Who would have thought that Rocket - designed by evolutionary forces to run down anything smaller than a wildebeest - could succumb to the wiles of two scheming cats?

Well, it happened. Yesterday he was sadly returned to the shelter; a Darwinian example for anyone who tries to compete for their existence with a cat.

It was an unfair fight for a kid just seven months old, no matter how big he might be. How can he be expected to stand up to a species who manipulated their way to become the near-rulers of Egypt? Just visit Cairo and all you'll see are pyramids and cat statues. And if the cats had their way, there would be no pyramids in the first place. So what chance did Rocket have?

And those two scoundrels also had some unfair advantages, including the support of one fair-haired Donna Reed, female lead in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". They cast themselves as feline ZuZu's and won protection from Donna against the evil Mr. Potter, a lab-bull mix.

In the face of sharing their home and Donna's affecttions, they mounted a relentless assualt. They sped by Rocket and baited him into a reckless blur of paws, tails, teeth and brown fur. They tauntingly strutted past the windows facing the pool, which would result in Rocket hurling himself at the glass. The kitty guerillas would then arch their backs and point their tails and stare mockingly at the reverse hurricane through the glass while he barked and drooled. It was a seige mentality.

And that was enough to get the job done. He was back in the car and headed for the shelter and the cats were on the windowsills congratulating themselves.

But for a few days there, the hypnotic effect was lifted and we saw behind the veil of what really happens in the cat world.

Now Rocket is gone and catnip is in the air and we're back under the spell.

#survival story

The cats get their way