Spring Is Here--and It’s Cat Mating Time

Spring will no doubt win the fight, but winter muscled in and took the match this week. Chilly northern winds and icy rains lumbered in, providing us with the surreal scene of neon-colored wildflowers flash frozen to their stalks.

Some may complain, but I, like many native Southern Californians, enjoyed the novelty of cold weather and appreciated the opportunity to wear my winter wool. It also gave me a reprieve from some of the more irritating (and less reported) aspects of spring: pollen-laden olive tree blossoms all over the patio (hence, all over the dining room floor), the continuous gnarl of the leaf blower, the slightly fetid smell of jasmine past its prime. And then there is that all-time, award-winning irritant: the squall of the lovesick cat.

“I think all of us have considered throttling old Muffy when that happens,” staff writer Jeff Meyers said. “But to avoid problems with the Cat Police, it’s a better idea to get her fixed.”

Which was why he wrote this week’s cover story on kitten season, that time of year when a cat’s amorous instincts can get us all in trouble. In this county alone, several thousand felines are euthanized annually, a sad and costly solution to a problem that would easily (and humanely) be solved if owners would neuter and spay their cats.

“It sounds simple, but some people just don’t get it,” Meyers said.

Meyers never thought that he would find himself in the position of Great Feline Protector. This may be a form of penance for a satirical column he wrote many years ago for another paper. The headline of the piece tells the whole story: “Unabashed Hater of Cats.”

The column created a controversy, with the paper’s reader’s advocate coming out against Meyers with a piece titled “Cat Lovers: Jeff Meyers Hasn’t Killed His Pets.” Meyers insists that his column was a joke, but he learned a valuable lesson: Cat lovers don’t have a sense of humor.

“The spay-neuter issue is very serious,” Meyers said. “Seeing these great animals needlessly destroyed or, even worse, taking an unwanted cat to the pound, is tough on the emotions.”

Elsewhere in Life, Jaunts columnist Jane Hulse tracked some very big animals to report on the three days of riding and roping events of the Conejo Valley Days rodeos, which will be held Friday through Sunday at Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks. Last year, the rodeos attracted 4,000 to 5,000 spectators.

More than 200 professional riders, most of whom are from around the state, will compete for two days in the adult events.

And the youngin’s--age 5 through 18--get into the act for the Junior Rodeo Friday night.

“The kids actually compete all day long,” Hulse said. “What the spectators get to see are the finalists.”

It ought to get really exciting. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow.