Tater, the Clever Cat

Just_Lin is the
nightowl who wrote our
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such a fun memory!

Tater, the Clever Cat

by Just_Lin

I used to rescue feral kittens and loved them all but Tater was one of the special ones. Even as a kitten, he preferred me to his litter mates. When they got too rambunctious, he would come sit between my feet. He ended up doing that alot. He was so fat and round that he reminded me of a tater tot, hence the name Tater.

He was gray striped and white, with markings by his nostrils that seem to give him a snotty look. And his attitude lived up to that perception. Because I had so many cats, I would sleep with the bedroom door closed so as to keep them out. All except for Tater who would curl up against my chest as I lay on my side, just as if we were spooning.

Some nights Tater would refuse to settle down. He would attack my feet if they moved under the blanket. He would jump from one dresser to the other, sliding into perfume bottles and making a racket. When he was in this kind of mood, I would have to get out of bed and put him out of the room. Well, he didn't like being ejected so he would go to an end table in the living room where the telephone was and start scratching at it with his paws until he got the receiver to fall from the cradle and land with a clatter on the hard wood floor. Mind you, I was very much a late night person so this is all going on at sometime after 1:00 a.m. Hearing this commotion, I would throw back the covers, fling open the bedroom door and go stomping down the hall saying very bad words. Meanwhile, Tater would race past me, down the hall and jump on to the bed. Sometimes he still wasn't ready to settle down so we might go through this routine several times a night, with me getting more and more angry and expressive each time.

Well, one night we are going through this routine and I am really exasperated. I'm stomping down the hall yelling four letter words, Tater is racing past me to the bedroom, I go to slam the receiver back down in the cradle and right before it lands, I hear "Hello?". I'm stunned! My cat has made a crank call! The deed was done. There was nothing I could do about it. I had already swore at this person and slammed the phone down in their ear. I go back down the hall and there is Tater curled up smugly on the bed.

The next day I called the phone company to have them check in case it was a long distance call. They will take the charge off if you dial long distance by accident. Anyway, the customer service lady was laughing her head off at my story. She said she was never able to get her telephone messages at home because when the answering machine would start going, her cat would run to it and start pawing at it until he hit the right button to turn it off.

Tater has been gone for many, many years but he will always be extra special to me and always hold a special place in my heart.