Re: 9/8 Loose Lips - What's the story behind your kitty's na
Karre, the Emperor of Basically Everything, was one of three brothers. My husband found them under the roof of his house in Pretoria when they were ten days old, and as their mother was nowhere to be seen - presumably because someone had taken her into an animal shelter, or into their home, not knowing she had a litter of kittens - he got them out and took them in. Karre was the only black kitten. His brother Lucci was white and gray, and the thrid boy, Beni, was all grey with a faint tabby pattern. They share my husbands birthday, and they also appeared in his life when he needed true friends more than ever, so we think of them as his angels. DH was a teenager at the time, and he and his family moved down to Cape Town weeks after the kittens were found, so they went on their first cross-country trip. Beni, sadly, went missing before the big move. Karre (pronounced cah-ree) and Lucci (pronounced looky) were named after a pair of beloved fictional characters from Bavarian folklore who are frequently the leading "characters" in regional jokes.
When Lucci died of cancer on the 4th of July 2009 - his own Independence Day, I always think - we were devastated. He was PTS at home, surrounded by the beans who loved him and with his brother watching over his departure. Karre was inconsolable to weeks, mourning and searching for his brother. His grief and his loneliness were palpable.
And then Magpie made her moment. I had met her a few months before Lucci died, at our local animal shelter. She was a terrified 3-month-old kitten living in one of the shelter's "cat gardens" with several dozen other cats. I would sit in front of the bushed under which she was hiding, seeing her peeping out, wide-eyed, for hours. I kept going every few days, whenever I could make time. After about two months, she popped her head out from under the bushed. After another month, she came all the way out, sitting there poised to flee at any moment, but clearly wanting contact. One day she seemed to decide I was her friend, walked over to me, curled up in my lap, and started chirping at me like a bird. I knew she was mine. She is my soulcat. Me in a cat. And I knew she needed a bird-name. Since she was black and white, and had stolen my heart never to return it, it was clear: She was Magpie. And when it became evident that Karre wanted a companion to console him through his sorrow, Magpie came home with us.
She had been horribly abused, which was why she was so terrified of everyone and everything and still vanishes at the first sign of strangers approaching. When she was still a kitten, someone kicked her in the face so hard that a tooth broke. She ended up at DARG because someone saw he being thrown out of a moving car's window like a piece of garbage. During her first few days with us in her new home, she refused to come out from under the bed except to use the litterbox. But after a couple of weeks, she grew more and more confident, and began making friends with Karre. Since Karre was the Emperor, she became his Queen. They are each other's great love. Magpie, or Maggie as she's often also called, not only stole my heart, but she also steals meat whenever she can :lol: Ostrich and oryx are her favourites. When we're cooking, and turn around for a second, she'll try to get her share. She really is a Magpie. And she really does chirp like a bird.
Our next arrival was Pepita, so named because she had little black peppercorn spots on her tummy, and "Pepita" reminded us of various words for "pepper." She was our little African Wild Cat, and true to form, she returned to the wild - we live in a mountain estate with wild forest and fynbos behind our house and beautiful mountains - after spending two happy year with us. We miss her every day.
Enter - the Little Prince, Luca. We met him at our local animal shelter. He had been found with his sister (whom we would have named Lola - she was a feisty calico girl) - they both had been tossed out like trash and were severely starved and dehydrated when they were found. DH and I visit the shelter often, and I wasn't there that day with the intention of adopting a new kittne, let alone two. But there was something about this little white-and-charcoal spotted baby boy. When I went into the room where he and his siter were staying, she ignored me, but he came right up to me, scrambling up my trousers mewing as loudly as he could. I sat down, and he climbed up my jumper, and so I leaned back, and he sat on my chest, right above my heart, purring and purring and staring straight at me, never once looking away. He had me. I called my husband and told him there was a cat here he had to meet. So he came and met him, and Luca behaved the same way with him. We said we'd sleep on it for a night. We always intended to take them both, so the siblings could grow up together. But when we got there the next morning, knowing the decision was made, his siter had been adopted. So there was our new little boy, alone, and we took him home. On the drive, we were chatting about names, and realized that we both had had the very strong feeling that this kitten was so much like Karre's brother Lucci... He even resembled him. And without discussing it, DH and I had both been searching for names that would resemble Luccis' name, and had both come up with "Luca." And so Luca became Luca. He is love in a fur coat.
And finally, there was Henry. He was actually named by the animal shelter staff. His name was the only one out of all of our rescued cats that we didn't change. It was HIS name, and it suits him perfectly. He is a stoic, strong, gentle giant Coon Cat. He is the first adult cat we've ever adopted, and now that he's been with us just over 2 months, we're realizing more and more how different it is to adopt a fully-grown tomcat. We're amazed that we ended up with a Maine Coon as our first adult adopted furbaby, since they mature so slowly and often stay kittenish for years and years - how lucky is that!
Those are our stories.
Thanks for this thread - it's lovely to read!
Jane
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