Mako

Hi all, this is Mako. He is a 4 year old Russian Blue mix from Alexandria, Virginia.

Mako is a regal and highfalutin feline. His perfect white “ascot” displayed prominently and proudly on his neck is never mussed, he is naturally photogenic, and he has the purr-sonality to match his high society appearance. It may be surprising then, to discover that he came from humble beginnings. Mako, along with his sister Dahlia, was born in a garage. He was saved by a family for his first couple of years, until a child became allergic. Just prior to age 2, he graced our lives, and our home has never been as full of love. My active-duty U.S. Marine and I were stationed at Quantico, VA, and seeking our first fur baby in many years. We visited King Street Cats four times, which was fun in itself since all the kitties freely wander about, sleeping on perches, playing with each other, and rubbing against the legs of cat-loving humans. The third visit my honey went alone and told me he had been smitten by a new arrival, a charismatic, large cat that had sought him out and turned on the charm. When we arrived the next day, I found out the problem. KSC has a strict policy of not separating kiblings (kitty siblings). Mako had a sister. That means they were to be adopted together. We had a tiny, one bedroom high-rise apartment in Old Town. What to do? We tried to meet this sister cat, but her schedule was the inverse of brother’s. She slept during the day. Furthermore, along with the long legs, large ears, and small head common to RBs, she had the internal Russian Blue traits of being slow to acclimate to change and a mistrust of strangers. She clung to the uppermost catwalk. We were going to have to take her on a gamble.

It was the best decision we ever made. Now we all live in Georgia, and Mako acts like he owns the place. He is the alpha to his sis. Mako, aka Man-Cat, is the stout to her skinny, the ostentatious, striking silvery hue to her shadowy noir, lover of all food to her finicky eating habits, and a gullible Odie to her cunning Garfield. Placed on a calorie restriction, Mr. Stout gained a pound while skinny sister lost one. When it rains, he utterly must go outside and partake. An outdoor enthusiast, it is not uncommon to find him sitting atop daddy’s car, surveying his kingdom and keeping watch over all. The Makster also enjoys lounging in the flower box (kept vacant of plants for his comfort) to bird-watch, leaping after bugs, hunting voles and mice outside, chowtime, being brushed (doesn’t mind toothbrushing even), sneaking onto mom’s tummy in the middle of the night to purr loudly, talking, drinking water, eating, eating more, and being admired. Make-a-Cake cannot open doors like sister, but he sits on command, jumps into the tall window to signal his desire to enter the house, ruefully self-imposes time-out when he gets scolded with the word NO, and announces loudly to his two-legged servants at precisely 6AM and 6PM that it is meal time. He is astute enough to know to wait until 8AM when daddy is out-of-town and on weekends, and that he can only get privileged access to the much-adored back window entrance when daddy is home since mom doesn’t open windows for cats’ comings and goings. Yes, Mako has us trained well, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We sometimes wonder how woefully less wonderful our lives would be if he had never chosen us.

Author: Tom “The Kittenmaster” Cooper

Tom is the owner of 4 amazing cats, and using the Daily Kitten he provides a place for cat and kitten lovers to share the love for their own cats and kittens.

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