Wizard

I met him again a couple years later when I moved in myself. It was love-at-first-site on my part. He showed interest, but heck, he showed interest in a lot of women. And not just women. Anyone with a free hand to stroke his black-and-tan coat. With 19 available pairs, I think he decided to stay.

He's known for his meow. His low-and-moany, 5am, let-me-out blues. His whiny, nagging, please-pet-me daytime neediness. And his bark—the short spurts of indignation that usually request food or head pats: Rr! Rr! Rr! [insert feline head butt, as he tries to punctuate his demand with a bulldoze into your shin].

He's known for his love of heavy petting. Don't waste his time with gentle, loving strokes. Wizard likes it hard. He likes a good thump on his rump and he loves to be held upside down while you scratch his chest with determination. If you scratch his chin he'll sway like Stevie Wonder.

Wizard will come running when called. Will meow when coaxed. Will sit on your lap when invited. Likes to garden, though instead of pulling weeds, he'll just sit nearby and keep you company. He likes to bathe in the presense of others. In the sun is the best. Naps are nice.

But he don't belong to us.
Wizard lives a block away, kittycorner as the scrub jay flies (unless Wiz catches him first). He doesn't like his owners. They don't seem to like him.

The deal: he can hang out at our house as long as we don't feed him or take him to the vet. Done.

“I could have put a kid through college on the money I've spent on that cat at the Vet,” I've heard his owner say, a fit, jogger-type, doctor-looking guy about 50.

Lore has it, they got Wizard to replace a dearly loved and desceased former feline. No new name tag to announce him to the neighborhood, they harnessed the dead cat's collar to his throat. The departed cat's name? Wizard.

We show respect and don't call him Wizard in the presence of his keepers. We call him by his given name: Rap (for his loquaciousness).

But the collars are constantly disappearing and new names are constantly appearing. We've known him as Wizard, Rap, Mugs, Stubby and Sophie. Sometimes there's just no dignity in life.

We call him Wiz, Wizzer, Swizzer, Puss, ShoogyBoog, LoveBug, and Kitty. He's talked to. We mimic his cries, his voices, his comments, his punchlines. He answers back.

m.