Toe Joe
was a cat before his time. He lived on a
farm. He did not like the outside at
all. If a door was left open; or if
someone opened the door wide enough, Toe Joe made his attempt to enter the
house. Sometimes he made it and sometimes he
didn’t. If noticed, outside he was tossed
always landing on his feet. But the
times he entered unnoticed, he managed to stay hid. The house with many rooms
and furniture wall to wall gave him plenty of hiding places.
My Mother believed that all animals belonged
outside. Of course, no pigs, cow, or
other animals would be allowed in the house.
Although the cat and dog did not fit in the livestock category, they
were still animals.
“Cats belong outside,” insisted Mother. “Stop letting that cat inside!”
But we didn’t pay it much mind until one day
Mother took all she could. It was the
day when Mother discovered something in our spare bedroom. The telephone was in that room.
When going in to answer the telephone or to
call someone, the door would be left open briefly. A cat hiding already,
entered and found a space under the bed to deliver his surprises. When moving the furniture to rearrange and
clean, Mother found Toe Joe’s extremely large litter box. Why hadn’t we smelled
it before? Perhaps he didn’t use his
litter box when first entering room. It
apparently had been allowed to air out.
Regardless, it was there.
“I’m
getting rid of that cat!” shouted Mother.
“No!”
We all pleaded.
“I have
told you that cats belong outside!”
Mother was not a bad person. She would never intentionally physically harm
any animal. And so, back that many years
ago, one found an animal a good home. It
seems a lot of people did this safe method of getting rid of unwanted animals.
“Mrs. So-So likes cats.” Mother said, “And so
we’ll give him to her.”
In the middle of the night, Toe Joe was
dropped off at his new home. About two
days later, Toe Joe found his way back to our house. Mother was furious.
“That cat won’t find his way here next time.”
But Toe Joe did. This time Mother had the solution.
I’ve heard somewhere that cats can’t find
their way back home over water.” And so,
we made a trip across Red River. We
traveled over an old bridge that should have been condemned before I was even
born. I remember it being scary.
I don’t know where my Mother got her
information or how that cat got across that old bridge, but there Toe Joe was
meowing at the front door one Saturday night.
Finally Mother just gave in and said,
“If you children want to keep that cat, make
sure he never gets in the house again. I
don’t plan to clean up after him again,” she paused. “If I find any more of his surprises in the house,
he goes if I have to drive him across the state line.”
We loved Toe Joe. We kept watch to make sure he did not get in
the house. I wondered all these years
why my Mother didn’t just open a bag of cat litter. But cat litter didn’t go on the market until
1964. And then; it took people learning
about it. Toe Joe could have been an
indoor cat. But Toe Joe was a cat before
his time.
