Madeline (Giles) DeJournett is the Advance writer for the North Stoddard Countian. A retired high school English/history teacher, she spent 32 years teaching in 5 schools in Missouri and Alaska. These days, she lives quietly with a menagerie of wild and domestic animals on 52 secluded acres in the remote Tillman hills south of Advance. She graduated from Dexter High School in 1960 and Southeast Missouri State in 1964. She can be contacted at advancensc@sbcglobal.net.

Lessons from the Cat

Posted Thursday, July 23, 2009, at 8:22 AM

Princess Leya, who used to belong to my son & daughter-in-law, sleeps up high, far above the DeJournett dog pack.

Lessons from the Cat:

Everyone knows that cats are a breed unto themselves. Many people are either "Cat People" or "Dog People," but I am both. Therefore, this list. My sister has added to it.

* Keep your feet dry.

* Never turn your back on the dog. Dogs do not understand you.

* Get at least 18 hours of sleep each day.

* Sleep up high.

* If you purr, your human will let you do happy feet on her lap.

* Birds and mice are cute and fun to play with. They also taste good.

* Hummingbirds are darned near impossible to catch. That shouldn't stop you from trying, however. There's always hope.

* If visitors don't like you, just keep rubbing against them and purring. They'll come around eventually.

* If you see your human get out the carrier, hide! This probably means a trip to the vet, which cannot be a good thing, any way you look at it.

* When the bug man comes, hide in the basement under the canning shelves.

* You can never take too many naps.

* If you leave clumps of fur on your mom's new dress you'll get held down and brushed. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your personal preference.

* The top of the tv is a warm place to sleep, but easy to fall off of.

* Modern tv sets don't have enough room to curl up so pick the old one.

*The computer mouse doesn't taste good and isn't nearly as much fun to play with as the catnip variety.

* The toes of your Mom's shoes aren't good places to hide your catnip mice.

* If you go onto your mom's bed very early in the morning and bite her on the back of her upper arm, she'll get up and play chase with you.

* You can stare at your human's forehead for hours and they still won't understand you want to be fed. Humans are immune to feline telepathy.

* If you sit in the bathtub (or by the sink) and meow, your mom will give you fresh water. Fresh water tastes much better than what is in your bowl.

* NEVER go in the kitchen while your mom is fixing a big meal and is wearing pointy toed shoes.

* You can wake up the whole house by sitting just out of the dog's reach at any time of the night or early morning. Dogs are stupid; they fall for it every time and they always get blamed.

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I believe you have put your finger on the pulse of the feline mentality.

-- Posted by Ducky on Thu, Jul 23, 2009, at 7:52 AM
A purse or an open gym bag left on the floor makes an excellent repository for your hair balls.

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Jul 23, 2009, at 10:50 AM
Sorry that this is totally off-subject, but I know there are a lot of us on this little community we call "Madeline's Blog" who would want to know that Mrs. Alberta Schnackenberg (Alberta Webb), passed away Thursday. She taught music and band for a lot of years and was a familiar face to everyone at DHS.

Her visitation will be Monday, July 27, 12:30pm at the First Methodist Church in Dexter, with services at 1:30pm.

Mrs. Webb was 102 years old.

-- Posted by lovebooks on Sat, Jul 25, 2009, at 11:26 AM

Madeline DeJournett's response:
Lovebooks, thank you so much for sharing this with us! We all loved Mrs. Schnackenberg and remember her as a wonderful, caring teacher. I'm sure the Statesman will do something special for her.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, with hardly any obituary news on weekends, services will be over before most folks are aware.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Sat, Jul 25, 2009, at 12:46 PM
Oh, I like this blog! I'm a dog and cat lover, also. I used to have a cat named Elvis...he was a big old boy. Whenever I would read a book, he'd get in my lap and slap the page with his paw when it was time to turn. I swear that cat could read! The cat we have now will sit on the window sill and watch our dogs bark and burr at her from outside. Oh, and the minute I start cooking, there's our cat right up on the counter, ready to help! (I think?) Of course, she's spoiled rotten!

