Cats Bearing Gifts

Cats bearing gifts are not uncommon. Some experts say that bringing a cat to a human companion is a form of nurturing, much as a mother cat will bring food to her kittens. Even male birds will feed their fledglings in their nests, running relays with the mother bird. While that explanation makes sense in many cases, I think the motivations of some cats go even deeper than that.


Bubba:
Of all the cats I've known and loved, I only recall two who have frequently brought me unique and exciting gifts. Bubba, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 18, regularly brought little presents into the house. They were always destined for me, for some reason or another. While these gifts could have been construed as food offerings, somehow I suspect there was another motive involved. You see, Bubba was very territorial when it came to his human, Asa. He was willing to tolerate me as long as I didn't overstep my bounds, such as trying to sleep between Asa and Bubba at night. Bubba's gifts were a mixed message, and included green baby snakes (both dead and alive), deposited next to my favorite stool at the kitchen counter. One morning at 3 a.m., when exiting the bed for a potty break, I stepped on a large, very stinkily dead catfish, dredged up from the riverbank which is our back yard. While snakes and catfish could qualify as meals from a generous provider, in Bubba's case, I suspect an ulterior motive: a Godfather-style warning to back off where his human was concerned.

One Thanksgiving, Bubba's gift to the family was more traditional. We were still seated at the table: the Syufys, including our adult children, my widowed Mom, and Asa's Mom and Step-Dad. Bubba appeared at the glass sliding door, dragging "something" between his front legs. It was a massive clump of water hyacinths, about nine inches in diameter and 18 inches long. It immediately put me in mind of The Creature From the Black Lagoon, and the squeals coming from the other women at the table verified that. He dropped the wet, smelly mess next to my chair at the foot of the table, as much as to say, "Dessert is served, milady." (Bubba was a hard act to follow.)