Meow

I came across this heartwarming story about a mother cat and her kitten this morning in a November 1884 Vermont newspaper.  There were no black cat stories in the October 31, issue of the paper.  In fact, there wasn't a single word written about Halloween, so we'll have to make do without a spooky black cat story.

There were three cats in a Williams street family and the lady of the house concluded that one was sufficient to do all the business and an edict of death was passed on the old cat and her kitten.  The question of the manner of death was settled and the chloroform purchased.  Days passed after the chloroform was in the house before the executioner could muster courage to execute the sentence.  To facilitate matters the lady thought that some laudanum, added to the cat’s milk, would make chloroforming more easy.  The drug was put in the milk and tendered the old cat.  She tasted the food, cast her eyes suspiciously about her and refused to eat.  The kitten rushed to the dish to partake of the milk and was violently knocked away by the old cat, who took a corner of a mat and covered over the dish to hide it from the kitten and prevent her from taking the “medicine.”  The lady could not believe it possible that the act was intentional on the part of the cat, and uncovered the dish and again tendered the milk to her.  She again knocked the kitten from the dish and covered it over more carefully than before.  This repetition of the protective act gained the good will of the lady and she gave up killing the cats.  She cannot satisfy her mind, however, whether the action of the cat was prompted by instinct or reason.–Norwich Bulletin.