BY HANNAH SKIPPER

My little girl came to us on the angelic express, in early October, six years ago, even before she was old enough to leave her kitty mother’s side. Long story short, she had just arrived at our veterinarian’s office, as a screeching infant, with eyes still closed and ears folded in, in the arms of an intern who’d gotten flagged down on his way to work by a mechanic, who had found her in the back of an abandoned pickup outside his shop. Enter my mother…

It was a fraught time for us at home as our enormous ginger tabby, Cody, had been quite ill and we weren’t sure he would be with us much longer. We suspected that he’d eaten a poisonous frog, or some such nasty thing but, thankfully, a change in his diet had put him right again and my mom had gone to the vet’s office to pick up more of the good stuff he’d been enjoying. As you might have already guessed, my mom is a big softie for orphaned or abandoned animals so she came home that afternoon with a new bag of cat food and a tiny baby.

It was a little while before we settled on a name for our new little sweetie because, for the first week or so, all she did was eat and sleep in her baby box. But once her eyes opened and her ears unfolded, she started to sort of scooch herself around the floor a bit and we found that we had an explorer on our hands. Thus, we named her Lucy, after Lucy Ricardo in, “I Love Lucy” because, as Ricky would’ve said, “she’s ‘sploring’.

It didn’t take long to find out that she was a vicious fighter. At less than a pound, and even still blind and deaf, her best move was the good ole “hiss and spit”. Plus, she performed at such a high level of skill that she could lift all four of her feet off the ground the first time she tried it! That first performance was for the benefit of our big dogs, Tillie and Hank, who had come over to say hello to their new fur-baby sibling. She gave them the business right off, leaving them to back away and look at her like, “God bless you, kid.” Then at each other like, “Do you think we’ll get in trouble for making it sneeze?”

However, her most treasured relationship began when she was finally introduced to Cody. He had been ambivalent towards the “thing in the baby box” while all she did was eat and sleep, but once she got big enough to do interesting things, like move, he started to take an interest in her.

When I first brought her to him, after a week or so, his snap reaction was like, “Wow, what’s that? A fuzzy treat?” Then when I set her down in front of him, the curious gleam in his eyes immediately soften to an “Ah, yes, so there you are, cub. I’ve known you were here since you came and I wondered when the Humans would let us meet”.

As for Lucy, she was pretty nervous, knowing that big guy wasn’t her kitty mom, but Cody was friendly from the start and gave her a nice tongue bath. She hadn’t had one of those for a while and, needless to say, she was hooked. The second time they met, after he gave her a good cleaning, she even felt comfortable enough to go around behind him and play with his tail! Cody wasn’t at all sure he’d signed up for that business, but he didn’t react against it so I knew they would be great friends.

I think Lucy’s presence in our family helped Cody to recover his health too and he quickly acquired the new moniker of “Lucy’s Dad”. It was sort of like he figured that he needed to stick around longer and teach the new cub her business or there was no way the little ragamuffin would make it to adulthood. I think he was right about that too! Lucy was quite a little monkey when she was a little girl!

However much of a monkey she was though, she was also a big Daddy’s Girl. Cody was the brightest light in her world. If she was gnawing on our fingers or trying to catch our legs, all I had to do is pick her up and take her to him, asking “Do you want to go ask Daddy some questions?” Then, at first sight of him, the rest of the world disappeared and there was only Cody and Lucy. Daddy and Baby.

Because she was so young when she came to Mr. Cody’s School for Pampered Ranch Cats, it took her a little while to break away from me, as Mom, and go on expeditions around the house with Dad. I would set her on a blanket so she could hang out with the family and she would toddle around on it. But when she got to edge of the blanket, that Mom had set her, and touched the hard floor, she would turn back, instinctively not wanting to leave the nest where Mom had put her.

Then, when Cody came inside in the afternoon, he had a regular route that he would take around the house, to make sure all was well in his domain. I wanted to encourage her to follow him, which required her to be brave enough to step out of the nest, so I’d pick her up with the question, “Do you want to go see what Daddy’s doing?” and we would follow him on his rounds. She was always very interested in his procedure so I know she was relieved that I went with her until she was brave enough to go on her own.

