Life as an only cat.
Have I ever told you the life story of Stella the cat? Believe it or not, it’s a pretty good story. There’s danger and drama, conflict of all kinds, and my favorite there’s a happy ending (so far).
Stella´s Saga.
Stella began life as an abandoned kitten on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota way back in 2012. Her territory was around the Pine Ridge Hospital, where her future adopted dad worked.
Back then, there were packs of wild dogs that ran free on the reservation. A little kitten like Stella would have been an easy target for hungry dogs. She quickly became proficient in the feline version of S.E.R.E. (survival, evasion, resistance and escape). She was a master at camouflage.
The rescue.
On one of the safe days, Stella was curled up under the tire of a car in the hospital parking lot when one of the humans noticed her. Amber the human scooped up the tiny grey kitten and took her inside to her department coworkers. She informed her coworker Steve that he was the proud new adopted father of the little abandoned kitten and would be taking her home with him.
A Streetcar Named Desire.
Steve’s boss at the hospital was named Paul. Paul was a big fan of Tennessee Williams and had named one of his cats Stanley, after the character in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. So, when Paul found out that Amber had told Steve to take this kitten home, Paul told Steve that the kitten´s name is now Stella. Even though the rescue and the name were never Steve´s ideas, he did end up taking home the little gray kitten and she was called Stella from then on.
New Turf. New turf wars.
When Steve arrived at his house that day, eagerly peering out the front windows were his two roommates: Smiley the pure bred fluffy white dog, and Trudy the Calico queen. (Don’t worry. I’ll be telling their stories in future episodes, too.) For now, I´ll just tell you Smiley and Trudy were siblings who got along as well as many other siblings: they didn’t always agree but most of the time they enjoyed each other’s company.
Stella, who up to this time in her short life had been a lone kitty, was not pleased to discover the human who had taken her away from the reservation was putting her in a house occupied not only by a bossy cat but a dog! She made her feelings known right away by finding a hiding place in the false ceiling of the basement. The first night in her new home, she hid in the false ceiling and cried loudly and pitifully. This rescue was going to be harder than first imagined.
The Dog Problem
Smiley the gentleman dog loved little Stella and wanted so very desperately to be friends, but it just wasn’t working out. Whenever he was in the same room as Stella, she would bolt like lightening. Being a dog, Smiley’s instincts told him he must always chase anything that is running, whether it be friend or foe, so he always chased Stella when she ran. Well, of course any dog that chased her was considered by Stella to be the most dangerous and evil kind of dog.
One day while I was in the kitchen, I heard Stella yelling from the basement. Smiley, as he often did, ran down the basement steps and a minute or so later, came back upstairs and scratched at the back door to go outside. I let him out and seconds later, here came Stella, trotting up the basement steps. She ate a little kibble, lapped up some water, slipped away to use the litter box, and then came back to rub against my ankles. About that time, Smiley scratched at the back door to come back in. Stella dashed down the basement steps and jumped back up to her hiding spot.
After witnessing this same routine multiple times, I realized these two animals had figured out their own system of cooperation.
It’s a cat thing.
Trudy was a calico of the first order. She was the boss, the queen, the ruler supreme. She was quite vocal when she disagreed with someone, and she was exquisitely sly, and wise and very loving when she wanted to be. She and Stella quickly became siblings and fought and played and slept and ate together like cats from the same litter. Once in a while, being the alpha cat, Trudy had to establish dominance, and no amount of human intervention could stop her. Stella actually didn’t seem all that phased by it. I don’t know why. I guess it’s a cat thing.
Easy to be alpha when you’re an only.
Smiley, who was a senior dog when Stella came to the house, went to the rainbow bridge in 2016; Trudy joined him in September of 2021. Now that she is an only cat, Stella seems more than ready to ascend to the throne. She happily bosses her humans about, and just as Trudy taught her, complains very loudly when her food dish is only 9/10 full. She shows a lot more curiosity than she used to. She enjoys sitting by the windows, watching the neighborhood activities. She has taken over all the spaces her siblings vacated when they left for the Rainbow Bridge.
Stella in Mexico
I’m not sure, but I get the feeling living in Mexico hasn’t been much of a change for Stella. The sound of kibble being poured into her food dish, the warm laps of her humans, and the cat toys laced with catnip are all the trappings of home, no matter what country they happen to be in. She has no idea what an amazing, brave, world-traveling cat she is.
