Cottage Larsen Cat Possibly Loses One of Nine Lives

IFP (International Feline Press) - Smokette Glory Clay Larsen, of Cottage Larsen in Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States, may have used up one of her lives Monday, July 12, 2004.  The local Cats Have 9 Lives Commission is investigating.
When Smokette’s people, Mr. and Mrs. L., returned home around 6 p.m. Monday they were surprised to find all five Cottage Larsen cats waiting for them on the front stoop.
“Usually one or two of the cats will be in the front yard at a time – but for all five to be in the front yard is unheard of.” Mr. L said.
“My first response was, ‘What happened?  What’s wrong?’” Mrs. L said.  “I even thought maybe the deck had fallen off of the back of the house because the cats always wait for us in the afternoon on the back deck – not in the front yard.”
“I figured either they had done something really bad like brought home another baby rabbit; or a dog had gone up on the deck and scared them.”  Mr. L reported.
The cats followed Mr. and Mrs. L into the house and to the back door where Mrs. L found the deck to be intact and dog-free.
Mrs. L proceeded to feed the cats and it was then that she noticed Smokette’s right front paw was very swollen and bleeding.  Mrs. L alerted Mr. L who inspected Smokette’s paw. 
“At first I wondered if her paw had been run over by a car.”  Mr. L said.  But decided against that when Mrs. L made the point that Smokette is a very car-conscious cat.
“Smokette’s paw was so swollen it felt like she didn’t have any bones in her paw at all,”  Mrs. L

  said.
Mr. and Mrs. L cleaned Smokette’s 
paw with warm water and rinsed it with antibacterial wash left over from Smokette’s last loss-of-a-cat-life incident three years ago.
After her people cleaned the injured paw, Smokette licked the fur off of the wound revealing what could have possibly been snake bite punctures.
Tuesday morning the swelling in Smokette’s paw had gone down considerably and since she was eating and bathing, Mr. and Mrs. L felt that a trip to the V-word was unnecessary. 
If the Cats Have 9 Lives Commission decides there is sufficient evidence for this to be deemed a loss-of-a-cat-life incident, Smokette will have exhausted a total of four of her nine lives. 
Smokette’s previous loss of cat lives occurred in 2001 with a cheek/jaw animal puncture infection;1999 when she was accidentally locked in a basement for three days; and 1998 when Smokette disappeared for more than five days and returned bedraggled and filthy.
Although people have no bearing on the outcome of the Cats Have 9 Lives Commission’s findings, Mrs. L has stated doubt that this will count as a loss of life due to the fact that there was no trip to the V-word involved.
“I find it funny that the cats pretend to dislike each other, but when one of them is hurt they all rally around that cat and make sure they get the help they need.  It’s similar to how people react in emergency situations,” Mrs. L stated.
The other resident cats at Cottage Larsen had no comments concerning the incident.