Cody himself never helped by encouraging her to come with him, but he never discouraged her either. It was up to Baby to be brave enough to step out of Mom’s nest to be able to go on patrol with Dad. And, little by little, she got there. At first, just a few steps before she would circle back to me. Then the next day, a little farther, and then a little more. Until, after about a week or so, she would go happily tromping off with Dad.

Even though he left much up to her own discretion, Cody was a great parent too. Strict but loving, not hovering, but always watching. The first lesson he taught her was “How to Wake Up the Human”. I’d just woken up and noticed them sitting next to each other on the floor next to my bed. He was looking down at her, as if giving important instructions, and she was looking up at him, just like an attentive student would. I rolled back into bed, not particularly ready to get up and, a minute or so later, she climbed up the side, as if he’d sent her up for her first drill. Needless to say, she was very successful!

I got to witness other teacher-student lessons between them too. One was on the Art of Licking Fingers. I don’t remember what kind of tidbit I was offering for her to try, but it was a lick situation. She didn’t understand that at first and chomped down. Then she let go, confused, and tried again. Chomp. Confusion. Meanwhile, Daddy was sitting beside her, watching, content to let Baby have the snack. But, after watching two chomps, he leaned down in front of her, as if to say, “Watch me, cub.” Then he gave my finger two licks and leaned back down in front of her, as if to say, “Understand now?” Needless to say, she mastered the art of licking right away after that!

A third lesson I saw him give her was Playing with Cat Toys. She had no idea what they were or how she was supposed to react when I set them down in front of her, on my bedroom floor. But, never fear, Daddy was snoozing on the bed and noticed her plight. He readily jumped down to offer a quick demonstration of tossing, catching, chasing, and pouncing. Then he brought the toy to her as if to say, “See, now you try it.” Needless to say, she played like she was having the time of her life! Also, another time, when she was playing with a toy, he came up, took it away from her and played with it for a minute. Then he gave it back, as if to say, “No, no, do it like this.”

Sometimes though, Daddy himself was Baby’s favorite toy. He was rather more difficult to master than the store-bought ones though. I remember seeing her stalking him while he was washing his face, sneaking up to the point of pounce then charging forward. He acted completely ignorant of her presence right up until she was about to land on his head. Then, with one paw, he just deflected her body and sent her flying.

Afterwards, he didn’t miss a beat, going back to cleaning as if nothing had happened. The little predator was undeterred though. Maybe he was watching that side, but, surely, if she sneaked up on the other side, she could get him. Same result. Ah, but the third time would surely be the charm, right? Maybe not… But, after the third time, Daddy actually paused in his cleaning long enough to give her this look that clearly said, “You do realize that I’ve eaten things that are bigger than you, right cub?”

Another one of her favorite toys was my mom’s jigsaw puzzle pieces. Once she figured out how to get from the floor, to the couch, to the card table, she would sit on her hunches, with both forepaws raised in the air, and absolutely quivering with joyful suspense, as she decided which one of the pieces she was going to pounce on. Then boop! She would send one flying to the floor and the process would start all over again! It was really fun to watch. Even my mom thought so…for a little while.

All that was while she was a strictly indoors girl but, eventually, the doors were opened and the human supervision relaxed. We’d withheld the Outside World from Lucy a bit longer than we might have with another cat because she was such a tiny girl but, even after she became a big girl, Cody remained her guiding light.

Once I got to witness them leaving the barn together. Lucy sat down at the edge while Daddy advanced into the yard. He took a minute to look around and then, when he was sure the coast was clear, he looked back at her and she came running to join him. It reminded me of Bambi’s first trip to the meadow.

