By Elaine Carlson

The British author Terry Pratchett said, "In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods and they have not forgotten this."

My cat acts as if she knows Pratchett was correct. She also acts as if she knows she is a god. For her the big perk for being one is that I am supposed to feed her as soon as she wants food – and not any later.

When I first got her I decided I would feed her twice a day --- between 6 and 7 AM and between 6 and 7 PM. Now she is begging me for food and it isn't even 4 AM (it is 3:52 AM if you want me to be precise). I "decide" to give in and feed her. And that is just the way it goes most mornings.

It is hard for me to tell a god to wait for food.

I have had her since 2010 Thanksgiving. My husband Brad and I went to the Breeze Inn near Lake Roberts for our holiday dinner. Just as we started to go back home we had a flat. While Brad was putting on the spare, a cat went up to him and kept walking around his legs.

He said to me, "We are taking the cat with us." He opened the door and she hopped in. So that is how I got my cat.

He talked to a property owner who told him the day before a man had driven up, stopped and let three cats out before driving away. We looked but we didn't see the other two cats. I held her during the ride and she seemed to enjoy the trip to Silver City.

The next day Brad went out to buy cat food, kitty litter, a water fountain, and a small plastic tub. He always said he wouldn't shop on Black Friday but I am glad he made an exception to get me supplies. He got me everything I need to set up a good home for my cat.

The first thing I did was set up the kitty litter.

I tried to keep her in because I thought before she was taken to Lake Roberts maybe she lived here in Silver City. If so I was worried she might attempt to go back to her previous home. But keeping her inside was not easy. She kept trying to get out. So I gave in and decide I just have to get used to having an indoor and an outdoor cat.

It wasn't long before she came back. I opened the back door for her and very fast she raced to the kitty litter. I had not even known that she had watched when I set it up. But then all my worries that she would go back to where she used to live vanished. She knew this was her home.

It did not take me long to decide on a name for her --- Clara, the name for the lead dancer in the Nutcracker Ballet. I got her on Thanksgiving, traditionally the day before the Christmas season starts, so it seems logical to give her a Christmas name.

From the beginning I was sure our new cat was female. But I began to think what if. What if. Clara would certainly not be a good name for a male cat. I decided to stand pat on the name. Then if I find out the cat is a male I will spend time picking a name suitable for a male cat.

On Monday I take out my Yellow Pages and find the veterinarian closest to where I live. I call and make an appointment.

Brad and I take Clara to the vet's office. We start out by telling the story of how we found the cat at Lake Roberts after she had been abandoned. The vet tells us that the cat was most likely born in April. I get apprehensive as I watch her do the examination. What if she tells me the cat is a male? What if she tells me the cat has a serious medical condition?

"I think this is a female," she says as she is looking at Clara's underside. "Yeah I don't see it." She didn't specify but I thought I knew what "it" referred to. She said she is a healthy cat. And told us when we can bring her back to get the operation to have her spayed.

The person who filled out the receipt put her down as a Domestic Long Hair and her date of birth as May 1, 2020. She doesn't have a birth certificate but we are pleased with that receipt.

"A home without a cat — and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat — may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?" Mark Twain in Pudd'nhead Wilson.

Well I agree with Mark Twain. Brad and I owe a lot of gratitude to Clara – she has certainly made our home nicer since she has "adopted us" at Lake Roberts. But what actually does Twain mean when he suggests a cat provides title? I suspect he was stretching things a bit and most likely wanted to add a dramatic (or fancy) flourish to his writing.

Now Clara is eleven and we have had her for ten and a half years. She might be middle-aged, but she has not slowed down much. She is a nice cat and I am proud of her.