Shisker is one of three kittens born to a feral cat under the porch of an abandoned house across the street. "Shisker" is short for "Sheridan White Whisker" (he has a single white whisker on his chin). He is named after Sheridan Whiteside, who you will remember as The Man Who Came To Dinner, if you follow theatre. Shisker, like Whiteside, came to dinner and now I can't get rid of him. His mom is a spectacular tortoise-shell beauty named Ollie, another freeloader, whose picture will appear here if I can ever catch her close enough to photograph. Ollie and her daughter (Shisker's sister) Chou-Chou remain very wild, but Shisker quickly understood that there are innumerable perks to being a house kitty, including having your very own chair, and moved in completely by the time he was nine months old. He is affectionate and cuddly but his street-kitty background makes him easily spooked.
His principle charm is that he adores my kitty Mitzi and clearly wants to be like her. He follows her around, imitates her in every way, and flirts with her endlessly though she has nothing but contempt for him. He has gone so far as to offer her his favorite catnip mouse while he squirms seductively on his back, reaching out to her with his paws, pleading with her to play with him. But Mitzi will not acknowledge that he even exists. Fortunately, Shisker does not understand rejection and clearly thinks of Mitzi as his hero, his best buddy, his mentor, and his mensch.
Another charm is that he asks to be picked up by standing up straight on his hind feet like a bear and reaching his 'arms' up to me.
Update: Shisker disappeared on January 23, 2002, most likely crushed under some boulders a loader was moving in a lot across the street. I still miss him terribly. I am angry that a creature with such a capacity for joy and such a totally loving heart lived less than two years. But my comfort is that Shisker wanted only two things from life and in the short time he lived he succeeded at both: He wanted terribly to be a house kitty and he overcame all his fear and his mother's admonitions to achieve this and then he clearly revelled in his good fortune every day. (See picture) The other thing he wanted was to be just like Mitzi, and he succeeded at that as well, even to co-opting her perch by my desk to be my loyal assistant at my work, which caused a lot of trouble with Mitzi but didn't deter him.
|
Would you like to get
an e-mail when I add more freeloader biographies? Send me an email with "freeloaders" as
the subject. |