Rethinking Our Bargain With Cats by Jessica Bart-Mikionis
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:
Growing up, I always wanted to be a cat. My
very first pet was a dog, though, named Heather. I
don’t remember her, nor the accident that killed her. I
was in my stroller, I have been told, with my mother,
when Heather bolted into the street perhaps in pursuit of
a cat and got hit by an oncoming car. A while later,
when I was three or four, came Mehitabel, named after
Don Marquis’ tale archie and mehitabel.. I remember
Mehitabel vividly. We used to explore the world togeth-
er, sleep together, and play hide-and-seek and tag, until
one time she ran under my legs, I stumbled and fell on
her, and broke her leg. I don’t think I was ever the same
after that. Mehitabel sported an elaborate splint for sev-
eral months, and my mother and I would support her
when she used her litter pan in the beginning of her recu-
peration.