The Adventures of Snoop Cat
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“Cat On a Bus”
Featuring the Fearless Bombay
Snoop Alexander Stone
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Wendy Hershey
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to three kind and gentle veterinarians, Dr. Scott Thompson, Dr. Kris Kingery and Dr. Dan Lavach of Reno, Nevada. Thank you for your outstanding care over the years for my beloved cat family.
Wendy Hershey
Snoop Cat
Chapter 1
“Let me take a peek out this window,” said Snoop as he began pulling himself up onto his pillow in the bay window. “No one around to stop me this time, not at this house!"
Snoop was a feisty four year old Bombay cat who had recently been adopted from the Chatsville cat shelter. He had always wondered why a selfish human had tossed him away like a used paper cup. He had been a nameless cat found one cold November evening shivering inside of a filthy cardboard box by the side of the road in front of the city cat shelter. Earlier that day, a man named George M. Putter had driven up, opened the car door and dumped Snoop by the curb, then quickly drove off. That had been a very sad day for Snoop. He was still haunted by the inescapable memory of that heartless man named George Putter.
But recently, Snoop’s life had completely changed. He had been one lucky black cat to have been adopted from the cat shelter by a particularly awesome cat lover. He could hardly believe how his fate had changed one day when a petite young woman walked up to his shelter cage, peeked in at him and whispered, “This black kitty is for me!” She smiled lovingly at him and gently stroked his velvet black nose through the cage bars. Snoop smiled at her and stretched his paw through the bars to touch her soft hand. There was an instant bonding between the two of them. Snoop had been praying for weeks that a nice human would adopt him and he was so hoping that this woman would be the one to take him home.
That November day his prayer was answered.
In less than a half hour after his adoption, he was sitting in that nice lady’s front car seat riding in a brand new BMW. Snoop had never sat in the front seat of any car before and this was indeed a luxury ride for him. He was excited to be able to see everything out of the portholes in the cat carrier…houses, cars and people walking across the street. This was fun! He was unaware that the nice lady was driving him to his new home in an historic upscale part of town, far from that dingy house where George Putter lived downtown. Snoop didn’t much like riding in foreign cars but this ride was well worth it.
“I do prefer all American muscle cars,” remarked Snoop. “But I’ll ride in this set of wheels in the front seat any day!” he said to himself.
The BWI pulled into the driveway and came to a gentle stop in front of the lamp post. The lady turned off the engine, got out of the car and hurried around to the passenger side and quickly opened the door.
“ We’re home, my pretty black cat!” she announced to Snoop.
And so it was… the first day of Snoop’s new life.
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Snoop now found himself living in a huge old Victorian home in Chatsville, New Hampshire with a sweet little lady named Miss Pamela Lee Stone. For the first time in his life, he felt he was finally home and it was a good feeling. Miss Pam had given him a name fit for feline royalty. She named him “Snoop Alexander Stone.“ Snoop loved his new name and he frequently gazed at himself in the mirror and commented to himself, “Look at me now…just look at me! I’m Mr. Snoop Alexander Stone!” George Putter had only called him Catface and Snoop had hated that ugly name.
He closed his copper colored eyes and began purring with contentment just thinking about how happy he now was. He was finally home. He was safe. No more would he be yelled at or have his food slapped down onto a piece of filthy newspaper. George Putter never put Snoop’s food into a cat bowl because it was too much effort to clean a smelly cat dish. George served Snoop the same cheap brand of cat food tossed down on dirty pages of The Chatsville Times local newspaper. Snoop had no choice but to eat what George offered or starve.
Thank goodness things were a lot different now. Snoop certainly felt regal living in Miss Pam's cozy home. She allowed him to sit on his very own plush pillow in her living room window, where he could easily spy on birds meandering in the front yard. The window was definitely his favorite bird watching spot. He spent many hours perched there spying on his avian friends and wishing each day for just one tasty bite of a fat robin. His previous owner George always pushed him roughly to the floor from the living room window. That sometimes hurt Snoop’s paws, causing him to limp in pain. George would yell and smack him hard with a rolled up newspaper and then laugh as Snoop cowered in fear. Snoop knew from day one that George Putter didn't like cats, because cats were much smarter than George. Snoop was happy he was now living with Miss Pam because she didn’t have human rules about windows. She was kind to him and he had learned to trust her.
“Today is a great day to look out windows,“ said Snoop smiling as he flicked his long whiskers back and forth against the glass panes.
