Saturday, February 13, 2010

Toxo The Wonder Cat Strikes Again

So there's this cat. It lives in and around this nursing home in Rhode Island. And this cat has a habit of curling up on the beds of patients who are about to croak. Check the story -- versions here, and here.

The story seems to be on the up-and-up. The cat's hit record is remarkable, and several times he's outguessed the experts and medicos. They suspect that something in the failing metabolism of a soon-to-be-dead type can be smelled out by the cat. But that's only a theory.

Anyway. You all know my cat Toxo, and the long saga of his involvement with the kids. Time and again, he's climbed up on the bed of whichever kid is currently afraid of the dark, or cranky, or otherwise upset by bedtime. And every time, the purring and the relentlessly friendly furry kitty stuff have conquered, and Children Have Slept.

Not just my kids, either. There was the little girl who slept over here a couple weeks back. The one who apparently doesn't sleep well on her own, and has nightmares. The one who repeatedly climbed out of bed here and really didn't seem to be happy about the whole sleep thing -- at least, until Toxo climbed on the bed, and I explained that he'd look after her. And then she went to sleep, and got up in the morning to tell us all how Toxo looked after her all night long...

Today there was a minor car accident on the highway outside. The curve where our driveway hits the road is apparently rather deceptive. Every year or so, we usually wind up with a motorcyclist lying halfway across the drive. This year, it was a slightly dented Holden Barina. The young lass driving it kinda missed the curve a bit, and clipped an oncoming ute. The ute driver was fine, and the only damage to his vehicle was some extra paint left on the bullbar. He checked to see the girl was okay, left his details, and hit the road.

The girl, however, was a bit shaken up. She was unharmed, but the rear bumper and panel of her car were... well, they were history. (I helped pick 'em up and load 'em into the car that came to collect her.)

Naturally, once we were sure she was okay, we invited her in for the necessary cup of tea, so she could call people, and calm down a bit. Not good to send someone back on the road if they're in shock -- and frankly, she seemed more than a little shaky.

At least, that was how she seemed as she sat on the couch. Right up to the point where Toxo the Cat marched into the room. He ignored the kids. He ignored the grandparents. He even ignored me, which is almost unheard of. Nope. He walked up to the couch, and oozed his way onto the young lady's lap. And there he sat, purring and kneading until she finally laughed, and stroked him, and began to relax.

You could see her whole body calming, her entire attitude changing as she interacted with the cat. It was... actually, it was kind of amazing.

That cat totally freaks me out sometimes.

10 comments:

  1. It is amazing how animals can do that. My Mika always knew when I was sad and would never leave my side.

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  2. Wow that is one very cool, very compassionate cat.

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  3. People underestimate animals, they really do.
    Dad was seriously NUTS after WW2 and the only thing that could ever calm him down was our cat. Who was never freaked out by his mood swings, level of drunkeness, conversations with invisible enemies, or bursts of ill humour when Dad accused him of eating his cheese.

    Quokka

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  4. Toxo is genuinely amazing. He's got to be eight years old now, and he just keeps on being the best cat I've ever had. I'm hoping we get another ten years out of him at least, because I'm going to miss him like all hell when he decides to call it quits.

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  5. Having never had cats as a kid, it's stories like this that freak me out about them. My best friend had cats when I was growing up, and they generally left me right alone, until suddenly one of them started curling up on my tummy for no apparent reason. Turns out I was pregnant, and the cat knew it before I did.

    Not a hater, just have a healthy respect.

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  6. Yeah, yeah look at the cute pussy cat. Oh look he was curled up with that patient last night and they died. He's done that 25 times.

    Anyone else that was last seen by 25 different people who were then found dead I'd like to see them run with the 'no I was just sensing their death' argument.

    Has anyone considered Oscar is one of the dreaded Cats of Ulthar and continues their fatal legacy.

    bet Oscar thinks people taste just like chicken


    Has anyone considered Oscar is one of the dreaded Cats of Ulthar and continues their fatal legacy.

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  7. You are all fools. Cats think of murder all day long - especially kittens. They are lulling you into trusting them. Just look at the first cat you described. The liberal media would have us believe that cat is comforting those people before they die. I see something very different. I'm not accusing any cat of anything, but all we really know is that the people that did not receive a visit are still alive.

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  8. maybe you could hire him out as a therapy cat

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  9. Paul and Barnes: the cat may well be murdering people. But they're excess people, past their use-by date, who have been left in a nursing home to bleed valuable resources away from far more deserving people. The cat is therefore doing us all a favour. There should be many more such cats.

    In fact, I think that cat's genome should be examined carefully, and the most useful parts should be transferred into a specially created breed of sabretooth leopards. These highly useful animals could then be released into houses of parliament and congress all over the world, thus eliminating a very large number of otherwise useless individuals who bleed resources away from far more valuable tasks.

    MickH: MY therapy cat. MINE! Get your own!

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  10. My cats don't want to kill anyone.
    They just want to rid the world of human toes.
    At 4am, when they are still beneath the blankets and the the Guardian of the Toes are asleep and are invariably ill prepared for such attacks.


    Quokka

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