In the world of the domestic cat, the one thing that is guaranteed to get you in trouble in the neighbourhood is the name your human owner gives you.
Hobson opened his eyes, yawned, stretched and sat up before meticulously grooming his fur and licking his battle wounds.
Since he and his human Geoff had moved into the neighbourhood six weeks back, Hobson literally had to fight for his life almost continuously. His battle scarred ears and the missing fur on his back, along with the severely bitten end of his tail bore testament to the daily scrapping Hobson had to endure.
“Breakfast, come and get it,” Geoff yelled above the noise of the food-blender, which was mashing up his daily liquid energy diet before his morning run.
Hobson scampered down the hallway to the kitchen from where he slept on the end of Geoff’s bed. As usual his human had placed a delicious repast fit for a king in his bowl. Today it was a mix of fresh oily Sardines, and Hobson’s absolute favourite – liver.
“See ya later old fella. Now don’t get yourself into any more fights – OK?”
Hobson flicked the end of his tail in answer as his human went out into the world for his morning exercise. What Geoff didn’t seem to appreciate was that it is a cat’s duty to fight for position within the neighbourhood, a fact that despite all of his highly explanatory mewing to Geoff, Hobson had failed to make plain. If only they both spoke the same language. Humans can be so thick at times. After all if he can understand human, why can’t Geoff understand a language as simple as cat?
Hobson licked the final trace of his breakfast from the farthest recesses of his bowl and began to meticulously wash his face and whiskers. It was time to face the neighbourhood bully, and this time Hobson had no choice but to win.
When Scratch had found out the name Geoff had chosen for his feline pal, thanks to Miffy, the flea-bitten female cat next door hearing Geoff call him in on their first night in the street, he had made it his mission to declare the feline equivalent of war.
To Scratch’s way of thinking Hobson was not a name fit for a cat. Claw or Fang, or even Puss was tolerable at a pinch, but Hobson – really?
In the dim past there had been a pure white male cat named Snowflake who Scratch had mercilessly beaten up on a daily basis to the point where he had finally run away, much to the consternation of his humans, never to be seen again.
Hobson carefully pushed the cat flap open and sniffed the air. The only odours his highly sensitive nose detected was that of the mail man, the dog across the street and the unmistakeable sour stench of his nemesis.
Scratch had become numero uno soon after arriving in the street three months ago, taking on all comers. He meticulously despatched some with his vicious claws by ripping open their throats, and severely wounded and terrified others.
To make it clear who was king of the neighbourhood, he left his highly pungent calling card on every surface declaring to all and sundry that this is his territory. No one knew where he came from, or where he lived, let alone dared to challenge him, until the day Hobson arrived that is.
Today would become the feline equivalent of High Noon. It was time to face Scratch down once and for all! Every fibre of his being was tensed as he made his way up the street, garden by garden, constantly expecting to be ambushed. He surveyed the area where he knew Scratch held court in the narrow alleyway bounded by the fences of number five and number eleven. Sure enough Scratch’s scouts lay in wait on top of the fences.
Hobson calmly strode to the entrance and issued his noisy challenge. He didn’t have to wait long. All heads turned as Scratch confidently trotted forward down the alley to where Hobson stood sideways, tail rigid, legs tensed ready to spring into action, fangs and claws bared as his low guttural growls grew in intensity.
Both cats followed the unwritten code of preliminary threats before combat began by growling, spitting, hissing, flicking tails, raising hackles, lashing the space between them with one clawed paw, neither closing for the kill. For a few moments they continued to warily circle each other, their low angry growls rapidly transforming into loud constant wailing.
Then Scratch launched his attack. Fur flew; blood flowed, neither cat capitulated. Honour and position was at stake. Hobson felt Scratch’s sharp claws pierce the skin of his sensitive nose, but the adrenalin coursing through his veins masked the pain. In turn Hobson seized Scratch by the scruff of his neck, biting deep. As both cats rolled around on the ground in deadly mortal combat, biting, clawing, scratching, neither of them heard the warning cries of their fellow felines until it was too late.
Suddenly Hobson found himself on his own covered from head to foot in dust and dried blood. The battle was over.
“Shame on you! You are a naughty pussycat. I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. You have left home for the last time Gerald. I’m taking you directly to the vet to be ‘fixed’, do you hear me young man!”
If cats could laugh, every one of them assembled there that fateful day when Hobson became the undisputed boss would have laughed till they cried. Scratch’s human given name was Gerald? Unbelievable!
They all saw the look of total fear on his face as he peered out from behind the bars of the catbox, located on the rear window ledge of the car, as his human drove towards the centre of town to deliver Gerald to his appointment with the unkindest cut of all.
😉
At least it wasn’t Nigel!
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Or Farquhar, Imagine calling a cat in by that name?
😉
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My stepdaughter called one of our cats Dermot, just so that she could hear us calling him in: ‘Der!’ Same danger with Farquhar!
