My sister owned a solid black part-Persian cat named “Blackie.”
Real original, right? Blackie was a very large tom-cat who would take on any
dog or cat stupid enough to enter his domain. He never lost a fight! This cat weighed
close to twenty pounds and looked like a small bear. Blackie was solid muscle,
so it would be incorrect to call him a fat cat.
Despite his size and reputation as a fierce fighter, he was
surprisingly gentle with my nephew and niece. He was also gentle with baby animals.
My sister adopted a kitten that looked like a smaller version of Blackie. In
fact, that kitten thought Blackie was his mama. He would play with that cat’s
tail for hours and Blackie would simply endure the antics of this overactive
feline until he decided enough was enough. At that point, he would put his
giant paw on the kitten’s back and hold the kitten in place for about sixty
seconds. Then he would release the kitten, in hopes that would settle him down.
Instead, the kitten would resume his play with Blackie’s tail. After awhile,
Blackie would again place his paw on the kitten’s back. This would go on all
day, with laughter and amazement by everyone watching Blackie and his adopted offspring.
Blackie never missed an opportunity to stuff his furry face.
Garfield had nothing on my sister’s cat. My sister learned that the hard way.
My nephew had a softball game that the family was late for; so the leftovers
from lunch remained on the kitchen table. When the family returned home after
the game, they discovered the leftovers had been eaten and found Blackie lying
on his back, with a stomach that resembled a very round beach ball. He lay
there for hours, too stuffed to move. Then there was the time my brother-in-law
was cooking steaks in the back yard. Blackie sat nearby, patiently watching the
entire process. At one point, that cat took a flying leap over the grill,
grabbed the steak in his mouth and ran off with the steak flapping over his
shoulder. His paws never touched the grill. My brother-in-law stared at
Blackie, open mouthed and in shock. Needless to say, Blackie had sirloin for
dinner that night.
