When you think of contrast, you think of black and white, big and small, or sweet and sour. But what do you think of when someone says black and ginger? Around the sanctuary, we have learned never to say who will click and who won’t. This story will explain why.
It all started one day when Mark and Dorothy received a call from a young lady in Elizabethtown, KY, about thirty minutes away from the sanctuary. She needed The Sanctuary’s help because she had to move to a new residence. Because of this, she had to surrender two of her cats. She had three, but could only take one with her to the new house. When Mark and Dorothy arrived at the address, the mom met them and one child. The young lady met them with tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. The mom showed them the three cats through the front window, and one of the cats was enormous, so they needed a large transport unit (cage) to transport him. They set up the transport cage and brought two transport units (kennels) to the rear of the van. The mom said one cat they were having to surrender had been with the family for most of his life, and he was currently ten years old. However, the other one she had just taken six months earlier. When she brought them out one at a time, she introduced us to one long skinny ginger and white tom and a VERY large, muscular black boy. The ginger and white she had taken six months earlier The black had been with her for those many years. He would celebrate his eleventh birthday at the Sanctuary in 2018. Even though the ginger and white had only been with them for a short time, the black looked after him like an older brother would. In the short time Mark and Dorothy had been in contact with the cats, they could see the connection the boys had. The ginger and white did not like change, and they could see that, but the black tried to comfort him as they settled into their newly acquired home. Mark just put both of them into the large cage instead of one in a kennel, as they would normally do.
So, who are these boys? After talking to Dorothy, our cat whisperer, the ginger and white cat was to become known as Cobain. The black would be called DJango. And yes, DJango continued to look after Cobain as his younger brother, even scolding him from time to time. They both love Daddy, but Cobain chose Sister Dorothy as his number one, while DJango chose Daddy, Mark, as his. Just something about ginger cats and Dorothy.
Well, now daddy has two cats watching over him, Toppie and DJango, while Sister has Ms. Donna and Cobain to keep her in line. Those two boys curl up at their respective desks, and they insist on “helping” with whatever their humans are working on. When they stretch, things move, and the humans better be ready. Cobain is so spoiled he insists on his meals being served on Sister’s desk. He also insists on knowing what “His Girl”, Sister, is up to and where she’s heading whenever she leaves the desk. In a similar way, DJango must know what Daddy is doing and where he’s heading. They have their humans well-trained for sure.
When these two talked about adoption, they both looked Sister squarely in the eyes. They said, “You already adopted us. We are at our FUR-ever home.” With that, they had chosen.
Unfortunately, when the Sanctuary had a case of Distemper run through the kittens who had not yet had their shots, Cobain got hit by it. He did not survive, but instead of staying at the Sanctuary, he wandered off into the woods and passed on. DJango still looks after his daddy with the help of Ms. Toppie and is now a special part of Black Cat Rescue with Ms. Midnight and Ms. Abby. As for Sister, Ms. Donna Noble is doing very well in that job. As for our new head of Security, every day you will see DJango patrol the Sanctuary grounds twice a day. He does this, so he knows where all the kids are. If any of them get too close to the front of the property, he scolds them and sends them back deeper into the front yard, away from the road.
Update to Django’s story:
Some sad news from Crazy Cat Sanctuary. We just lost Django, but it was a long, happy life. Ten years with his previous loving human, and then several years with us. May you live long in our hearts, Django. And may you and Cobain entertain the readers in Kitty Adventures and Cat Tails, because as long as Daddy writes, he will keep you two alive in your respective story areas and in our hearts. Rest in peace, boys. Now Ms. Amelia is head of security on the property and watches over the kittens as they play outside, just like he did. She had an excellent teacher. She’s another story herself.
