Karnak Street Kats

Daisy had three black kittens, two short-haired females and one long-haired male. We named them Wynken, Blynken and Nod. The two females, Wynken and Blyken were identical. In order to tell them apart, I clipped Wynken's tail fur, so that her tail had a blunt instead of pointed tip. All three were lap kitties and very much people cats.

We had dear friends, a married couple, who lived in Gonzales, Texas. She was confined to a wheelchair and home alone in the daytime while her husband worked. Their adult daughter decided that her mother needed a companion. Her father had always preferred dogs, but agreed a cat would probably be better. He contacted me about taking one of our kittens. Shortly before Christmas, Blynken went to live with our friends.

Blynken soon took over their home. During the day, she is the perfect lap cat for my friend in her wheelchair.
When her husband returns from work, he puts on gloves and engages Blynken who turns into a ferocious playmate. Blynken is the cat each of them needed.

Wynken and Nod stayed with my mother and me. Wynken loves attention, but no longer likes to be held. Nod is the lap cat. He jumps into my lap any chance he gets. He is particularly fond of being held when I am at the computer. This does not always work since he thinks the mouse is a plaything. he also assists with my typing. I can blame typos on him.

Nod is now called Teeger. My mother had a stroke a few years after Nod and his siblings were born. Her speech center was damaged. Her diction was perfect; she just lost her dictionary. She could not remember what words meant. Proper nouns were completely gone. If the cat had not resided with us for more than five years, she could not remember their names. Now, twenty years before, we had owned a long-haired, black cat named Teeger. Nod, who was identical to that cat, assumed his name. Mother called him Teeger. I realized that it would be easier for me to go along with my mother's choice, so Nod became Teeger. He adjusted without a problem. Wynken never got a new name. She was The Black Cat to my mother while I continued to call her Wynken. (Mother is gone, but Nod is still Teeger.)

I just checked on Wynken's and Teeger's age: both will be ten in October. How strange, it seems that it was only a couple of years ago when Daisy appeared.