Monday, May 6, 2013

Garfield Has Nothing on Blackie



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.