I was first introduced to Willie Morris through the movie version of his autobiographical book, My Dog Skip.
The film chronicles the coming of age of young Willie as he and his
first dog, the precocious Skip, explore their world together. In the
first pages of My Cat Spit McGee, Morris recounts his affection
for "Old Skip", as he liked to refer to him later, and Pete, the dog he
had in his adulthood. As someone so faithfully dedicated to dogs, Morris
was convinced it was his duty to despise cats, and he continued to
believe that until he met "The Cat Woman", who would eventually become
his wife.
As it turned out, she was a cat person. When her son
decided to surprise her with a kitten on Christmas morning, Morris knew
there was no turning back. He going to have to learn to at least
tolerate these creatures. To help ease him into that toleration, he was
given the honor of naming the kitten, and he bestowed upon her the name
of his childhood sweetheart, Rivers Applewhite. The diminutive feline
started to grow on him, and by the time she became pregnant with kittens
he was frantic about her well-being.
I was struck by how many
of Morris' cat experiences were similar to my own. Rivers was found
abandoned by the side of the road as a kitten, and her puberty crept up
on them without notice, so that they did not have her "fixed" in time to
prevent a pregnancy. Just as my own cat, Cookies, delivered kittens
after such a situation, and gave birth to Gandalf, the most
companionable cat with whom I have ever resided, Rivers delivered Spit
McGee, a cat who was to complete Morris' transformation into a
full-fledged ailurophile (cat-lover).
Every once in a while an
animal like that comes along who completely surprises you with its
intuition and ingenuity. Spit was, or perhaps is, such a creature.
Morris notes in the book that Skip was the companion of his boyhood,
Pete of his adulthood, and Spit of his maturity. Their deep bond may
have had something to do with the fact that Morris saved Spit's life on
several occasions, including the moment of his birth. This 101 Dalmations-esque experience is recounted in great detail.
After Spit grows up a bit, other cats come into the family when they
find a stray kitten under their house. This gentle calico eventually has
kittens as well, and Morris delves briefly into each of their unique
personalities. Meanwhile, he noted that all of this got to be too much
for Rivers, who was most put out at all of the felines who were invading
her territory. Like my first cat Cuddles, she liked being an Only Cat,
and when the cat population kept growing, she took off to seek residence
elsewhere. I was quite gratified to learn that my cat is not the only
one who has ever done that.
Surely any cat owners (or, perhaps
more accurately, cat-owned) out there will be able to find something in
Morris' descriptions of his cats and their experiences that strikes
them as similar to their own feline encounters. I recommend this
charming story of an unconventional friendship to anyone who has ever
loved a cat, and even to those who have not. Morris was most vehement in
his hatred of cats in the beginning; perhaps his transformation will
serve as an inspiration to those who think they could never learn to
love a cat. At any rate, this book comes highly recommended. I give it
four paws up!
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