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Hobson is purfectly correct (sorry). If cats can understand human, why can’t we understand ‘Cat’?
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What, you mean you can’t?
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Nope! 😉
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Hmmm. Our cats certainly make their meanings extremely obvious, although I fear I do misunderstand occasionally.
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For which you get a painful reminder I’m sure. 😉
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Now and again!
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You don’t get that with dogs. Just unconditional love… 😉
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Sshh! The cats are listening!
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
A brilliant story from Jack Eason.. Not just for cat lovers… a lesson to be learnt by us all….careful when naming your pets.
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I sent it to a mate of mine by the same human name as ‘Scratch’ on Facebook. 😉
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I wonder what his birth name was!! thanks Jack.
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Snookums probably…
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Thanks Chris 😉
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Great Tale (Tail?) 😀 😀 😀
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Great entertaining story – loveable & lively – beautifully written.
Guess it was Hobson’s choice whether he fought or not! … BOOM! BOOM!
I guess you only get that one if you remember the Charles Laughton film… damn my obscure jokes!
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Belief it or not Paula but my original title for the story was Hobson’s Choice. 😉
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I christened my white male, Persian, short-story cat, Winston Jeremiah Puffington, Mr. Puffy, the abbreviated version. Great pet story.
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Poor cat. Fancy being saddled with that mouthful of names. 😉
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What a great name! It’s choice! 😉
I’ once took care of a feral cat we named Maximilian – he was a battle-scarred and ugly male with a sweet temperament, once I’d gotten him to trust me. Just never had a human care for him.
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All animals need someone they can feel safe with Noelle. 😉
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My cats’ names Rain, Diva, Thor, Poppy, Evelyn 🙂
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Nice names 😉
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Love this story! Hobson is Top Cat!
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He certainly is… 😉
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My husband called ours Lunch because she was always taunting the mastiff that lived next door.
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How many lives has she lost while taunting the mastiff I wonder? 😉
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A delightful story. Love it. 😀
Glad his name wasn’t something whiny like Sydney. He’d be the laughingstock not just in his neighborhood but the whole town.
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Gerald is bad enough. 😉
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Ha ha ha. Sometimes bad is good. 😀
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Reblogged this on Margie's Creations.
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Thanks for the reblog 😉
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Haha!! Great story! Our 8 month old is a biter. And she calls us names, curses eloquently, talks with exclamation points and slaps everyone foolish enough to get too close to her cat castle. She choose the name Izzie but I think we may have misunderstood. It turns out she’s not an Isabelle, she’s an Elizabeth Taylor with a migraine. And a pearl and rhinestone collar. I’m afraid once she’s old enough to go outside she will be Scratch. I’m drafting apology letters and sticking them on bottles of booze to hand out when the time comes.
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🙂
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I loved the story, as I love so many of yours. Our Captain Midnight continued to fight any male who dared foray into our yard, even years after he was neutered. It was a matter of principle and a matter of pride. Long after his back legs (degenerative hip condition) wouldn’t lift him up off the front doormat, he would hiss at cats in his yard, knowing we were just inside the screen to chase off anyone who took him up on his offer to fight. We still miss him all these years later.
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I know a few old codgers, myself included Rae, who sympathise with your Captain Midnight. 😉
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You were right Jack! I really appreciated this story. Gerald the cat would you believe….
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🙂
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Very nice story.. 🙂 two paws up!
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Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
Here’s one I wrote last year for all the cat lovers among you. It got a good response then. How about now as its the transition between 2017 and 2018???
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Ha, ha! Even cats feel the need to have an impressive name. Fun story!
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…certainly not Gerald. 😉
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Reblogged this on Jo Robinson and commented:
Fabulous TAIL from Jack. 🙂
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Thanks for the reblog Jo xx
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Wonderful story Jack. Brilliantly crafted twist. Have a good 2018.
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Thanks Chris – happy New Year. 😉
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Great story, Jack. It sounds like you’ve seen cats fight. Gerald indeed. That’s the end of his reign over the neighborhood. Happy New Year 2018! 😀 — Suzanne
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Who hasn’t seen cats fighting Suzanne? Its always vicious! 😉
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Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Catfight.
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Thanks for the reblog 😉
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We had a Jemima, when she was a little older than a kitten. (I would not have called her that!) Her name made her sound dainty and a bit daft. She looked it but she was anything but! She was always bringing in decapitated morsels for us to admire. My favourite cat was Chester, a ginger tom. I had him from a kitten and he was such a character – always travelling on adventures. My brother and I would often get phone calls to go and rescue him from the most interesting households. On one occasion we arrived and found him in a house with at least another dozen cats resident. He was such a social cat. I loved him dearly but sadly he was knocked over by a car before his time. 😦
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Thanks for the reblog Marje 😉 xx
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