Meet Oscar. Several years ago, we had only just arrived on our land when Oscar suddenly appeared and loudly notified us that we had moved into his home. I like to think of the cat as a housewarming gift that was left by the former owners. Besides our single dog at the time, Oscar was our first new animal on the homestead. The cat looked like an Oscar and acted like an Oscar. The problem is that when he marched out of the forest one spring day, a long train of small kittens trailed behind him. That is when we realized that our he was not a he, but a she.
Those kittens all received names in their own right, as is usually the case when children are around. There were Mabel, Henry, Jitters, and a few others that disappeared before we really got to know them. They came out of the woods and eventually all returned to the woods. Well, all except for this one here.
This kitten was the cross eyed and backwards-walking runt of the litter that we decided to rescue by making her our house cat. Initially, she was known as “Coffee” because of her warm, creamy brown tones. A more fitting moniker, however, would actually be “little demon” or perhaps, “murder cat.”
Let me explain. This cat’s favorite activity is to flop down on her back, legs up in the air so that her soft, warm belly is exposed. She draws you in with her cute face and begs you to pet her. But beware! As you extend a hand and just get within reach, her playful little expression turns into a flurry of razor sharp claws as she attacks with an impressive number of strikes. In that instant, Coffee has left and Murder Cat has arrived.
It is funny how people often say that children seem to grow into the name that has been given to them. Yet, with cats, at least around here, naming is often a surprising and ever evolving event.
Bark Covered House 