Just thought I'd tell you about my sister's latest ploy. But first, some background.

Recently, my older sister moved to the city I live in and bought a house here after her divorce. She already had two cats - ginger and white sisters from the same litter, currently about eight years old, and found wandering along a motorway when they were around three, trying to find their owners who had moved house and left them behind (the story of their background always makes me angry and sad - because when they were found it was very much a case of the bolder cat, Sugar, leading and protecting Spice along the motor way among the cars). Anyway, when she moved, Sugar and Spice came with her, despite her worrying about how they'd weather the mood, because Spice frets (somehow I was given the job of escorting two cats and two kids down on a plane. ARRRRRGGGGHHH). She did fret (I've never seen a more miserable cat, cowering behind her sister as they got used to their new house) but she's now happy and healthy and she and Sugar love their new house and the fact that they weren't left behind this time.

On with the story. My sister and I both love cats . . . . My father, on the other hand, pretends he doesn't (despite the fact that Ivory is in bed with him at the moment, and last night I found him with Ebony curled up in his sweater - while he was still wearing it) and heartily disapproves of any plans to get more cats than we already have (two each). Of course, while I still live at home and have to be content with the fact that I've been allowed two cats, my sister has her own house and can basically do what she likes as long as she doesn't mind putting up with his disapproval.

So, this week my sister, having contemplated it ever since I got Ebony a month ago, decided that yes, she would get another cat - a boy this time, an adult one so it wasn't too lively for her resident ladies, or too vulnerable to her children. It was the perfect time to adopt another cat - her boys are away with their father for two weeks, so she has an empty house and empty rooms to pop a cat in to get it used to the other cats etc. So off we trot to the SPCA, looking for a Ginger and White ex-tom cat, ginger and white being my sister's favorite cat coloring, and no other cats really entering into the running. We find a one year old who fits the bill - ginger and white, neutered, in need of a home. We put him on hold for three days so he wouldn't be bought home before the kids left, and in the meantime we set out to get extra cat supplies. Only, my evil sister is thinking "Well, perhaps there might be another ginger and white boy there when we pick the first gentleman up" Nothing can dissuade her from getting two of everything - two collars, two more bowls, food and litter for two etc etc.

So this morning we set out bright and early (well, after the kids were safely on the plane to visit their father) to pick up Sparky. My sister insists on bringing my cat carrier as well as hers "Just in case". Now, when my sister has made up her mind on something, there's very little that will change her mind, so it was sort of ineviatable that we'd end up bringing two home. And, you guessed it - we did. Sparky, the one year old ginger and white tom, and Crinkle, a 12 week old ginger and white boy kitten (now renamed Sweet and Sour - goes with Sugar and Spice y'know).

Here's where it gets interesting - most of my family can't tell Sugar and Spice apart - they're both ginger and white, and despite major differences in markings, amount of white, and even facial expression, and a year's association, apart from myself, everybody gets them mixed up. In fact, the other week my young nephew went up to my sister with a look of sheer surprise on his face and exclaimed "You have TWO ginger pussies!" In the year the cats have been here, he'd never seen them together, and thought that my sister just had the one! So my sister is counting on this confusion to save her from my father's disapproval - she's cunningly bought four yellow food bowls, and is currently maintaining, somewhat jokingly, that she only owns one ginger and white cat, and one yellow food bowl!

Copyright © Maryrose Lockerbie
January 8, 2000