Time to teach my old cat new tricks

So my kids want a dog.

Or so they’ve mentioned 100 or 200 times.

Our cat is boring they say, complaining that all he does is eat, sleep and lick his butt.

Poor Casey, he can’t catch a break.

I guess I’m the only one that ‘gets’ him.

I keep putting off the dog thing, mainly because I’ve never had a dog.

I’ve always been a cat person and dogs seem like a lot of work. Cats are more independent. If we take off for a day or two I pretty much know Casey can look after himself.

But a dog? It’s like having a third child.

If only Casey were more like Rusty. I bet then my kids wouldn’t think he’s boring.

Rusty is this cat I saw up Clare way. At first glance I thought I was looking at a stuffed animal. This man rides past me on his bike with a cat perched on his shoulder. Since we were waiting for a parade I thought it was part of the show. Until he turned around and I realized the cat was the real deal.

Except that this cat thinks he’s a dog. At least that’s what his owner told me in an interview over the phone. “He doesn’t know he’s a cat,” said his owner, who asked that I refer to him (the owner, not the cat) by his nickname, Tarzan Linx, instead of his real name.

Okay, I’ll play his game. I’ll call him Tarzan, but he better not count on calling me Jane.

Rusty, I was told, is no stranger to the limelight. He’s been written about in newspapers, he’s been in a couple of documentaries – turns out he was the only cat on the scene for the 50th anniversary of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge that spans Halifax and Dartmouth – and he’s even been featured as Bubbles’ pet cat in the Trailer Park Boys.

He’s also been known to upstage the real Buskers at the festival in Halifax. Forget about the guy juggling flaming bowling pins…look, there’s a cat on a leash riding on some guy’s shoulder!

Rusty, who is six years old now, was found abandoned in a shed when he was one month old. Since he’s orange you’d think that’s how he got his name. It turns out he was named after a clam digger from Church Point, the area where his owner grew up.

Seriously, there’s no end to this cat’s résumé.

According to his owner, Rusty can follow about 20 commands. And on a leash he’ll go for long walks.

As I’m listening to all of this I’m wondering, why do we need a dog when we’ve got Casey?

Got any advice, I ask Tarzan, for anyone looking to train their cat to do tricks? “Start when they’re young,” he tells me, pointing out by the time Rusty was six months old he felt right at home on top of someone’s shoulder.

Hmmm…Casey’s 11 years old. Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but no one ever said anything about an old cat.

If I can teach Casey to bark and fetch a stick, maybe then my kids will think he’s cool.