Puck has always groomed himself more than the other cats but recently we noticed he had licked much of the fur of his belly, the inside of his legs and his back, near his tail. It was time for him to visit the vet but we didn’t have a vet for him. We had a vet for Tigger, near our old house, but his solution to Tigger’s recurrent mouth infections was steroids or antibiotics whenever the problem flared up. That probably helped send him to an early grave.

I wanted a vet that would take a more holistic approach but the only holistic vet I could find in the area has no office and only does house calls, which is a bit over my budget now. I ended up choosing the vet that is just down the street from our house. I figured it was a crap shoot so I might as well pick close.

Chris is a master at escaping. He knows how to stand back far enough and seem like he is not interested and then he is out the door like a flash. He typically stays close and I usually give him a few minutes before bringing him back in.

Frankie will run and make it a nightmare for anyone to catch him so he doesn’t get out as much, but I do feel guilty that Chris goes out and not him, so occasionally I put his harness on and take him for a walk. I did that last week and he was very happy about it.

After Frankie’s walk I wanted to let Puck go for a walk. He has not been outside since moving here so I put the harness on him, which was not easy, and opened the front door. I knew he would be a little shy at…

When I first saw that a cat had pooped on our new sofa, naturally I knew it was Chris because that is the kind I thing that Chris would do. Then it happened again and again, perhaps six or eight times in all. The last three times , including this morning, I began to think Chris may not be the cat doing this.

About a week ago a poop appeared when Chris was napping on our bed. I didn’t know exactly when it happened, so I couldn’t rule Chris out, but it did make me wonder. Then, a few days ago, I saw Puck on the sofa through the kitchen window and a few minutes later I noticed the cover was moved. When I looked closer, I saw that it was folded over to cover a poop. It may have already been like that but if it was, I would think I…

We have always joked that Chris has to be the alpha in the house. The truth is, cats are not like dogs, there is no “alpha” cat in the wild, at least not among African Wildcats, the species that evolved into the modern domestic house cat.

African Wildcats are loners, especially the males. Each male has a single territory that does not overlap another male’s territory but may overlap several females’ territories. This may cause competition for mating purposes but there is no group that requires a leader.

About 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, humans started to give up their hunter-gatherer lifestyle and became farmers. This, of course, was a very gradual process but eventually there were communities of people growing wheat and other grains. They stored these grains in large bins that attracted rodents. The increase in rodents, in turn, attracted cats.

The humans not only tolerated the cats…