Faithful Dogs and Faithful Cats

[SoDesuKa]

Dogs are legendary for their faithfulness. According to Greek myth, when Odysseus returned to Ithaca disguised as a beggar, his dog Argos, now very old, recognized him immediately. Argos tried to wag his tail but was too weak. Instead, his destiny fulfilled, the dog rolled over and died.

AFAIK, there are no similar legends of faithful cats. Occasionally there are stories with headlines like Faithful Cat Travels 1,500 Miles To Be With Family along with a photograph of a bedraggled animal left behind last April in Sioux City, Iowa. But it's more typical that cats work the entire neighborhood for meals, with several families feeding them.

Got any stories about cats and loyalty? I think my cats love me, but my cynical friend Sweeney says it's only because they see me as a meal ticket. But I don't believe he's right. Gracie loves me; she's just not as demonstrative as a dog. If I had to measure her on a faithfulness scale, she'd measure up! At least, that's what I think.

[ThomCat]

1. My first cat (a very large Maine Coon) beat up a dog that was chasing me.

I was delivering papers, and Pixie was lounging in a tree next to the road. One of the guys down the road let his doberman out to chase me, and he had trained it to be a vicious biter. I thougth I was running for my life.

Pixie dropped out of that tree onto the dog's back and rode that dog like it was a rodeo. All four claws dug in and Pix didn't let go for anything. That dog jumped and yelped and whined and when he finally managed to throw Pix, he ran home whimpering. Pixie strutted over to me like nothing you've ever seen and wanted to be petted.

I wish I had some scanned images of the big ol' Pixie Beast. He was the best cat in the world, and a big, beautiful cat too. :)

[grasswire]

2. My dear Chester crossed the Dulles Toll Road to come home.

He disappeared when I was out of town and someone else was watching him. They lived in Sterling Virginia, I lived on the other side of the Dulles Toll Road a dozen miles away. He showed up a week later, so grubby I didn't even know him at first. A neighbor called to tell me she had spotted him. He was always a devoted, darling pet; unusually charismatic. RIP Chester.