Reader “Doc Bill” has sent me a paean to his beloved cat Kink, who turns seven today. (I think of Kink, named for his crooked tail, as one of the three most popular cats on this website, along with Baihu and Merlyn.) Here are Doc Bill’s felicitations, accompanied by photos of Kink as a kitte—his first day at home!—and at present.
October 1 is Kink’s official birthday. He’s seven! SEVEN! I can’t believe it but I’ve had seven wonderful years with this marvelous animal.
We’ve had six cats: Natasha, Boris, Smokey, Nobbs, Sandy and Kink. Each cat had a distinct personality. Natasha was the “mean” cat unless she liked you. Boris was a big, orange friend to all. Smokey was the waif we rescued. Nobbs was, well, Nobbs and ran away from home to live on the streets. Sandy will live forever and is pushing 21 years.
And then there’s Kink. Kink who understands speech. Kink who can look you in the eye and you see intelligence in there. Kink who is playful and loving and greets me at the door when I come home from work. Kink who understands the phrase “bedtime for Bonzo” and trots to the bedroom to snuggle under the covers. Kink who can sense my moods and sit on my lap when I’m looking for a cat to sit on my lap. Kink who will come when I call him outside, let me pick him up instead of running away, wait patiently for bacon he knows is coming on Saturday morning.
Kink is an extraordinary feline, closer to human than cat, to whom I have bonded over these seven years. I never had a cat like Kink and I cherish every day with him. Kink will look me in the eyes and I feel love.
Happy Birthday, Kink, and many, many more.
Then:
Now:
Awww what an extraordinary cat! It’s a special treat when you have an intelligent AND affectionate pet!
Happy birthday, Kink!
Congrats to the both of you.
A fine figure of a cat! A very handsome fellow!
Sweet Kink – happy revolution around the sun 🙂
Seven? Damn. The years, they fly….
Good looking cat. He grew into his ears quite well.
Hippo birdie two ewe!
b&
Two birdies he could handle and I bet he’d like to tackle a hippo and ewe. Oh? That’s not what you meant?
It wasn’t, but it is now!
b&
Hey, if I’d known there was a title at stake, I might have campaigned harder for my kitty.
Yeah, Kink won the “cute cat contest” and some other contest and some other contest. I bought a hard copy version of WEIT and then won several more. I had to build a bookshelf to hold all the “won” copies!
Shameless plug, WEIT is the best book ever and I could never have TOO many copies.
I visited the Field Museum this year and photographed Kink’s common ancestor, a much larger cat. I think if THAT cat was hungry I wouldn’t put him off a few minutes!
Kink says “Hai to Jerry!”
Actually, Kink wants to walk across the keyboard so here goes dldjd flss .,mmc.
Nice one. Haiku?
I’m guessing Kink’s nearest relative is the serval. That be some magnificent kitteh!
Happy birthday to Kink the Noble & Deservedly-Spoiled Cat! (=^･ｪ･^=)
& Aww, I’ve missed seeing pics of Kink. Does he still get lots of bacon? (¬‿¬)
And didn’t you once take/post a hilarious video of Kink being badass and chasing after a dog? (Perhaps your dog?) If so, is that still online anywhere? It almost caused me to die of lolz, I tell you what.
Yeah, I think it’s on my YouTube channel. I’ll dig up the link and post on your Facebook.
That was my son’s dog, who seems to live with us and I don’t know how that happened. By inches. The dog is a 60-lb blue healer German shepherd mix, quite smart, a herding dog and totally respects Kink. Totally. Kink drew blood on their first encounter.
Aw, couldn’t you post it here, too, now that we’re all curious about it?
🙂
Thanks for the links- I’ll check them out asap 🙂
& Ha! I love it. Kink is like a Mafia Boss. Even the dogs know not to mess with him.
docbill, I wanted to chime in and say how beautiful Kink is. My eyes keep going back to the lower picture in this post as I scroll down the current page of Jerry’s posts. I’ve always loved cats and the agouti, wild-type coloring with his coloring is one of the most beautiful types I have ever encountered. I had a female cat that looked like your Kink but not the personality. I know what you mean about cherishing his personality. It is not common in cats to have all these attributes you mention, so when you find one you really do have to savor every day! I had a certain cat for 21 yrs. and she was very much like your Kink, personality-wise. You don’t need me to say it, but enjoy these times!
Look at those whiskers!
Happy birthday, Kink! Wonderful story, Doc Bill.
Aw, what a tribute–and what a gorgeous feline!
Many happy returns, Kink!
Cats are people, after all. But we all know that!
I see Kink is an Apple user!
Happy birthday Kink, and may you have many more!
happy birth day kink.
I’ve been fortunate over the years to’ve had cats that shared some of Kink’s attributes. My favorite was Mr. Earl who loved the little men in the TV. One day he went around to back of the set to get em! He was adept at opening doors but, alas!, he never closed ’em. Big purr kitty with a generous nature. After thirty years I miss ’em.
Happy birthday, handsome!