BETWEEN THE LINES: CATS FIND HIDING SPOTS IN WRITER'S BASEMENT

"In a cat's eyes all things belong to a cat."

--English saying

I cleaned up the basement Sunday only to find that I'd created more places for my cats to hide.

They scampered about, jumping on boxes and checking out furniture that had been moved around. Basements are full of hiding places, and when you are a cat, hiding places are of utmost importance.

In just 24 hours, one female cat found a new place to nap (among the lawn furniture and cushions put away until summer) while her comrades checked out several new perches.

The cats have always been fond of hiding in my basement. When we first moved into the house, there weren't as many places to hide. But there was an ample amount of doors to be opened. Now there are an abundance of hiding places.

The cats particularly like to hide out among the boxes filled with belongings of my friend Dennis. Dennis moved to Seattle about six or eight months ago and needed a place to store his stuff until he could get settled. My basement was free.

Periodically, Dennis calls me just to say hello. And to check on his stuff. It's all still there, but the cats have claimed it as their own.

Actually, it's not even my cats who claimed his boxes for a perch. It's the neighbor's cat, Coca.

This petite, gray tabby has adopted my house as her own. Because she looked much like my mother's tabby, we let her in the house not realizing she wasn't ours.

Apparently, she liked the place so much she decided to stay. And now she comes back every weekend.

When she first came to visit sometime in midsummer, Coca stayed overnight. We sent her back out the next morning with a note attached to her collar. It simply explained where she'd spent the night, asked her name and listed our telephone number.

In about a day's time, we got a phone call from her owner. They live across the street.

It seems that Coca is fond of wandering or she just doesn't like the other pets who live at her house. No one is sure of the reason for Coca's wanderings. But one thing is certain -- she always makes a stop at my house.

When Coca was in heat, her visits weren't as frequent. The male cats at my house have all been neutered.

But after a space of several weeks, Coca came back hungrier than ever. It seemed she was eating for more than just herself.

When I called her owners to tell them, they were delighted. But they put the cat under house arrest.

Wandering about the neighborhood isn't really proper for an expectant mother. But Coca lost all of her kittens because she was too young to really know how to care for them.

I hadn't seen her much since then. But for the past three weeks, Coca has come calling late on a Friday night and stayed until Sunday or Monday.

She doesn't cause much trouble. When you already have to feed several cats, what's one more mouth. She eats some food, sleeps in the basement and only occasionally causes a fight among the permanent cat residents.

Actually, Coca requires less maintenance than my own pets who always appear on the verge of beginning World War III. When Coca comes to visit, there is less infighting because all the cats join forces against her.

But she doesn't seem to mind. When things get to be too much upstairs, Coca just heads for the basement.

After all, she thinks everything belongs to her. Including that perch atop a pillow in the basement.

~Laura Johnston is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.