ShadowCat

ShadowCat is yet another stray, of course.  He came to us via the back porch at the new place.  A neighbor was out, and asked "Is that your cat?"  I said "No".  He slurred "Well if I see it around here again, I'm gonna kill it."

That was enough for me to chase and grab the cat (he'd taken off, perhaps understanding the neighbor's words), call the police, call the Humane Society, and, of course, get no help because unless the neighbor actually *did* something, they could do nothing.

I really believed he had to belong somewhere in the neighborhood.  He was neutered, front-declawed (yet more idiots), and had a pink collar on.  I still had to get him tested, of course, and the vet joked that he probably ran away because he's a guy and they put a pink collar on him!

Because of the collar, he was dubbed "Pinky" for a time.  I did everything in my power to find out where he belonged, but apparently, he belonged nowhere.  I dutifully put up a notice on Pet FBI and received a dozen calls and e-mails at least; unfortunately, not a single one described "Pinky".

You can only do so much to find out where a cat belongs.  Most of the finding is up to the one who lost the cat; it must be their burden to get out the word and search, and search hard.  That is what I believe.  For my part, I did what I could, and believe that was much more than most would bother to do.  After three months, and no human found that belonged to him, it was clear that "Pinky" was here to stay.

The first thing I did was take off the pink collar.  No need to continually embarrass the poor guy.

The second thing I did was try to find a better name for him.  When we got Cosmo , he got called "Big Fat Fuzzy Cat" for so long, I was afraid it was going to stick!  And I really didn't think this new guy would appreciate being "Pinky" for life.

I watched him and thought about it.  I noticed how much he dearly loved and got excited by shadows and light.  And I mean, with a ferocious intensity.  It wasn't a very big leap from that to "ShadowCat".

I don't know why I felt I should put the "Cat" on the end of "Shadow", but I did.  Shadow isn't an uncommon name for a cat, so maybe I thought that would distinguish him slightly.  I'm not sure.  All I know is that it felt right.

Of course, you never know how they will respond to names you give them.  It's always better to let them pick their own names, but it doesn't always work out that way.  Turns out ShadowCat likes to be called "Shad-Shad" better than ShadowCat.  Go figure.

Like Kate and Jack (and please, dear Bast, don't let them all be related!), ShadowCat is a water baby.  He will sit on the rim of the tub while I take a bath, and stare at the ripples in the water (which, of course, I oblige him by making).  Eventually, he will reach down with his paw, very gently, and stick it in the bathwater, then watch the ripple he just made.  It's quite something to watch.

I swear he is part raccoon.  He has a bad habit of sticking his paws in the water dishes and then licking them, which, unfortunately, leaves icky bits of litter in the water dishes I am constantly cleaning out.

Sometimes, he is a real lovey-dovey, and will come up to me at night, snuggle very close, and enjoy being petted for some time.  Sometimes he will lick my hand or face, and sometimes, he has even put his paw around me, as though he's claiming me for his own.

When he first arrived and was released from the "isolation ward" (which wasn't long, since all he needed was to be tested), I'm sure it must have been daunting.  Here was this kitten, and nine big cat faces staring back at him.  Apparently, he decided on a "get them before they get me" policy.  He was hell on wheels for the first few months, smacking around just about every other cat (I think he left Cosmo alone, and only attacked Internet 's tail), playing some feline version of "I'm the big bad new kid on the block".  The other cats were a bit surprised, to say the least.  I'm sure they discussed it amongst themselves:  "What in the heck is that new kitten doing?  Doesn't he know we pretty much get along here?"  "I have no idea.  Man, I still hurt from that smackdown the little bugger gave me yesterday."  "I bet he's just insecure."  "Snort.  Insecure my tail!  He's a nasty little bugger, and we'd better teach him a lesson!"

Before it got to that, he had made his point, apparently, and settled in as part of the household just fine with everyone else.

It's hard to believe he was such a little guy just last fall.  Unlike his immediate predecessors, Arthur and Jack , ShadowCat had no compunction about gobbling down every bite of food he could get.  And he grew.  And he grew.  And he's still growing!  Not only is he big, he's long, too.  When I feed them and get to his bowl, he will stretch up next to the dishwasher where I feed him, and I have to hold the bowl up above my waist so he can't reach it before it's ready.  Long Tall Shadow -- maybe that should be one of his nicknames!

I think I picked the right name when I hit on ShadowCat.  It sounds mysterious, like he can appear and disappear at will, right?  Well, that's exactly what he does.  I swear!  I will call him, and go all around the apartment trying to find him when I'm doing a kitty headcount, and I will be on the verge of freaking out because I cannot find him, and then suddenly, he's just sitting in the middle of the room, like he has been there the whole time.  And I could swear he was nowhere in sight a moment earlier.

One thing that's very strange about ShadowCat (obviously, one among many!), is that he is almost the spitting image of Sabra.  Except for the fact that Sabra was 100% black, and Shadow has that wee bit of white on his chest, and a stray white fur or two, they could pretty much be twins.  And ShadowCat, much to my dismay, shares Sabra's habit of licking plastic.  I am working on getting everything put away and getting all the plastic put away, but it takes awhile when you are alone and hurting physically most of the time.  At any rate, he just licks it, and doesn't eat it -- just like Sabra . And it looks as though he will be almost exactly the same size and shape, not to mention looking very similar in the face.  It's eerie.

I've often wished my babies that have crossed over would reincarnate and come back to me, but I have always figured they haven't, for whatever reasons.  Maybe someone else needed them more.  Maybe they are too happy hanging out at the Bridge.  Maybe they came back as humans.  I don't know.  But I really wonder about ShadowCat and Sabra ; there is just something there that even feels familiar.  Or maybe ShadowCat just is my familiar -- lol!  He does have that shadows and light thing going  . . . .

Of course, he is just fascinated with everything.  He watches the paper come out of the printer like it's the greatest thing that ever happened.  He watches the DVD pop out of the DVD player and cocks his head, trying to figure out what in the world that thing is.  The whole world seems fascinating to him, which makes him fascinating. Sabra or familiar or just ShadowCat.

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