He quickly flopped himself onto his pillow in the sunny bay window next to Miss Pam’s Yamaha grand piano. He got up, made a few quick turns, then tucked his satin black paws neatly under his firm round belly. In just a short time living with Miss Pam, he had put on a few extra ounces, thanks to Pam feeding him those delicious soft little dried sardine treats he loved. He knew where she hid them and he would sneak a pawful when she was at work. And she could really dish up some scrumptious dinners for him, and always served his meals in his own personal cat dish. He loved that! Without a doubt, he had hit the jackpot when she adopted him from that wretched cat shelter two months ago.
"I don't like jumping up to windows. I don’t like jumping period!” complained Snoop as he finalized his viewing position on the pillow. He loved it when Miss Pam picked him up and placed him gently on his pillow in the window. He appreciated that kind of service. George Putter would have never done something as nice as that. Snoop never received even one loving pet from George. Snoop only lived in George’s house for the sole purpose of being a mouser. George hated mice….and hated cats.
“Miss Pam knows what I like,” he said happily. “George Putter only had thoughts of himself. I’m so glad to be rid of that miserable man!” he added with a low growl. “I hope I never see or hear of him again!”
Snoop wasn’t a cat who enjoyed exerting himself with leaps and bounds to reach any high place. He just wasn’t like most cats. He thought it was too much effort to jump when he could so easily use his claws to reach a high destination. Clawing his way up to places had always seemed to irritate George, for George believed a cat’s only place was on a cold, hard floor, and nowhere else that could leave traces of nasty cat fur. That thought stirred up a mischievous little memory in Snoop. One day when George was at work, Snoop had a hay day of fun scratching George’s
favorite office chair. Snoop shredded the entire back of that ugly plaid chair one afternoon. The chair’s stuffing oozed out of the back of the chair and scattered all over George’s immaculate office floor. It was a delightful mess. Snoop chuckled each time a piece of the chair stuffing floated in the air and landed on George’s pristine office desk. When George came home and discovered what Snoop had done, he immediately threw Snoop in the dreaded cardboard cat carrier and drove him to the cat shelter. George pulled up to the front of the shelter, opened the car door, and discarded Snoop by the side of the road, as if he were putting out the trash. George never returned. Snoop thought George was definitely a beastly human who needed to be put in a cage.
“God gave me claws to shred human chairs,” Snoop remarked to himself, purring like a well-tuned engine as the sunlight glistened on his shiny black coat. “I don’t think I’ll have to scratch any of Miss Pam’s chairs because she bought me one of those fancy cat scratchers. Pam is really something!” he said affectionately, as he stretched full length in the warmth of the late afternoon sun.
Snoop was definitely more stubborn than most cats. He prided himself in having a mind of his own and ignored what humans would call "proper feline behavior.” Sometimes Miss Pam did scold him for using his claws as pulleys and occasionally let him have it with that nasty water pistol. She chased him all around the house but it was really all in fun. It was more like a game that he and Pam frequently played. Snoop knew she would never harm him, even when she took aim and squirted his furry bottom. But as cats do, he ignored all of her warnings. He did things his way, and Pam really didn‘t seem to mind much. She was a nice human.
Snoop was now in charge of Miss Pam’s house. Of course, he’d gladly share the home with her but he would make the rules, and he would train her to follow them.
"No doubt I'll have her trained within a month!" he smiled .
All aboard the cat bus!
Chapter2
Snoop was quite cozy lounging there on his pillow soaking up the warmth of the late afternoon sunshine. His eyes became heavy and started to close as he felt one of those delightful little cat naps coming on.
“No time for naps! I’ve got business to take care of tonight,“ he said shaking his head. “I’ll have much more time tomorrow to catch up on my sleep.” Snoop did love his afternoon catnaps but today was definitely not a day for napping.
He starting thinking about the adventure he had mapped out for that night and was excited but yet a little apprehensive about what he was plotting. He always got worried when he was about to embark on one of his wild schemes, but first things first. Arrangements had to be made for his transportation on the Chatsville city bus. He feared those big, powerful diesel buses but he didn't have much choice. His destination was more than ten miles away and the thought of walking that long distance was not an option for his soft feet. No, this cat preferred human modes of transportation.
