Fatty Jumps the Fence

It's not every day you see an animal push himself to the limits, defying all odds, becoming a super cat. Yet there he was. Sammy. The 15 pound, no tail, bad legs, asthma-prone cat sitting on top of a six foot high fence. The same cat who takes five minutes to psych himself up for a jump up to your lap.

Arthur is kind of our Derrick Thomas of the family. He's about 20 pounds, but it's all muscle. In one night alone he sacked a frog, a lizard and rushed a squirrel into an intentional grounding of his nut. He even threw in some extra power drills, shimming up the fence by gripping both sides of the panel.

Sammy? He's Dan Saleaumua. You look at him and think, no way. He'll never move quickly. And yet, there he is in the backfield, sitting on top of the fence.

I have NO idea how Sammy got up there. Arthur was on the other side of the yard so he clearly did not give Sammy a boost. There's a rock that if he stood on it, would bring the fence a foot closer, down to five feet. But Sammy can't jump. Or can he? Is it possible that all this time he's been playing me for a fool? Asking me to lift him on to the bed like he can't make it, pick him up to sit on my lap because it's just too far? Making me feel sorry for him while he watches Arthur jump from counter to counter? All the while he was just lazy?

As I heard the scratching on the fence I was determined to grab Arthur and pull him down. Yet, there was Sammy, sitting on top of the fence. For a brief moment in time we both froze, I in dumb wonderment, Sammy, as if his whole act for the last three years was about to blow up in his face. He quickly mewed, "Can you believe someone threw me up here?" He screamed like a little girl, and then jumped down and ran inside the house past me. To make doubly sure I bought the act he threw himself on to the floor, crying as if he had just been traumatized.

As Sammy lay there, I just shook my head. I went back outside and watched Arthur leap around the patio trying to catch a flying bug. He caught it. He promptly spit it out and the stunned bug lay on the ground. I pulled Arthur away from the bug. It took off, and so did Sammy. Fatty came running back outside, jumped, and caught the bug. He can run and jump! It was then he remembered I was there, let the bug go and sheepishly scurried back inside.

Too late, Sammy. The jig is up.