Through the years, anyone who had a cat for a pet knows that they can keep you in stitches with the antics they perform. Here are a few amusing anecdotes I have collected.

Mushi lived in Germany during World War II and even though she was well loved, food was hard to come by. Table scraps, sausage casings and an occasional fish head was all she got. One Christmas season, after the tree was decorated, the lady of the house came down hard on her two children, ages four and six.

"You have a heck of a nerve, eating the special candy I hung on the tree for a Christmas treat, " she scolded. The children denied all knowledge of the deed and started to blame each other. Suddenly, from behind the tree came Mushi, blandly carrying a half-eaten chocolate, still attached to its golden string. A very annoyed mom tried to keep Mushi away from the candy but had to give up when two days later, the tree came crashing down with Mushi holding on for dear life near the top.

Another time, a daughter of Mushi, Mushi II, spent most of her days outside, looking for food. After an unsuccessful jaunt, she liked to return to the kitchen to check her dish. Unfortunately, the only way into the house was the open window overlooking the sidewalk. Being situated too high for her to jump, Mushi II waited for a neighbor to pause and say hello and gossip with the mistress of the house through the open window. Timing the jump to perfection, Mushi II bounded to the neighbor's back and launched herself through the open window, much to the consternation to the lady of the house and the shock to her friendly neighbors. Mushi II did all her business inside. Not only was she trained to go on the toilet, but as a finishing act, make a leap to the pull chain and flush the toilet!

My own cat, Sassy, can lie contentedly with us watching TV all night without moving. But if I decide that on one of my many trips out of the room during the evening to get the nail clippers from the bedroom to do her nails, she immediately hides under the covers and starts to complain. We think she hears the sound of the armoire door as I open it over three rooms away.

We only had the pleasure of a cat named Madie (Girly in German) for less than a year when she fell down an embankment and got killed in the street. She was the cuddliest cat in the world and she loved to sleep with us, keeping our feet warm under the covers in the winter and acting like a living muff around our necks, purring all the while. At Night when it was time for us to retire, Madie would race us to the bedroom and fling herself on the bed between the pillows, looking for all the world like the winner of the race.

The friendliness of all the cats we ever owned was measured against our wonderful Madie. None ever surpassed her.