian, the guys and their associates got along fine, respecting each other. Those who ventured into the shop when Christian was there didn’t have to have stitches. The lion was smart and didn’t want to lose a customer. He could open the basement door without a key. If there was food stored high up, it didn’t stop him as he knocked it down to get it. Naturally Christian grew and John and Anthony knew that they would have to have their four-legged friend liberated and transported to Kenya, or some wildlife area before he became too domesticated.
They had a few worries about shipping him off. Christian would have to be in a cage for about fifteen hours for the journey from London. Would he be all right? The next concern was his ability to make it in the wild. He landed in Kenya a bit tired and groggy, but what human doesn’t feel that same way after such a long flight? Ace and John discovered that Christian adapted quite well in his new home.
On a later visit to Kenya, John and Anthony couldn’t seem to find their lion friend, but then the two and Christian saw each other. He stood still, but then moved slowly towards them, eventually leaping into their arms in a show of love and devotion. This relationship was a fine example of a slight modification of the familiar thought, They laid down with the lion, and all got some rest. The change of scenery was good for Christian, but that was the last time the two saw him. He may have met his end because of predators with four legs or those with guns – animal poachers. On the other hand, a lion lives into his twenties and Christian may have just died a natural death, since he was no longer a teenager at this last reunion.
Besides the YouTube video, which millions have viewed, there was an Animal Planet special called A Lion Called Christian, and many other programs that you’ll find by doing an Internet search. You can also read the book by Bourke and Rendall, A Lion Called Christian: The True Story Of The Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends And A Lion.
The 1965 movie, Born Free, is also about a young cub, Elsa, who grows to adulthood under the watchful care of a young couple. She had a more difficult time adjusting to being in the wild, as all she wanted to do was play. That may be because of her sex. As a result, the other creatures not only gave her a rough time, she almost doesn’t survive the beating they bestowed on her. After a while, she attacked a warthog and they’re both at the dinner table, except that Elsa is the only one dining. Born Free is supposedly a true story, but it’s based on a novel. That doesn’t mean that most of it didn’t really occur. Insofar as Christian was real with a similar background and assimilation issues, there’s no reason why we can’t believe that Elsa lived on the planet.
Brian Setzer was a member of the Stray Cats for a while – certainly appropriate for this chapter. Later this guitarist, singer and songwriter became the leader of the swing band, The Brian Setzer Orchestra. It’s still active and features five saxophones, four trumpets and four trombones. One of the group’s releases was The Dirty Boogie. “This Cat’s on a Hot Tin Roof” is from that CD.