Candice Ransom - National Geographic Kids Chapters - Terrier Trouble!

The ancient Egyptians believed cats were sacred (sounds like SAY-kred) animals. Only pharaohs (sounds like FAIR-ohs), or rulers, were allowed to own them. The Egyptians worshipped the cat goddess Bastet. Statues and paintings of her showed her as half woman, half cat.

Bastet’s temple had a huge colony of cats. Cats that had died were brought there to be wrapped in linen sheets. They were buried as mummies. Sometimes mummy mice were buried with them.

Maren sensed danger, too. She ducked behind her mother’s legs. Candice scooped up Atticus. “No!” she scolded him. “No biting!” She explained to her neighbor that Atticus had a problem with biting. “I don’t want him to hurt anyone,” she said.

Candice had prevented disaster. Afterward, she read books on cat behavior. She looked up information about cats on the Internet. How could she stop Atticus from biting? Putting him in the laundry room for a “time-out” didn’t work. Atticus didn’t remember what he had done wrong. Yelling at him didn’t work.

Then Candice read that walking away from a misbehaving cat breaks the power the cat thinks he has. If there’s no one to bite, the cat has to stop. The next time Atticus acted up, she did just that. She walked away. An hour later, when she entered the kitchen, Atticus sprang at her. He bit her knee and dashed away.

“Our cat holds a grudge ,” Candice told Frank when he came home. “He remembered I walked away from him, and he bit me later . It’s like he has to have the last word. Or, in his case, the last bite.” “Maybe this is a phase, and he’ll outgrow it,” Frank said.

Did You Know?

Cats are known for their excellent balance. When cats walk, they move both left feet, and then both right feet.

But a few days later, Frank reached down to pet Atticus. The cat wrapped both paws around Frank’s arm and bit his wrist, hard. Blood spurted from the wound. Frank’s arm swelled, and his hand felt numb. Candice washed and wrapped Frank’s wrist. This was serious.

She and her husband had worked with Atticus, but he was getting worse, not better. Atticus would have to go back to the animal shelter. He would have to be labeled a biter to warn families with children who might want to adopt him.

The next day, Candice put Atticus in the cat carrier. She drove to the animal shelter. But she didn’t go in right away. In the parking lot, Candice cried. All her life, she had rescued cats from shelters and given them good homes. Now she was taking one back . In his carrier, Atticus looked around quietly. Most cats hate riding in cars. Often, they meow pitifully. But Atticus hadn’t made a peep.

Candice got out and took Atticus inside the shelter. The director hurried over. Candice explained that she was bringing Atticus back because he wouldn’t stop biting. The director looked at Atticus. “Hmm,” she said. “Black cats aren’t very popular, but he is very cute.”

“Really? I love black cats.” Candice said sadly. “I wish he didn’t bite.” The director told her the shelter didn’t have room for Atticus right then. She suggested Candice bring him back in three days.

Back home, Atticus seemed to change. He became the sweetest cat. He didn’t break anything. He didn’t scratch or bite. He purred like a motorboat in Candice’s lap. She couldn’t believe he had changed.

When Frank came home from work that evening, he saw Atticus. “Weren’t you taking him back today?” he asked. “He’s been so good,” Candice said. “Maybe driving him to the shelter scared him.”

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