Ada the Moral

Ada (left) and Shadow (right) on a friendlier day, though interfering with my work.

I have a she-cat named Ada. I have long called her Ada the Moral or Ada the Virtuous, because she seems to care very much that things are done properly and cares for everyone in the household. I also call her Mama Cat for the same reason, although she is spayed and never had kittens. She mothers everybody, including me, making sure I go to bed on time, rise on time, clean up messes, and do not drink too much. She even laid down beside my late Griselda in her last minutes. I have many stories.

But in all my years of service to cats, I've never seen anything like what just happened. Although my cats are mostly indoor cats, I like to take them for a walk once or twice a day for a few minutes. But I've had trouble over the years with them escaping my supervision and I have to go looking for them or wait for them to come back. This is against city ordnances and loose cats in my neighborhood cause a certain amount of bitching on social media.

My tomcat Shadow is the worst offender and requires constant vigilance to keep him from running off. His usual technique is to jump over a privacy fence into a neighbor's yard, because he knows I won't follow, and most of the back yards here are linked by privacy fences.

I was out walking the cats in the empty lot that serves as a park, owned by the HOA, across the street from our house and Shadow headed for a fence. I caught his hindquarters at the top and he did something he's never done before: screeched and hissed at me, full volume, like a cat fight. He feigned biting me. I was shocked. I don't think I hurt him but his escapades have long been a point of contention.

Within about two seconds Ada arrived and took sides. She attacked Shadow, screeching, growling, hissing, biting, swatting, and chased him all the way back to our front door. I knew she was distressed when he went missing before, but I never would have guessed she would have done such a thing. I think she was both protecting me and ensuring that Shadow returned home when he was supposed to¹.

People associate behavior like that more with dogs than with cats, but in my experience cats are not the cold, selfish villains some people think they are (i.e. "dog people")². Though they are not pack animals, they are social and form strong, affectionate bonds with those around them. And the longer I've lived with Ada, the more respect I have for her.

Ada the Moral

Footnotes

1 Just in case you are thinking Shadow isn't happy at home, I would point out that every time he has run away, he has always come back looking for cuddles. This time he "apologized" immediately by rubbing against my legs until I petted him. Then he climbed onto my shoulder for a cuddle. He is a needy cat and if he ever leaves and doesn't come back then I will know something bad happened.

2 And just in case you think I'm a "dog hater," we had a family dog when I was younger and we absolutely loved each other. I've also gotten along well with various other dogs over the years. I may write about that in the future.