Boobie is the name of our cat, who is 16 years old in March. In my previous marriage, my wife found Boobie in some bushes behind the building where she worked. Boobie’s mother gave birth to a litter and then got worried that her little group was vulnerable. She carried off her other kittens, but she left our Boobie behind. When my wife found Boobie, she was so small that I could cup my two hands together and hold her little body entirely. She didn’t make much noise. What noise she did make sounded like tiny squeaks. Originally, Boobie was named Squeak, but my wife, who had a better feeling for these things, started calling her Boobie, and the name stuck.
When you name an animal friend, it seems important to give it a name with a vowel at the end. This helps down the road when you are calling for your friend to come inside. Boooobeeeeeeeee! She seems to enjoy hearing that. One of the first things I noticed about Boobie is that she loves to hear her name in a song. Here again, it was my ex-wife who first sang to Boobie. When I noticed that Boobie would come to her name being sung, I continued making up songs around her name. Boobie has literally had arias sung in her name.
When I got divorced, our animal family was split between us. Boobie came along with me. There were some tough times. Boobie and I grew to know each other in those tough times, but I didn’t really catch on to how intuitively intelligent that Boobie is until I met Elke. It didn’t take Elke long to have Boobie cuddled in her arms with Boobie purring! This was unimaginable to me before I met Elke. Boobie often rewards mistakes with claw and tooth, a character trait I’ve always found admirable. But Elke has a special way with Boobie. She fosters Boobie’s gentleness. Boobie is much softer with Elke’s mothering.
Boobie is her own woman. Elke and I both go out of our way to ensure that Boobie has license to make her own decisions. Boobie trusts us in this. We see it when she’s lying on the floor or sitting on the stairs, and we need to get past her. She doesn’t jump out of the way. Instead, she expects us to find a safe way around her. Boobie is a good communicator. She talks when the things she cares about are not meeting her expectations – food, litter box, water, snuggle, need to go out, time to be quiet and go to bed everyone. Her schedule is precise, and she expects us to follow it. She has an internal clock that could compete with Rolex.
Boobie’s ideal situation would be if Elke and Dennis would decide to stay in bed all day. Then Boobie, also known as The Boob, would jump up on the bed and plop down in the middle, between us. Boobie likes when we sit outside and have lunch. She will usually find a spot that allows stay close to her pride. As I write this article, The Boob, who has been sleeping on the sofa, jammed up against me, is hearing Elke making her dinner. Elke sings Boobie’s name as she prepares the meal. Boobie’s ears are perked. She’s alert. As soon as Elke puts the food down, I expect Boobie to ditch me like a dog with fleas. No offense taken, my friend. And there she goes….
