MOUNTAIN LION LADY: Chapter 3 (first half)

Mut (1)

Mut and me in front of the house we shared

Elaine and I worked out a very elaborate plan for Mut after my graduation. I was going to work in Germany for a year, so Elaine agreed to take care of him for one semester until Gray (who was miraculously still my boyfriend after the cockroach incident) was back on campus. He had agreed to take care of Mut until my return. It was a solid plan but turned out to be a mirage that disappeared when put to the test. Elaine and her new housemate did not see eye-to-eye on much so Elaine moved to a new apartment. Unfortunately pets were not allowed. Mut was bundled off to Aunt Mary X who lived 40 miles away.

Aunt Mary X while not a complete felophobe didn't really care for cats. Fortunately her cleaning woman did and agreed to take Mut. She loved cats to excess and was soon smitten with him. Aunt Mary X's letters were filled with Edith's descriptions of the wonders of Mut. The one cloud on the horizon was Mut's happy-go-lucky life out-of-doors was curtailed. Edith lived near a factory that regularly put out rat poison so she would only let Mut go outside on a leash. In installments I learned about Mut's adventures with the neighborhood feral tom who somehow avoided poisoned rats. Upon the first meeting with the tom Mut swelled to magnificent portions with his long hair puffing out from his body and his tail twice its usual size. According to Edith, his vocalizations were something to behold. The lion in him came roaring out. It turned out to be a paper lion because after the first episode he would carefully check for the tom's presence before venturing outside and refuse to budge if his nemesis was anywhere near. Periodically they would meet in spite of Mut's best efforts and they would again have words.

All would have been well had Mut's ailment not developed. One morning he went to use the litter box but nothing came out. He shuffled around the house hunched over and uncomfortable until Edith became concerned. She called Aunt Mary X and Aunt Mary X took Mut to the vet. The vet diagnosed bladder stones and advised them that Mut should be allowed free movement outside so he could relieve himself whenever he felt the urge. We still don't know exactly what causes formation of bladder stones but the diet and not free-will urination is often suspected. No one knew that at the time. Aunt Mary X and Edith, to say nothing of Mut, were in a quandary: death by poison or death by bladder stones? What to do? Aunt Mary X was rarely at a loss for solutions for long, so she was soon on the phone talking to my sister Julie.

Julie was in medical school in Denver and living in a house with three other women, a man (no hanky-panky, just another impoverished medical student) and two cats. Charo was an attractive, dark female and her sister Fuma was a rather odd light gray. Her color wasn't odd - it was her personality. She would stare at the wall for hours then suddenly leap into the air and disappear. They often called her Schitzy-Fu.

Julie and Aunt Mary X decided Mut would be better off in Colorado. Arrangements were made for Julie to meet his plane and he was in Colorado before Daddy had a chance to splutter about the price.

Mut flourished in Denver. The other two feline residents were pampered aristocrats and Mut got to share their expensive cat food. His bladder problem seemed to clear up. The only other cat in the neighborhood was a rather dominant tom next door but they had soon worked out an arrangement with no bloodshed. Mut mostly learned to stay out of his way (he really was of debatable courage as his name (see chapter 2) suggests!).

Mut appeared to have accepted with equanimity my desertion to Germany, his removal to Edith's, and even his flight to Denver and installation in a crowded house. But every cat has his limits! Mut's were reached when Julie went to western Colorado for a two-month externship. He quietly had a breakdown. Every day he retreated to Julie's bedroom and started grooming the fur right off his beautiful, fluffy tail! When Julie finally returned he looked like a ball of thistledown with a skinny rat tail attached! His tail was completely hairless. Just by being there Julie restored his confidence and within a few months his tail was restored to its former glory.

The man of the house moved out and one more woman, Amy, moved in. Amy was accompanied by Daphne, a lovely black second-generation Siamese. Mut was the only even faintly masculine member of the household until the pedigreed puppy arrived. Gail, a secretary in a house filled with med students or scientists, must have felt in need of an ally. She decided the little Lhaso Apso fit the bill. It didn't seem to matter that he was expensive (all the other animals were rescues) and she had no money. The little puppy was as scatterbrained as his owner. Gail kept her messes confined to her room, but the puppy shared his throughout the whole house. The cats were indignant!

The household was adjusting itself to the puppy when I returned from Germany. I decided to work at the medical center for a year or so until I decided in what field of graduate study I was most interested. The only room available to me was the closet of Amy's room. Her room had originally been the recreation room and the closet was a large, well-lit one in the basement.

Six women, four cats and one puppy in what had been built as a two-bedroom house. The previous owner was an inveterate do-it-yourselfer. He had constructed a rather bewildering catacombs in the basement, subdividing it so four more-or-less bedrooms were available. Julie and Martha, a biochemist, occupied the only real bedrooms upstairs. 

Martha's mother was Honduran and Martha had a strongly Catholic bent flavored with Latin American flair. Now and then she needed a duenna, a role which Gray on one occasion was able to fulfill. Gray was in Denver for a short visit before joining a research ship bound for southern Chile and Argentina. Julie let him have her bedroom (what a sister!) and she and I took turns sleeping on the floor of my closet cum bedroom. One night the whole crowd went to a party for Amy's Spanish class. Martha wore an authentic, flamboyant Honduran costume. Julie was resplendent and entirely out of character in a glittering gold lame (sorry - the blog program won't let me type an accent) outfit of Amy's.

Amy was tall and beautiful and rather enamored of her teacher. Martha flirted with the teacher's South American friend. One thing led to another and the two men were invited to our house for coffee. We all retired except Martha, Amy and the two Don Juans. Finally Amy also went to bed leaving Martha and the two Latin lovers. Amy's teacher fell asleep on the sofa which stimulated the South American fellow to new heights. Martha noisily fought him off which seemed to further inflame his ardor. She struggled over to Gray's door and desperately appealed for help. Gray threw the two out. When I woke Martha for work the next morning she was still fully clothed. She was terrified the rebuffed Don Juan would return!

Julie graduated and the household split up. Martha, Charo, Fuma, Mut and I moved into a one-bedroom apartment. This time I got the living room instead of a closet. Mut's next adventure was about to begin.

I was wary of keeping Mut inside for more than a few days because I still believed that if he was penned up the bladder stones might form again. One evening I took him outside to look around. He sniffed at the bushes but made no move to run away. I stayed with him for about a half an hour, then called for him to come in. I usually gave him food when I called him and he was always ready for a bite to eat! 

The next evening I let him out for a short time but didn't stay with him. A mistake. When I called him he didn't come running. I called and called.

"He's probaly gone back to the house," Martha sensibly suggested. The house was only a few blocks away but across busy Colfax Avenue. I had visions of a squashed and lifeless Mut and took off running and calling towards the house. I was relieved not to find his body but worried because he had not turned up at the house. I walked and walked, calling and calling, but there was no answering "Mrrow?"

I visited the humane society shelter (they encouraged me to take another cat), put ads in the newspaper, had several radio stations announce that Mut was missing, all to no avail. I finally admitted to myself that Mut, like Fluffy before him, had disappeared. Good old lazy, lovable Mut. He'd caused my family and friends so much bother but I still loved and wept for him. Little did I know what he had in his absence lined up for my further edification!