Cats cross pool swimmingly.

Byline: Eric Florip The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - Any cat owner who has tried to take a feline swimming probably has the claw marks to show for it.

But not Mary Ellen Angel Scribe. The Cottage Grove author and columnist has five cats that willingly go with her into the backyard pool. Kind of.

Mary Ellen began taking her cats in the water three summers ago as a way to prevent an alarmingly common tragedy, she said, having heard of several cat owners whose animals ventured into a pool without knowing how to get out.

"For their safety, 100 percent," she said of her motivation in encouraging them to swim. "We wanted to know that they could swim, and we wanted them to know that they could swim."

On a recent afternoon, Mary Ellen took two of her aquatic felines for a dip.

First up was Nymbus, a 4-year-old silver Persian who sat calmly while cradled in Mary Ellen's arms as she waded into the water. As she gently dipped the animal into the pool, remarkably, the cat didn't struggle at all. Instead, he started waving his submerged paws in a sort of cat paddle.

"He can definitely swim," Mary Ellen said of Nymbus, one of her strongest swimmers. "Not in love with it, but he can definitely swim."

As expected, the cat paddled immediately toward the nearest wall when let go. He remained calm, but his large eyes suggested a tinge of "I can't believe I'm doing this" concern.

But when Mary Ellen caught and cradled the animal again, he sat still in the water. And that security is exactly what makes an otherwise uncomfortable activity easier for the cats, Mary Ellen said, adding that she has formed a strong bond with the animals during the past several years.

"I think it's that they were literally born in my hands, and they trust me," she said. "They know I'm not going to hurt them."

Next in the water was Miss Wings, a 6-year-old silver Persian and Nymbus' mother. She fared as well as her offspring in the pool, swimming gracefully under the care of Mary Ellen. When she ventured into the deep end of the pool, Mary Ellen swam with her.

Nymbus and Miss Wings are two of four young silver Persians at Mary Ellen's house. The fifth cat, a dark "alley cat" from the humane society, is about 12 years old. Each of the cats can now swim comfortably, she said.

Admittedly, Mary Ellen knows there are a lot of things her cats - or any cats - would rather be doing than floating in a pool.

But the activity hones an important skill for the animals, she said, and makes them healthier in the process.

Mary Ellen's swimming cats have attracted media attention from as far away as Great Britain, and the amphibious felines still seem to baffle most cat owners.

"Her cats are the only ones I've seen swim," said Jessica Duggan, a Cottage Grove city planner who works with Mary Ellen's husband in City Hall. "I have a cat of my own, and she'd freak out if I put her in the water."

Just about all of the notoriously moody animals would, said Lauren Allen, an animal technician at the Greenhill Humane Society in Eugene.

Even after owning numerous cats and working a year at the animal shelter, Allen said she'd never heard of a cat that willingly swims - let alone five.

"It's not very common," she said. "I myself have had maybe eight cats in my life, and maybe one of those cats really did like taking a bath. I think it's pretty rare for cats to actually like to swim. That's pretty crazy."

But Mary Ellen's cats won't be entering any Olympic events in the near future. She said she only takes them into the water a few times each summer for their own benefit.

Mary Ellen, whose full name is Mary Ellen Schesser, said the cats have come a long way since the first time she took them swimming, when each was understandably uneasy.

"We just held them, and we didn't know what to do," she said. "The first time they were a little nervous."

Now she's glad to have the extra attention for her cats and for Cottage Grove. If nothing else, reading or hearing about her daring pets can brighten a person's day, Mary Ellen said.

"I always tell them their job is to make other people smile," she said.