The cats whom I serve are Frank, a tuxedo moggy, 13 years in November, and Nikki, another tuxedo moggy, who turned 12 in August. Frank was five months old when he came to me, a gorgeous slim youth with shiny black fur and long legs. Well, he's not so slim now, but the fur is still shiny. The nether part of his face is white, and he has a small black square on his chin, which earned him his name. In 1987, when Frank was born, the goatee beard hadn't come back into fashion, and the only famous person with such a beard was Frank Zappa. Now, I didn't name him, the slave of his mother did, but I thought Frank was a good name for a looker like him.

I like to think that Nikki is Frank's daughter. He was actually in the vicinity of her mother two weekends in a row at the appropriate period, so he might be. Nikki was born from the stable cat at the country house of one of my friends, where he stabled riding horses. The mom is a calico, so I feel this supports my theory that Frank is Nikki's dad, since she is black and white like him. She is a feisty little girl. The litter was born in an office at the back of the stables, and Nikki was the first to venture out among the horses. Imagine that itsy bitsy kitten among all those huge horses ... It's a wonder she wasn't trampled under a hoof.

When I brought Nikki home, she put up a fight against Frank, hissing at him, ruffling her fur and bouncing sideways at him. Frank is a gentle giant, and he just looked a bit confused, but didn't let her provoke him into a fight. The first thing I did when I came in the door with Nikki was that I put her in the litter box. She sniffed a second, then jumped out. Then, half an hour later, after exploring the apartment and attacking Frank, she went back to the litter box and did her thing. This was Nikki's potty training, and we've never had any problems since.

After hissing at Frank about twelve hours, Nikki was pretty tired. I went to bed and Frank followed me, as usual. Nikki decided the bed was the place to be, as everyone else was there. First, she came up and lay by my head and licked my neck and shoulder for a while. Then, when she didn't get any licks out of me, she set her sight at Frank, lolling on his back at my feet. She crept over and started licking his tummy. And lo and behold, what did she find there? A teat! Oh, the purring and sucking that started then! She was so happy. Frank looked at me at first, as if to say 'What does she think she's doing?', but then he decided to settle down to suckle her and wash her from ears to paws. Since then they have been the best of friends.

Copyright © Marina Kurten
October 6, 2000