I woke up just after midnight to the sound of a dog fight. I wondered why on earth they have to pick the middle of the night to play, but then I realized that it wasn’t just the sound of dogs. There was the sound of a howling cat followed by a yelping dog and I jumped out of bed. I ran downstairs wondering which dogs were attacking what cat. Once I finally got the patio doors unlocked and got outside, I saw it wasn’t the “big” dogs as Brownie and Buster were standing in front of their fence barking toward the van. As I headed toward the van, Darci came out from under it and kind of slunk towards the patio. Now I knew that Notch was under the van with a cat, and with the dread as to which cat.

So I slapped the side of the van and hollered at Notch, and finally he emerged from under the van with Mittens attached to his side by her claws. As I started toward them, Mittens released, and Notch took the opportunity to bite. I immediately envisioned him slinging her around like the possum he “broke” last year, and was on him before he could sling her. He released her and she ran up on the riding mower headed for the tree. But Notch was faster and got between mower and tree, and I was on the other side of the mower from him with Mittens between us growling and hissing.

I knew I was the only way she was going to escape death by Notch, and I wasn’t looking forward to my inevitable task. I could see the bite marks on her back and neck, so I didn’t dare try to grab the scruff of her neck and possibly hurt her more. But would she allow me to pick her up and carry her to the gate and safety from the dog pen?

Amazingly, she did not fight me when I picked her up, but Notch was determined to jump up and snatch her out of my hands. So I had to hold her over my head and kick and Notch all the way to the gate. And did I mention I was barefoot and in my undies carrying this hurt cat while kicking and yelling at Notch? Of course by this time, Darci was ready to get back into the fight. I made it to the gate and dropped Mittens on the other side which was the point at which she clawed my right wrist and hand. Oh, and I also forget to mention her stench. She smelled like death, poo, and motor oil. Naturally, I assumed all three were injected into my blood stream from her claws. Anyway, she sat in front of and facing the gate continuing to hiss and growl. Notch lunged at the gate (it is a 12 foot metal cattle gate) on the hinge side and pulled the gate open. Well, I nearly freaked as I rushed to get it shut before either of them got out of it and finished off Mittens. Getting the chain around the gate to secure it and prevent Notch from opening it again was a challenge also, but finally all was secure and I trekked back to the patio across the gravel drive which now was hurting my bare feet. Mittens eventually walked away from the gate around the front of the house and crawled under the laundry room.

Hubby checked on Mittens around lunch, and while she wouldn’t come out from under the laundry room, she did raise her head and look him in the eye. She has survived near-death once, and I swore she only had one life left after that, but it would appear so far she might have a few more lives left yet.

Oh the trauma.