Karnak Street Kats

Snowball became my maternal grandmother’s cat. She first appeared as a white stray, claimed by no one in the neighborhood. Once I determined that the stray was a female, I knew I must act. Soon, she had been to my veterinarian, had a check-up, shots, and been spayed. She returned to become one of our household.

My grandmother (Granma) tolerated our cats, but they were not allowed in her room. We did not expect this cat to be any different. We were wrong. When Granma was a child, we learned that she had had an all white farm cat called Snowball. Granma informed us that our new white cat was to be named Snowball. Neither my mother nor I had any reason to object, so Snowball it was.

We soon discovered something even more shocking. Snowball was allowed to sleep on Granma’s bed. She had her space at the foot of the double bed on the side opposite from where Granma slept. Snowball was Granmas’s companion in the day, too, sitting beside her or even in her lap.

Granma was 96 years old when she died. Granma had seven children, all still living at the time of her death. All came to her funeral. One son and his wife flew in from Ohio and stayed with us. We gave them Granma’s room to sleep in. Not until the day they were leaving did we learn about Snowball’s behavior.

My uncle and aunt had visited before, so they knew Snowball and her special relationship with Granma. The first night that they slept in Granma’s bed, my uncle wound up on Snowball’s side of the bed. Snowball had taken her regular spot on the bed. My uncle nudged her with his foot to move her away.

Snowball bit his toe!

My uncle explained that it was not a vicious bite, more of a nip, but Snowball was clearly asserting her claim to her spot. I asked him what he did. He told me he simply moved his feet closer to his wife’s and gave Snowball her space.

Snowball would live for many years. She always slept on Granma’a bed.

Labels: bed, bite, cats, grandmother, sleep, Snowball, stray, white cat