Equal Time

Meet Lily Black. She's almost seven years old now. We got her as a six-week-old from the local SPCA for the low, low price of $5.00. And she's been worth every penny!

She's a feisty one, my Lil. When we got her, we tried to keep her indoors (there's a big coyote problem here) and managed successfully for about a year. Then one day she broke through a screen window, and that was that. We repaired the screen, and then she broke through another. We repaired that one, and she broke through a different one. It became an endless cycle, me becoming more frustrated and she becoming more determined to escape the confines of home each day. I finally decided that if she was to continuously break free, I should just let her outside and save myself the aggravation and expense of her breakouts. It was unnerving at first. Would she be eaten? Would she get hit by a car? How would she ever take care of herself out there in the big bad world?

I didn't need to worry. So far, she's done fine. She's a great mouser. We found mice (or half-eaten mice) and moles on our doorstep almost daily, until we attached a bell to her collar -- had to give the mice a fighting chance, and it was absolutely disgusting picking up after her every day. She lets us know when she's done playing and wants to come back inside.

"Let me in!"

She's finnickey about eating, as many cats are. Won't eat anything but dry cat food (and the occasional half-mouse). No chicken, no cheese, no beef, no fish. We've tried it all. I don't understand, but it keeps her nice and slim, like we women want to be. She only weighs about 8 lbs.

Lily, like most cats, can be rather aloof. Overall, she's a friendly kind of gal. She is exceedingly gentle. We've yet to hear her hiss or claw at any person. If she doesn't want to be held, she simply wriggles her way out of your grasp. As a kitten, my then-toddler would carry the poor thing around upside down. I'd get all freaked out that one of them would hurt the other (fifty-fifty on who would be the culprit), but they survived it. I don't know why I was so concerned, Lily never even struggled to be put down. Daughter will still sometimes pick her up that way, and the cat still just hangs there. I'd do something about it if the cat appeared distressed at all, but she seems to like it. And all you can hear is purr, purr, purr.

Then there's Lil's relationship with the Hershman. He's all over her as often as he can be. He's gentle in his own 85 lb. kind of way, which is pretty darned rough. He'll barrel toward her, full steam, as excited to see her as any female (he loves the girls). She won't run. She'll cower in place, and then he'll proceed to lick the entire length of her body. Hey, maybe she likes that! Eventually, she'll tire of his attention and take off. I think she goes looking for another way to get him into trouble. She's good at that.

Lil's a smart one. She knows how to open doors, unless they're locked. She knows how to get me up and out of bed -- she cries as though she's injured -- it works every time! She knows exactly how to get what she wants -- typical female.

Lil, of course, is the prettiest cat around. She's jet black, her fur as soft and as shiny as any I've ever felt. But it's her personality and the way she's always been gentle with the kids that warms my heart.

Lily Black. Older sister to Hershey. Pretty cool cat.