This is Sophie. She is our middle kitty child. She was about 10 weeks old when someone rescued her from the streets and took her to a local veterinarian who donated time each week spaying and neutering colony cats. “This one’s different,” the vet told his assistant. “I think she might socialize.”
The assistant knew that we had recently lost our 17-year-old Himalayan and called to see if we had room in our hearts for a little feral. We drove the 30 miles to see her and brought her home that day. She wasn’t too fond of us at first, but when we opened the carrier, she looked out and spotted Winfield, our white odd-eye (see him pictured above). She rushed over to him and pushed her little body against him as if absolutely delighted to meet up with another of her kind. We hadn’t prepared Winfield for the small intruder, however, and this took him by surprise. He took surprises in his stride, though and accepted Sophie with grace.
Sophie is nearly 9 years old now and an important part of our kitty family. As with all kittens that come with baggage, she had some adjustments to make, but make them, she did (and so did we).
Sophie is a low-maintenance cat. She used to work for me in my office. Now, as you can see, she just naps in my file drawer. Her favorite task was retrieving incoming faxes. She also works as a shredding machine. She’d hear the ring of the fax machine and run into my office. She’d sit and wait and wait until the fax came through and then she would grab it, run into the living room and shred it. We had to watch closely if we were expecting a fax.
She no longer retrieves faxes, but she still loves to shred paper.
Sophie love, love, loves to curl up in a laps. She enjoys a vigorous petting session. And she likes being combed. But she will not allow anyone to pick her up. Put your hands on her as if you’re going to confine her and she becomes the slipperiest eel of a cat you’ve ever seen. We’re sure she can turn herself inside out, she’s so fast and elusive.
Her favorite kitty friend is Lily. They have become great friends and they do enjoy tearing around the house in pursuit of one another. She doesn’t care much for Max and delights in chasing him out of the room when he joins us in the evening. She is the biggest bully where Max is concerned and Max is a tiny, wimp of a kitty in his own eyes. In reality, he outweighs Sophie by nearly 10 pounds. I guess it’s all in your self image.
When I wrote Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery, I incorporated traits and characteristics from several cats that I know and have known. You’ll find hints of Max, Lily and Sophie in this and some of the upcoming stories in the series. Sophie doesn’t take her certain fame nearly as seriously as Lily does, however. Lily is our princess. She loves the camera. Sophie, on the other hand, is likely to slither away from the Paparazzi and peer out from under a piece of furniture or blanket with only her green eyes showing.
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