-- Posted by ct on Sat, Jul 25, 2009, at 4:31 PM
You have a beautiful cat. Because I'm a cat lover I really enjoyed your blog.

-- Posted by zekesmom on Sun, Jul 26, 2009, at 1:44 PM

Madeline DeJournett's response:
Thanks! Actually, she only looks like that during the winter. In the spring, after it gets warm, I have to take her to the vet and have her trimmed CLOSE to get rid of all the mats she gets from living out in the country. Right now, she's a short-haired cat with a tufted tail like a lion.
Off subject is okay, lovebooks. I think all former students of Miss Schnakenburg (later Mrs. Webb) will have a kind thought or memory of her. She loved her students, her job, and her music. She was also a talented organist/pianist and choir director for the Methodist church for many years. She made a mark on this world. She will be missed and forever respected.

-- Posted by GONENOW on Tue, Aug 4, 2009, at 12:32 PM
I'm a little late coming into this conversation, but hopefully someone is still reading this...first, I remember Miss Schnakenburg from when I was is in school there..yes, I grew up in Dexter...secondly...I also am very much a cat person....I like dogs, too, but prefer the attitude of cats...I am down to only one cat right now...he looks like yours Maddy, except solid black...he is an indoor/outdoor cat, so I brush him daily, (can we say 'spoiled'?) so I don't have to shave him...but he still gets very matted at times and I do have to do some trimming now and then. His name is Squirrel, cause he is so squirrelly...he is about 19-20 pounds and is my guard cat...runs dogs and other cats out of the yard...unless of course they have been properly introduced, then they're cool...he also likes playing in the rain...go figure...he gets real antsy when storm clouds build and literally climbs the walls if I don't let him out to play in the rain...

-- Posted by BarbaraNTexas on Wed, Aug 12, 2009, at 8:58 AM
Yeah, some of us are still reading, Texas. We should have figured you grew up in Dexter! Otherwise, how would you find this website??

When we lived in Dexter, we had a cat that chased dogs. It was fun to sic her on them and watch how astonished they were! However, she mysteriously disappeared one year, so we suspect that maybe she bit off more than she could chew.

Some people like one or the other, but I love both!

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 18, 2009, at 1:42 PM
Me, too, Goat...I just like animals of all kinds...

-- Posted by BarbaraNTexas on Tue, Aug 18, 2009, at 2:29 PM

Madeline DeJournett's response:
Texas, my favorite cat is named Tybalt, and he's pictured in the archives in "My Life with a Cat Burglar." The name comes from Shakespeare, of course. Tybalt was Juliet's fiery, aggressive cousin, killed by Romeo. He was known for his swordsmanship, and I think it was Romeo's friend Mercutio (or was it Balthasar?) who called Tybalt the "Prince of Cats."
Maddy, I just saw the picture of Tybalt...good lookin'...looks a lot like my Sara...I had to have her put down some time back...she was about 15 years old and suddenly lost a lot of weight, couldn't stand...took her to the vet and apparently had developed diabetes...the vet said I could put her on insulin, etc, but I just could not put her through all that...she wouldn't understand why I was sticking needles in her 3 or 4 times a day...it's hard enough for me to do that to myself...

-- Posted by BarbaraNTexas on Mon, Aug 24, 2009, at 11:25 AM

Madeline DeJournett's response:
I know how heart-wrenching it is to lose a favorite pet. I've had to have dogs put down and also my sweet little house goat Patsy, but I really, really want Tybalt to live forever! I can't imagine this house without him. He follows me like a dog, watching me do laundry, going upstairs to take a nap with me... He's just so sociable, a true companion. He's even adapted to my 3-year-old grandson. He loves to watch him play on the living room floor with his parking garage or roll his cars in the kitchen. Tybalt and Louie are both 12. I got them the year my husband died.
This farm would be a dismal place without my cats and dogs. (No more goats!)

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