He nudged closer to the window pane and peered intently at the bus stop across the street. There were several people sitting on a long white bench waiting for the #42 bus to arrive to whisk them to downtown Chatsville. A fat old man dressed in baggy jeans with thick bright yellow suspenders was slumped over at one end of the bench. He appeared to be fast asleep. Snoop thought the man might roll off the bench, and that would be a sight for sure. With each labored breath, the man’s balding head bobbed rhythmically on his chest. His pudgy hands were clasped together and rested on his rotund belly, and he appeared to be snoring with loud, annoying grunts. Next to him sat a tiny old Chinese woman holding a huge laundry basket of folded clothes. Snoop thought she must be close to ninety years old. Her skin was deeply wrinkled , she had no teeth and her feet didn’t even touch the ground. She kept looking at her watch and mumbling to herself, and refolded the clothes in her laundry basket at least three or four times. At the other end of the bench, a young well dressed man sat wearing a very impressive looking black suit with a colorful patterned red tie and black patent loafers. He had brushed off the bench with a handful of tissues before sitting down, then sat as far away from the fat old man and the tiny Chinese woman as possible. Snoop wondered why the young man distanced himself so far on the opposite edge of the bench. What was the guy afraid of?
“That guy in the suit doesn’t look like the bus type,” commented Snoop. “Maybe he just looks well off but I do think he’s really a pitiful soul. George Putter looked like a pauper but I know he had loads of money stashed around that house of his. He never spent a cent to buy me treats like Pam does. Nothing! George was definitely a miserable soul…a beastly one!”
Snoop starred at the bus people for several more minutes. He couldn’t decide which one of the three people most intrigued him.
Three people with apparently different backgrounds…all taking the city bus to the same destination. Didn’t they have cars to ride in?
"Why do humans take buses?" Snoop asked himself. "I prefer a fast muscle car myself.” George Putter had a classic candy apple red 1964 Pontiac GTO that he cruised around town in but Snoop never got the pleasure of sitting in the passenger seat. George crammed Snoop's cat carrier behind the driver's seat where there was definitely no view. Snoop could never see any of the sights when he and George went on the road. Snoop had only his nose to get a good whiff of the scenery, but that was about it. That was not his idea of an exciting ride in a hot rod. .
Snoop had to get his thoughts back to what he was planning for the night and forget about that annoying George Putter once and for all.
“I will forget that mean man!” Snoop said to himself. “ I will!”
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A Nautical Escapade
Chapter 3
Minutes of watching turned into more than an hour as Snoop sat patiently in the window watching for any signs of an approaching city bus.
While he was waiting, he thought over the details of his plan. If he did things right, he would definitely make a lot of orphan cats very happy that night.
Snoop’s plan was for a trip later that evening…an adventure to meet up with an old striped gray tom cat named Custer, who he had met down at the vet’s a few weeks ago. They had big plans for a late night visit to the city cat shelter. Many of their feline friends were being held captive there, in tiny cages, without toys, without treats, and most of all without love.
Snoop had recently found out that the nasty George Putter was the owner of the city cat shelter. That was pretty hard to believe knowing George loathed cats. But the purchase of the cat shelter had been merely a business venture for George. He had no interest whatsoever in the welfare of cats. Snoop knew that George was illegally using donations the shelter received to fund gambling schemes down south in Atlantic City. Snoop had overheard George numerous times on the phone with some guy in New Jersey talking about how they were going to clean up in Atlantic City before hitting Vegas. Snoop always thought George had a sneaky criminal mind.
“Oh, I wish I could stop thinking about that sleazy man George!” said Snoop in an angry tone. “I have better things to do now!”
Snoop edged his soft black nose closer to the window and decided he would take a good look at the rear of the bus when it arrived. People would be less likely to see him boarding through the back door of the bus. He would observe how the back door opened and closed for passengers, and how many steps he would need to climb. He hated steps. He only need
ed about 3 seconds to get inside that swinging bus door. Then he would be on his way to meet Custer at the city park.
"Should be a snap for a cat like me to hop a bus," he said smiling as he continued to gaze towards the bus stop across the street. He turned and gave his front paws a satisfying quick lick, as if he was sealing the deal on what he was about to do.
Let it be known that Snoop was not new to such unruly feline escapades. He had a previous little nautical adventure, when he had gone on board a sailboat over in Portsmouth last summer. No one knew that he was a stowaway. He had spent a couple of delightful days sailing the bay with a honeymoon couple, Katie and Michael Dunlap. He was happy for the newlyweds but even happier that they never discovered him hiding behind a porthole curtain. Snoop concluded he loved sailing but hated the water. Thank goodness he made it off that boat without getting his paws wet.