They also had a particular routine for coming back into the house whenever the door opened for them. First, Cody would appear from under the back porch and stroll up to the mat we use to wipe off our feet (or shoes or boots). Then he would begin to sharpen his claws on the mat, using long, slow, relaxing strokes. After about ten second, Lucy would pop up from under the porch, like a jack-in-the-box, and scamper over to join him, sharpening her own claws with short fast strokes before dashing through the door. She always finished sharpening before him. Then, one day, during this routine, Lucy popped up and went scampering right into the house. But, once she hit the floor, she seemed to remember that she’d forgotten something and spun around to face Daddy. Cody too had stopped his sharpening and was looking at her like, “You forgot something, cub.” Then she obediently came back out to sharpen her claws. Too this day, she always sharpens her claws on the mat before she comes into the house!

Cody was a good disciplinarian too, because sometimes Daddy just has to tell Baby, “NO!” The first time I saw him meting out some real discipline, she was still a little Inside girl. I’m not sure what she did to offend because I was folding laundry with my back to them, but I trust it was legitimist because he never hurt her. I only turned when I heard a little squeak of surprise and found that he had her pinned, with one paw holding her on her back, to the floor and he was plugging her in the head with the other. After a few whacks, he let her up and she just sat there for a few seconds. Then she shook herself and walked off like, “Okay, I won’t do that again.”

The Outside World introduced more dangerous elements into Baby’s life but Daddy was right there to let her know all the dos and don’ts. The most dangerous thing Lucy did, as a new “Going Outside” girl, was to sit and stare as the car moved towards her. I was driving and gave her a little peep on the horn to tell her to get out of the way. That made her scoot! She looked like a four-legged cartoon character, whose hind legs, when they’re running scared, overran their front legs. Then, as she got up to the stepping stones leading to the house, Cody was coming down the steps to go under the porch. He waited for her with his most parental glare and his tail twitching like a fury. I’m sure he was saying, “We DO NOT sit and stare at a moving car!” Ever since, she has been ornately careful around vehicles!

Another time she got his tail twitching fury was when she tried to chase a snake. Fortunately, it was a non-poisonous one and Lucy was so inexperienced that she approached it with joyous bounds and didn’t get within ten feet. I think she thought it was a cool shiny ribbon, like one of her Inside toys! Anyway, I hurried over to get her away from it and Cody almost fell off the ledge where he had been sleeping on the back porch. Then he came storming out and I set her down in front of him so she could get her lecture. I knew he’d be able to explain better than I could and she responded by sitting down and hanging her head. She seemed to be saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. But I won’t do it again.” She is still careful around snakes too.

Also, he taught her how to handle the dogs. Tillie and Hank were both mix hound breeds and not above a little chasing now and again. They knew about cats and loved both their fluffy siblings, but they weren’t above being a little naughty. Cody had long since learned about how to interact, so as to not incite a chase but, to Baby, they were just a couple of big pals.

The first, and really only, trouble came within a week of Lucy gaining freedom to go Outside. Hank took a dive at her and spooked her up a tree. I saw it though and bailed her out. But then it was time for a lesson from Daddy. The name of this lesson, I think, was “Crouch and Be Still”. I’m sure he put it to her in this way… “Dogs are stupid, cub. They like to chase you, even though they really love you. So, you mustn’t run because they can’t chase you if you don’t run. Use claws. The Humans will always come help you too.” I’m sure he taught her this though because she has never run from a dog since and I know I didn’t teach her the trick!

Another rule that was strictly enforced was about not living the Yard, except in one very specific circumstance. And, even then, she was only allowed to go so far. That one special circumstance was if I left on foot, around dusk or after dark. This did not apply if I left in a vehicle or in broad daylight, but even Daddy seemed to allow for Mom needing an escort as darkness closes in. I have yet to convince her otherwise!

I became aware that this must be a rule when, on leaving after dark one night for a late run to the mailbox, I encountered Lucy in the front yard and noticed that she went tearing off into the back as I left. It was as if she was screaming, “Daaaadddyyyy, Mom is leaving! What do I do?” Then, when I came back, I met Cody first, faithful escort that he was, walking down our quarter of a mile driveway to see that I got home safely. Then, quite a bit closer to house, Lucy was waiting for us. I’m certain she would’ve come all the way with him, if he had allowed it, but she had her orders to sit and wait and watch. Daddy had said, “I’ll handle this, cub.”

