Both Tiffany and I had cats growing up so when we got our first place together in 2003 we wanted to share it with a kitten. Unfortunately for us, we had moved in around December, entirely the wrong time of year to readily get our hands on one. However, just one month later, we received a call from my brother-in-law with an exciting opportunity for us.
One of his colleagues, Barry, was moving down to England and would not be able to take his cat with him. We were therefore asked if we would be interested in looking after an 18 month old tortoiseshell cat called Angel.
My immediate thought was “Angel?” Who on Earth would voluntarily name a cat Angel? I’d look like a right sissy standing at the bottom of the garden shouting “Angel? Angel? Where are you my little Angel?” for all the neighbours, postmen, binmen and burglars to hear. The name Angel alone was reason enough to say no thanks. Especially when I could get an unnamed kitten and call it “BlunderCat” or something equally as profound!
Also, because she was already 18 months old, we’d missed that cute kitten phase. And too late to train her to drive down to the shops to fetch me snacks. Nevertheless, we decided to go and at least see the cat to help make the decision.
The address led us to a top floor flat overlooking Pittencrief Park in Dunfermline. Barry invited us inside, leading us though to his living room, where we found the most beautiful cat bouncing around the room. I was immediately drawn to how strange she was to look at, thanks to a line going perfectly down the centre of her face, giving her a tan half and a black half (and making her look like the cat equivalent of the Batman villain “Two-face”). She was as skinny as a whippet and we were told that she had never gone outside as Barry had always lived in flats.
Of course, the instant we saw her we had made the decision to take her home with us.
Angel is now 7 years old and we’ve never looked back. She goes outside to bounce around the garden whenever she can persuade Tiff or myself to open the back door. She’s also rather large due to her love of gourmet food and lazing around.
So today’s blog serves as an introduction to Angel. I’m sure that she’ll be featured a lot over the course of this webcomic.
Angel, internet audience. Internet audience, Angel.
This is the remarkable tale of Hugo, the cat who saved his neighbour from a burning building. Hugo to the Rescue!!
In Europe and America the Maneki Neko’s pose is often interpreted as waving rather than beckoning, but this is due to the different gestures that the different cultures use to beckon. The Japanese beckon by holding up their hand with their palm facing outwards, and fold their fingers down and back up repeatedly (as per the cat’s appearance).
There was a story in the news this week about a cat called Francine who very nearly watched one of her nine lives go down the plughole. Owner Liezel Meyer had arranged for a plumber to fix a leaky pipe in her bathroom. However once he left, she couldn’t find her persian kitty Francine anywhere.
