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Book Review/Synopsis
A CAT NAMED SQUEEKY
by Vic Reskovic
This is a true story about a young calico cat who showed up on a rainy day at a home in Los Gatos, California. The author has an interesting style of writing. He has a dry humor that has you laughing whether you want to or not! The one and only picture in the book literally cracked me up and it was chuckles from then on. Those who have or have had a cat in their lives can certainly relate!
The cat appeared at the back door, then just as suddenly disappeared into the stormy night. The following day it was seen again, but the couple living in the house didn’t want an animal in their happy lives.
They decided to give it some food, outside. The cat was an avid talker constantly making sounds that no way sounded like a meow.
Thinking it might be lost, Vic picked it up and carried it door to door around the neighborhood to see if it belonged to anyone. He received varied reactions to his quest, but no takers. He and his wife then put up posters around town, yet no one claimed the cat. They continued to feed it outside.
They didn’t want the cat but figured it should have a name anyway since it was always around. After much deliberation they mutually decided to call the female cat “Squeeky” after one of the many sounds she made. Now that she had a name she needed a collar with a name tag.
The cat came and went and they continued feeding her, now up on the porch. They kept thinking about who needed a cat in their lives and could find no one suitable – except themselves.
One day Vic was in the kitchen and noticed Squeeky at the back door. She was talking to him. He went to the door and opened it to see what she wanted and she simply walked right in – and stayed!
She slowly moseyed through the house and was checking it out when his wife Cindy came home from grocery shopping. Together they watched Squeeky meander through their home.
As the days wore on she settled into a regular routine claiming a blue shawl on the sofa as her personal sleep domain. When she went to the door it was either to be let out or be let back in. She was an indoor/outdoor cat. Not knowing how it had happened, Vic and Cindy now had a cat!
Every so often Squeeky would bring them a token of her affection. Dead or alive there was always some humorous outcome, more or less.
There was a week when they went on vacation and his parents came to take care of Squeeky. That’s when their routine changed! His mother had shown their cat the advantages of drinking water from the bathroom sink faucet and from then on that was her only source of water. No matter how fresh the water in her bowl was she never drank from it again. Whenever she wanted a drink she’d go to the bathroom and yowl until someone came to turn on the faucet. For the next 19 years she never drank from her bowl again!
One day, realizing the flea collar wasn’t working when they saw some of the tiny beasties on her, they decided to give her a quick bath with flea shampoo. The “quick” bath turned into an hilarious battle of the wills!
After considerable time spending her evenings on the sofa, Squeeky eventually moved to slumber her nights away in bed with them. They were a threesome, always sleeping with each other at night.
All of them lived a comfortable and loving life together with little adventures here and there. As she got older, Squeeky started to slow down. One day Vic noticed she wasn’t coming when he called her and realized she had gone deaf. This was confirmed by the vet. That’s when she started slowly going downhill. It was one thing after another until the inevitable time had come for Squeeky to be sent over the Rainbow Bridge.
The last few chapters are a veritable tear jerker for me as I had a faithful tortiseshell cat named Squeak who went through the exact same phases. She was almost 20 and had been born at home. The similarities were too coincidental for me to remain impartial.
Even though a relatively short book it is packed with humor and sensitivity. All in all, the book is written in a clever manner and merits being read and enjoyed.- Marilu Shellie