She only broke the rule once since Daddy passed away and I had to bring her home because she was entirely too far away. I told her, “That is not what your Daddy taught you!” But that was when she was still fairly young. As she as matured, she has recognized Cody’s wisdom about staying home and waiting for me to get back, or just coming so far to escort me the last little ways.

Cody also provided a hierarchal stability for her, and it was fun to watch him introduced each new rule because he did it so gently. When she was just an “itty bitty kitty” basically anything went. He didn’t mind no matter how much she chewed or pounced on him. But gradually, I noticed that she wasn’t doing one thing or another. Then she stopped doing something else, and then another thing, until she had dropped most of her kitten ways.

Probably the clearest examples of their hierarchy were with food and the sleeping arrangements. Of course, when she first came to us, Lucy was strictly on a bottle so they didn’t share food. However, as she was weaned off milk, we were cautious about their interactions around the dishes. Cody was a massive cat and he really enjoyed eating so we didn’t want him stealing Baby’s nutrition. We needn’t have worried though.

Like any good parent, he sacrificed food so that she would have enough. He always gave her first opportunity with at their dishes and last opportunity too. In fact, I’m pretty sure that he lost weight making sure that she had everything she wanted. But, as she got older, the time he allotted for her to eat without his interference began to lessen until, finally, it was “Snooze ya lose, cub.”

Bedtime hierarchy was also enforced gently. At first, Lucy was too small for anything but her “Baby Box”. Then, one night, Cody decided to stay outside and hunt a while longer and I wanted to snuggle with something so I got her out of her box and introduced her to night sleeping in the “Big Kitty Bed.” She had a grand time rooting up under all my blankets!

But then The King, otherwise known as Daddy, was at my window, finally requesting to come in, so I figured Baby would need to go back to her own bed. Well, naturally, she wasn’t going to have any of that! She’d found out what she’d been missing out on and she squeaked up a storm about it being taken away.

Of course, with an apology to Cody, I went and brought her back to the Big Kitty Bed and the King didn’t even mind. In the morning, it was cute, because, she woke up first and was so joyous that she gave me a couple licks. Then under all the covers, she went charging down to the foot of the bed, where the King still slept and woke him up like, “It’s morning, Daddy! Wake up, wake up!” Then, still under all the covers, she came charging back up to me for more licks, as if Cody had said, “Yeah, yeah, I know, cub. Go wake up mom, like I taught you.”

Eventually, though, I noticed that Lucy would exit the Big Kitty Bed, to retire to what we budded the “Little Kitty Castle” when I came in at night for sleep. Cody never bothered with the new cat tree we’d gotten, except to sharpen his claws once. That’s why it was easy to call it the Little Kitty Castle!

Anyway, the King still didn’t mind if she shared his quarters during the day but, once Mom came to bed, he had begun to claim his turf. That’s not to say that she wouldn’t sneak back on a cold night for warmth, and he tolerated that, but the new arrangement didn’t escape my notice. Interestingly though, even after Cody passed away, she waited two more nights to claim her inheritance rights. I think she still regarded it has his rightful place! Once she took over the Big Kitty Bed though, she never bothered with the Little Kitty Castle again either.

As to Cody’s passing, it happened three days after my mom and I had gotten home from a little vacation that included an out-of-state family wedding. We were gone for, maybe, a little over a week and that was the first time Lucy had ever been left alone for any length of time. Only, she wasn’t alone because she had Daddy! His last lesson was about Keeping the Faith. I’m sure he told her every day, “The Humans will come back, cub. Have faith.” And he lived to see her through that tough time.

My aunt and uncle stopped by to feed them each day during this time and they said that Cody would come out to meet them every day, but that they never saw Lucy. However, when we came back, she popped out of hiding right away so, I’m sure, her disappearance was on Daddy’s orders. “Strangers, cub! You stay out of sight and let me handle this.” To this day, she evaporates pretty quick when someone she doesn’t live with comes to the house. Although, she might come out later if I say it’s okay.

So that’s the story of my little’s girl’s journey from being the Baby Princess to becoming the Queen she is today. But, I still always remind her to do what her Daddy taught her when she goes outside or we have some time apart.