wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (03/15/84)
Since I have had a number of responses for more Ludwig stories, here goes. Ludwigs parantage was even strange. His mother was a tabby whose job it was to keep the mouse population in check at a National Security Agency installation in Washington, DC. His father was a large Russian Blue who belonged to the Military Attache for Sweden and lived across the street at the Consul home. His owner was accused of being a spy and kicked out of the country a few months after Ludwig was born. As a result of his breeding, we used to call him a half spy. Ludwig came to me one day as a package from his mother. It seems mom was ready to wean her little charges, so she picked each one up and started dropping them in offices all over the building (there were six in all). Good ole mom dropped two in our computer center and scurried off for parts unknown. Well, how can you just ignore the little rascals, especially since they were threatening to take up residence under the power supply? I couldn't resist, so I claimed Ludwig. A friend was over visiting that evening and was playing with the as yet unamed waif. My friend held him in his lap, folded his ears down a little and said, "He looks just like Ludwig Von Beethoven." And, danged if he didn't. That became his name. Around Christmas time, Ludwig was well into his teenager period and was acting like one. We put up a Christmas tree one night and, no sooner than it was upright, Ludwig had zipped up the tree. We extricated him from the tree and scolded him for climbing. He stayed out of the tree, but after putting on some colored balls, he found a new game. Batting the balls untill they fell off. Once more we scolded him. But, not to be put off, he would go into the kitchen and wait until we left the room. Then, he would race through the living room, flip one paw up at a ball, and be in the bedroom before it would fall to the floor. This became a great game every year unless we put the balls up too high. He sort of looked at you with that "Who, me? I was in the bedroom when that ball fell." expresion on his face. We had one friend who was deathly afraid of cats and Ludwig knew it. He took great delight in jumping into this persons lap as soon as she sat down. The woman would be almost paralyzed with fear until Ludwig could be extracted and locked in the bedroom. He never did this to anyone else, only the one person who was afraid of him. He also had to meet everyone who knocked on the door by standing on the back of the couch and meowing at whoever came in. His trick to be let out was to rattle the door chain until someone opened the door. It was through Ludwig that I got to meet Admiral Rickover and Fred Friendly (the then editor of the Washington Post). The Admiral owned a Russian Blue by the name of Smokey who was the terror of the neighborhood. (The Admiral lived two doors to the left of us.) Smokey would follow Ludwig home every now and then to mooch from Ludwig's dish. He would follow other animals home to do the same thing. I got to know the Admiral through Smokey and we would discuss our crazy cats. Ludwig used to go over to Fred Friendly's house to mooch every now and then. (He lived one door to the right. A pretty impressive neighborhood for an Army Sgt, but it was still cheap in those days.) Friendly would tell me about Ludwig's antics at his place as we meet at the Dumpster in back. He thought Ludwig was a card and very funny. When we moved to South Carolina, Ludwig quickly learned about country life. He learned very fast that it was dangerous to cross the road when he got bopped one afternoon. I thought the worst when I saw him lying on the side of the road. I quickly placed him in a box and raced for the vet. Before I had gone very far, he began to stir, and before I got to the vet, he was sitting up, but a bit groggy. As it turned out, he had just been knocked out. Whew! Ludwig never crossed the road after that. He found a culvert that went under and always used that to get to the other side. Vets were something Ludwig understood very well. If he was sick, he would go to the vets with nary a whimper and let himself be poked and proded and needled without moving a muscle. However, if he was well, that was another story. He would fight tooth and nail until it was all over. One funny thing he would always do was, as soon as the vet was finished with him, he would jump down from the table and get into his travel box, ready to go home. The vets were always impressed with that one. One thing about Ludwig that seemed strange was that I never saw him catch a mouse or other animal. One time, I was sitting on the back porch when Ludwig decided to go out to the barn. Well, there was a group of Bluejays sitting on top of the house that immediately began to dive bomb him as he started to cross the open space to the barn. The Jays would dive down and hit him or peck at him, all the time screaming at their loudest. Ludwig just got lower and lower to the ground until he was crawling on his belly. He kept one eye up though, watching what the birds were doing. All of a sudden, as one bird was just about to hit him, he rolled over on his back and grabbed the bird. He rolled over again, slammed the Jay to the ground, holding it with one paw, and growled his mightiest growl right in the Jay's face. Then he lifted his paw and let the bird go. It got real quiet for a minute as the Jay flew to the top of the house. Ludwig then stood up and marched to the barn as if nothing had happened. Strangely, the Bluejays never bothered him again after that incident. I wonder what he said to that Jay? Ludwig seemed to have a low tolerance for too much noise. He had a habit of sitting in the kitchen when we ate, but would not face the table or beg for scraps. On the other hand, we had another cat named Murgatroyd, at that time, who would holler his head off during meals, especially if we were eating tomatoes, his favorite food. ( I don't know, he just liked tomatoes better than anything else.) He would sit next to the cabinets and howl to be fed. One day, I got tired of hearing him and said to Ludwig, "Shut him up Ludwig." THIS IS TRUE. Just as if Luwig understood, he walked over to Murgatroyed and proceeded to hit him alongside his head so that his head bounced off the cabinet 8 or 10 times. Poor Murgatroyed just sat there with a dazed look while I fell on the floor laughing. We never again had to put up with Murgatroyd's begging at the table. Every time he would start, Ludwig would move toward him with a meanacing look and Murg would shut up. I used to hunt lowland birds on the farm and whenever I would start for the fields in back, Ludwig would tag along. The grass in the fields was almost up to my waist, so of course Ludwig couldn't see more than a foot or two in front. He solved that problem quite easily though, he would jump up above the level of the grass every few feet. It was a funny sight to see that nut poping up and down as he tried to follow me. Well, that's about it for now. Cats are amazing creatures. They all seem to have different personalities, and when you find that one that suits your own, hang on to him/her. I have found several that were right for me, but, Ludwig was the champ. He was always ready to provide a laugh or just sit with you quietly. He seemed to be able to detect your mood and adjusted his to provide humor or comfort or just companionship. He was never demanding, but was very giving of his love. Ludwig was indeed a remarkable animal, to me at least. T. C. Wheeler