"Cats are like greatness: Some people are born into cat-loving families, some achieve cats, and some have cats thrust upon them." In this article, the last in my series inspired by William H.A. Carr's humorous yet accurate quote, I will introduce to you a pair of cats that we achieved.
The girls’ story begins in 2015. Since I had my dog and the little orange cat, Dad had his dog, and we all had Ming (though I originally picked him out), we were starting to think that it might be nice to get a furry friend that would be more my Jane’s (my sister). Plus, there was still a cat-shaped void in our home after Tintreg’s passing the year before.
The logical decision, of course, was that it was time to get another cat.
We wanted to adopt a kitten, so we started looking on the Salem Friends of Felines (SFOF) website. Eventually, we found a pair of sister tortoiseshell kittens that were just beautiful, and decided we’d be happy with either one of them, so we made arrangement with their foster owners to come out and visit.
Both girls were absolutely adorable, and we fell in love with them right away. One kitten was somewhat shy, and wasn’t quite as interested in playing as her bolder sister. I liked the friendly one a lot, but Jane really liked the more reserved of the sisters. What could we do?
Since this was to be Jane’s cat, it seemed reasonable to go with the cat she preferred. However, we found out that the kittens had brothers who had already been adopted out, together. All of sudden, we didn’t want to split the sisters up! That would be awful!
After a lot of discussion within the family, we decided to adopt both tortie sisters. They had to be quarantined in Jane’s room for a while (the cover photo shows them shortly after we brought them home), just to make sure they wouldn’t pass anything on to the other animals. It was all very exciting, especially because they were our first female pets (not counting the fish).
The next issue was names. I came up with a whole list of names that I thought were cute or interesting, but then remembered that these were technically Jane’s cats. It ended up being that I named my favorite kitten, and Jane named hers. The outgoing kitten became Minka, a relatively popular name for cats in Germany (it means “strong”), while the shy kitten was named Randa.
I’m not entirely sure of Jane’s thought process behind the name, something to do with the cat’s color and red wine, but of course it can also be seen as a nickname for Miranda.
Minka and Randa settled in very well, getting along just fine with the dogs and the other cats. They don’t roam freely outside, because that’s part of SFOF’s adoption policy; we take Minka out sometimes on a leash, as she loves to explore. Randa’s a little more skittish, and she has no desire to go outside. So, it all works.
Let me tell you a couple of unusual things about our girls. First of all, their tails are kinked, which I’ve only seen in one other cat before. Second, they go bonkers for melon. Cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, you name it. Leave a dish of melon unattended, and one or both of them will be up there, pilfering pieces in record time.
So, those are some shared characteristics of the kittens (they’re actually two years old now, but we still call them kittens anyway). But how can you tell them apart? I’ve been asked that question multiple times.
I mentioned Randa is the shy one; if one of the girls is more likely to go into hiding when we have other people visiting, it’s Randa. Beyond personality, she has other distinctive characteristics: Her tail has only one kink near the end, the orange side of her face is heavily flecked with black (as you can see in the above photo), and her meow is very demanding, almost whiny at times.
Minka, on the other hand, is very outgoing; at a book club meeting we hosted, she climbed across everyone’s laps! She has a shorter tail that is kinked in at least two places. Additionally, the orange side of her face is very bright and clean compared to her sister. Minka’s voice is also much softer, with an altogether different quality from her sister’s.
The photo above also shows another one of her characteristics; for reasons unknown, her pupils are often more dilated than Randa's.
These cats have been a wonderful addition to our home. They often snuggle with my sister in the morning, or at night when she’s reading. Minka loves keeping anybody and everybody company, while Randa is only needy once in a while. The girls are sweet and good-natured, and I’ve been so glad time and time again that we couldn’t bear to separate them and adopted both sisters.
