Minou the Ghostbusting Cat

My beloved Minou is in spirit now, but during the 20 years of her life, she showed me many times how a cat can be an invaluable companion for a hypersensitive medium. She had a great and gentle spirit.

There were only two times in that whole 20 years when Minou got angry to the point where she frightened me. One time, she spotted a workman installing an awning on our apartment window, and decided that his intrusion demanded a strong response. Lucky for the poor fellow, there was a strong window in her way. She gave him a fright though, and all of us were lucky he had a good strong grip on the awning!

Many years later, we moved into another “store-front” apartment, this time, on the ground floor of an old office, which I discovered quickly was thoroughly haunted. Our spooky roommate was a cranky old man in grubby overalls, whose unpleasant attitude and grimy appearance was a perfect match to the basement we almost never entered. I was aware he did not want me going in what he saw as “his” space, but after many attempts at trying to get him to move on, I decided to give up on using the basement. Still, I stored a few nick-nacks in the basement, and went to get them one afternoon. As I reached the top of the stairs, I felt the spirit moving himself at me in anger.

I immediately threw up my protective shields, but between one step and the next, Minou launched herself at me. She attached herself to my leg, howling, hissing and screeching, and as I hopped around in pain and shock (nick-nacks flying around the room), I could not shake or pull her off. Finally, the spirit retreated, terrified and confused, into the comfort of his dark basement.

As soon as he was gone, Minou dropped off neatly and calmly off my leg, and flipped over into her “rub my tummy” pose. There was no sign that anything was ever wrong. I was bleeding quite profusely, though no stitches were needed. At first I was distressed that she had attacked me, but I quickly realized it was not me she had attacked. It was our nasty spirit roommate!

After I calmed down, I once again tried to persuade the spirit to go into the light, but he was adamant that he was going to stay. So I made him a deal. I would not go into the basement, if he would not come upstairs. His response? “Keep that damned cat up there with you!”

From that day to the end of her very long life, Minou never so much as hissed at me. I remain convinced that she drove this spirit away from me. I don’t know what he might have been able to do, if anything, but I am grateful for her love and protection. Years after she passed, she would often come back for visits. One time, she walked across my bed, and I could see the indentations where her little spirit-paws had passed.