My multicolored cat, Kira, is the kind of cat that catches people’s attention whenever they come into my house. She gives a friendly meow and sits up on a table or the grand piano to greet you. Even those who don’t really like cats think she is pretty. Those who like cats give her lots of love, and she won’t let them leave.
My black cats like people, but they aren’t attention hogs like Kira. In fact, Jade is so timid that it takes several visits for her to feel like a person is safe to approach. After that, she is happy to hop on the couch for some love. So it is difficult for people to have opportunity to know my black cats’ true personalities. And since they aren’t engaged in cute antics, I’m not posting their stories.
Jade and Angel were adopted from the same sponsoring agency, a few months apart. They had both spent over a year in the shelter. I did not plan this part of the adoption adventure; but Jade’s name in the shelter was Little Midnight and Angel’s was Midnight.
There was not much little about Jade when I brought her home in May 2014. She weighed 12 lb. Because of her timid nature, I had to play games to get her out of the cage to find out whether she would have much interest in me at all. I held her in the cat room at Petsmart and promised her there were couches at home that she could sleepon. She yowled all the way out of the store and the person who helped me with her paperwork (whose name was Kira, BTW) came and knelt down to soothe her. Once we got home, I let her out, she hopped up on the couch as if to say, “Oh you were telling the truth!”
When I brought Angel home, she weighed 6.5 lb. She is sleeping on a square cat bed and there is a lot of cat bed left. She now weighs 9 lb to Jade’s 11.5.
I took this picture of Jade and Angel and I don’t promise it is a good one. It is rare to catch them together like this, especially so close to each other.
Angel sleeps on top of me most nights. She purrs so loud that she can be heard across the room. She is “my kitty.” She does not like anyone else holding her.She does insist that Kevin get in her space and rub her head with his beard every day.
Jade has shown a special sensitivity to both my and Kevin’s physical pain. Since Kevin’s back surgery a couple of years ago, she has been in the habit of sleeping with her own back pressed against his surgery spot so that her purr massages him. We have been calling her “the back kitty.”
To me, Jade and Angel’s fur appears different. Angel looks glossy black, and Jade looks like a deep midnight black. The other day, I took a nap while I had a migraine. Jade got on my pillow and pressed that deep midnight black fur against my eyes and softly purred for about 30 minutes. It was the most soothing thing I have ever experienced.
I have posted at times on Facebook that I am “doing Hebrew under the blanket with the cat”. Since I use text to speech on my computer and don’t need to see the screen, I curl up on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and a wireless keyboard and wireless headphones, and the cat goes to sleep on my feet. It has most often been a black cat. Lately, it has sometimes been two black cats, and Jade gently but persistently lets me know when worktime is over and bedtime is here.
I love my cats!
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