The story of “Room 8,” which was the name of a cat, is really too long to tell (see the Wikipedia article and many other pieces as well). He was perhaps the most beloved of all “viral” moggies because he not only lived a long time, but inhabited an elementary-school class for many years. Here’s the Wikipedia summary:
Room 8 (c. 1947 – August 13, 1968) was a cat who became a celebrity for attending Elysian Heights Elementary School in Echo Park, California, United States. He wandered in through a window in 1952 and quickly made himself at home in Room 8, where he joined class for the next 16 years. Room 8 vanished each summer and reappeared in the fall when students returned, a routine he kept up until the mid-1960s.
. . . and the Facebook story, with a picture of the unpatriotic tabby sleeping while the Pledge of Allegiance is recited (I added the arrow pointing to Room 8; click to go to original post):
Also read the school’s memorial page at the Explore Historic California,
There’s also a 50-minute documentary film called “Room 8”, which you can see for free, and in its entirety, below. There are a lot of photos of Room 8, and all ailurophiles need to know who he was. Pay special attention to the designated Official Cat Feeder, a great honor conferred on a lucky sixth grader. The Official Feeder got the privilege of holding Room 8 in the official class photo. I love this film!
Below is Room 8’s gravestone from Facebook, adorned with the cat’s photo and a poem of homage:
As Wikipedia notes, “Leo Kottke wrote an instrumental called ‘Room 8’ that was included in his 1971 album, Mudlark. Here’s Kotke’s “Room 8”:
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This is a sweet story from Laughing Squid about an insecure cat who was given back to a shelter twice before she finally found a loving home. Click on the screenshot to read the piece.
An excerpt:
A very talkative cat named Bella Bellarda, who had been returned to the shelter twice, keeps hugging her newfound humans to seemingly reassure herself that she’s found an incredibly loving home with two best friends who are roommates. One is the “father”, the one who adopted her, and the other is the “godfather”, the one who moved in.
As soon as I get in and I drop my bag, she jumps to the kitchen counter, then hops on top of me or like climbs with the two paws. …she had been already adopted twice. He was the third one to adopt her was because Bella was a very nervous cat …but since she got here she has never left and there’s no plan on her leaving.
Bella is very intelligent and can respond to a variety of different languages.
Her dad speaks to her in French or a mix between like, she’s a polyglot. She understands English, Italian, French, Arabic, English, everything.
Bella is quite the long jumper and her humans are training her to break the Guinness World Record.
Current Record Holder: Waffle The Warrior Cat who jumped 213.36 cm (7feet) Bella’s jumps range between 240 cm – 260 cm! Waiting for our application to be process.
A video of Bella demanding attention: very un-cat-like!
Bella has her own Instagram page; here are two entries (click on “click on Instagram” if you can’t see the video:
I’m glad she has found her forever home.
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And from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, we have a scary story of a cat riding out a hailstorm by hiding up in a tree. Click below to read it:
An excerpt:
A cat in Texas might just have nine lives after surviving one of nature’s most dangerous elements: hail. “We received a call late today from a concerned Kerr County resident about a cat who was stranded 35 ft up in a tree at the Camp Verde store and restaurant in Center Point” Kerrville Pets Alive said in a Oct. 25 Facebook post.
Heavy rains, wind and hail swept through South-Central Texas Oct. 24 throughout the evening. The National Weather Service even confirmed a tornado touched down in the area, KENS5 reported.
“The cat rode out a violent hail storm overnight in the tree. Neither law enforcement, the area fire department or animal control were available to assist,” the shelter said.
Enter an unlikely hero.
Video posted on Facebook shows a tree service worker leaning an extremely tall ladder up to an enormous tree in order to rescue a very talkative — and thankful — black cat.
“We reached out to our tree climbing cat hero John with John Goodman Tree Service and once again, he stepped up to help! This kitty was four paws down on safe ground in no time,” the shelter said.
Kerrville is about a 100-mile drive southwest from Austin.
Here’s a short video of the rescue. (I will never show a cat in trouble if it’s not rescued!). Listen to that moggie howl!
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Lagniappe from Merilee: the truth about staffing cats, showing that they’re completely parasitie:
h/t: Michael, Susan, Merilee
Great stories. Room 8 was an excellent addition to the classroom. And such a funny lagniappe. Love the upside down “orange liability.” Such a good sport to go upside down without complaint.
What great stories. I love Room 8. What a great and creative teacher they had in room 8. I never had animals like that when I grew up in Los Angeles near that school. We had a cow come once to show us where milk came from. That was it as far as animals. What a great lesson kids learned with Room 8. Responsibility in taking care of an animal.
Great post!
Love these Caturday posts! 🐈🐈🐈
What wonderful stories about Room 8 and Bella. People who claim cats don’t relate well to humans have obviously never met cats like them. I’ve just started watching the film about Room 8–the rest will be my evening entertainment. And thanks to the man who rescued the cat from the tree. We need more kind people like these. Thank you for such a wonderful post–it was much needed today.
Bella is unusual! Unusual vocalizations, and I’ve never seen a cat lick their humans.