Friday, April 22, 2005
Pepita the Madcat
Pepita is the cat we had in Alexandria. She was given to us by another teacher who was returning to the United States, and we were the logical choice for new "parents". Of course, when we left Egypt, we had to pass her on to yet another "foster home", so we passed her on to Karim's father, AboHemad.
I miss Pepita. She is a one of a kind kitty. However, as much as we call her "Kitty", she isn't the sweet little thing that the name suggests. She is wild and unpredictable, or as some of our frightened guests have proclaimed, "magnoona"...crazy. Yes, she is loving and sweet when she wants to be, at feeding time, for instance, but a lot of the time she spent running around the house in laps making a horrific noise one can only describe as Pepita's attempt at "Lion" sounds. It is my firm belief that she thinks she is a much larger cat and the "RRRROOOOWWWWWRRRROOOWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!" that she produced as she climbed the curtain at 100 mph seems to have proven my point.
She had her own room where she liked to hang out, and where we put her when she became a tad too "interesting" for our company. There was a weekend when Karim's stepmother and her daughter came to visit, and since this was the only other room with a bed, (I guess we could call it the "cat/guest room")we put them in there for the night. Heidy went to bed early as she is still young, and we adults stayed up talking. Pepita was in the living room with us, until she'd decided she'd had enough of us and went down the hall to go to her room. But, her room was closed. There was just enough space under the door for her to reach through, and she tried to jiggle the door open, whilst "MEOWLING" very loudly. Heidy woke up to the door banging/madcat howling, and started screaming. (She had already found a great dislike for Pepita's manners and was scared of her anyhow). I ended up having to put Heidy into our bedroom so the cat could have her bed until Heidy's mother, Zeinab was ready to go to sleep.
Despite Pepita's "streetcat" attitude about life, I really think she is one of the favorite cats that have owned me over the years. I wouldn't change a thing about her. She knows who she is and how she is going to go about getting what she wants. It's more than instinct with her, really, it's as if she has the ability to reason in a human way..."If you put another piece of chicken in my dish, I won't get up on the table." It was the bargaining, the insane racing around the house and the few, but treasured moments, when she actually let me love her that convince me that I was, in fact, her slave. I know that I will miss Pepita, who is now a mother, with three little Pepitas that look and act just like her, and that every cat that comes in to my home will be judged according to the standard that she set, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find one as perfect as she.
I miss Pepita. She is a one of a kind kitty. However, as much as we call her "Kitty", she isn't the sweet little thing that the name suggests. She is wild and unpredictable, or as some of our frightened guests have proclaimed, "magnoona"...crazy. Yes, she is loving and sweet when she wants to be, at feeding time, for instance, but a lot of the time she spent running around the house in laps making a horrific noise one can only describe as Pepita's attempt at "Lion" sounds. It is my firm belief that she thinks she is a much larger cat and the "RRRROOOOWWWWWRRRROOOWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!" that she produced as she climbed the curtain at 100 mph seems to have proven my point.
She had her own room where she liked to hang out, and where we put her when she became a tad too "interesting" for our company. There was a weekend when Karim's stepmother and her daughter came to visit, and since this was the only other room with a bed, (I guess we could call it the "cat/guest room")we put them in there for the night. Heidy went to bed early as she is still young, and we adults stayed up talking. Pepita was in the living room with us, until she'd decided she'd had enough of us and went down the hall to go to her room. But, her room was closed. There was just enough space under the door for her to reach through, and she tried to jiggle the door open, whilst "MEOWLING" very loudly. Heidy woke up to the door banging/madcat howling, and started screaming. (She had already found a great dislike for Pepita's manners and was scared of her anyhow). I ended up having to put Heidy into our bedroom so the cat could have her bed until Heidy's mother, Zeinab was ready to go to sleep.
Despite Pepita's "streetcat" attitude about life, I really think she is one of the favorite cats that have owned me over the years. I wouldn't change a thing about her. She knows who she is and how she is going to go about getting what she wants. It's more than instinct with her, really, it's as if she has the ability to reason in a human way..."If you put another piece of chicken in my dish, I won't get up on the table." It was the bargaining, the insane racing around the house and the few, but treasured moments, when she actually let me love her that convince me that I was, in fact, her slave. I know that I will miss Pepita, who is now a mother, with three little Pepitas that look and act just like her, and that every cat that comes in to my home will be judged according to the standard that she set, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find one as perfect as she.
