Bowzer and The Cat

Bowzer hated The Cat.

I have to admit that, even as a cat person, I was no fan.

The Cat was obnoxious. He yowled just outside our privacy fence. Often. Mostly when Bowzer was barking from the inside. It was frustrating for the poor little guiy. And for us. And for the neighbors.

But The Cat, of course, loved it.

When The Cat wasn't creating chaos like that, he had other ways of tormenting our little white terrier. His favorite was to walk along the top of our privacy fence. Bowzer did his little doggie best to thwart the invader, jumping, whining, barking and, all-in-all, having a canine version of a daily nervous breakdown.

We never did figure out who owned The Cat. If any of our neighbors had that responsibility, none would confess it to us. The Cat was just always around, cruising from house to house, messing with everyone's dogs and looking very smug. He wore a collar with no tags, never looked underfed and was friendly enough... Except to the dogs.

Not an attack cat, he chose a different tactic for every pup in the neighborhood. It was strange to watch The Cat as he went about his work. There was something strange and unEarthly - or, rather, un=-catly - about him. I'd swear he smiled most of the time, enjoyi the challenge of each new dog-torment.

Bowzer, of course, seemed to be his favorite target. A little f, he had no hope of ever besting The Cat.

Until the day he did.

Almost.

Like all great battles, the tension had been building for a few days. The Cat seemed to have singled our house out for his fiendish delight. Bowzer, as dogs do, took every opportunity to chase the monster away from his family. We appreciate his efforts, really we did, but it was beginning to wear on our nerves. Faithfulaithful members of Team Bowzer, aithful aithful members of Team Bowzer, we tried chasing The Cat away.

He returned.

We cspoke to friends, neighbors, strangers, to see if we could find his home.

No one claimed him

We begged a lady down the street, already in posession of an ungodly number of feline companions, to take him.

She laughed and shut her door without an answer.

So, while we anticipated the battle between Bowzer and The Cat, there wasn't a whole lot more we could do about it.

And then the day came. Bowzer was inside the house, peacefully watching the world go by through the big picture window from his lounging spot on the couch. HIs ears pricked up, honing in on The Cat as it strolled leisurely from a house across the street to the middle of the road.

One of the children - Jonathon, I think, although it doesn't matter - flew through the living room with a soccer ball.

The front door swung open for the boy, Bowzer took advantage of the moment and leapt with superdog strength toward it as it began its swing to close.

Freedom! The dog was in the yard. Now... For The Cat.

Bowzer laid his perky little ears back, bared his teeth and raced forward with the speed and power of a locomotive. He was going to get The Cat, once and for all! That pesky feline would never bother him again!

He ran toward the road, covering the distance of the yard in record time. He dove toward The Cat, his vicious growls filling the entirety of the neighborhood. Heads turned to watch the impending doom of The Cat.

But The Cat didn't move. He sat, calmly licking a paw, in the middle of our street. He didn't even look up at Bowzer.

At the very last possible second, Bowzer swerved rather than mow The Cat down. He never slowed down, though. The kept running and barking as he crossed the quiet residential street, through the yard directly across from ours and to that neighbor's front door. There, the poor dog, now defeated, turned and looked at The Cat. He stood at the front door, not quiet sure what to do next.

The Cat finally looked at our poor dog, stood and whipped his tail back and forth a couple of times before trotting away into the hedges in front of a house down the street.

Ignoring the hysterical laughter of everyone who witnessed the event, Bowzer returned home, prancing alone as if he'd won.

And in a way, he had. The Cat, now a clear and obvious victor in the war between the species, never bothered Bowzer again. He took his fence walking, his tormenting and his arrogance to a German Shepherd four houses down.

And Bowzer was okay with that.

That little guy has been gone now for decades. But the story of Bowzer and The Cat still makes me smile. He was all in, that little white dog. And I learned something from him and his determination.l Even when the battle appears lost, keep your head up. Sometimes The Cat, whatever it may be in your liife, just moves on.