Blackie, my ebony cat.

by Tansy McNally
(Frankston, VIC, Australia)

Blackie came to us from her original home still wearing her original collar and her little belly swollen with three kittens.
It was a fierce rainy day, a very grey late February or early March day in 1998. It would have been just after my sister's birth and my half-brother and sister were visiting.
For some reason my dad went outside and under our clothes-line he found Blackie with three newly-born kittens. The story goes that he carried all of them into the studio and placed the little family in a box.
Well, Blackie was not to have any of this and she promptly returned her kittens to where she had given birth. This continued for some time until Dad decided to shut the studio door leaving Blackie to stubbornly accept the fact.
Blackie was a stoic, stubborn, aloof, old Victorian-era type. She loved her food and was not afraid to try anything given to her! She was a lazy lap-cat who's main talents consisted of eating and sleeping.
I remember one incident when my friend Cassie stayed for the summer holidays. We were having a big family lunch outside and as usual Blackie was ever-present in the company of food. Failing to get rid of her and her continuous miaowing, Dad decided to give her a big juicy lamp chop about half the size of her.
Blackie's eyes widened as she sunk her teeth and claws into the meat. As Cassie and I watched the tiny cat struggling to eat this huge chop, Blackie decided to try eating the thing from a new angle.
That was when disaster struck! She was unable to free her paw from the chop. Perched on her hind legs she began to furiously flail her paw about in a vain attempt to disengage herself...
My dear Blackie died on Anzac Day 2007 after falling ill two weeks before. The vet could not discover why she was acting so ill when there was nothing physically wrong with her. Everyday I think of her and thank her for blessing us with her life and the two beautiful kittens she gave us...Will love you forever my beautiful Blackie.

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