Welcome, Sebastian

His owner pleaded with me.

"It's either you or the shelter."

She held a very large, long-haired tuxedo cat in a towel in her arms.  I hesitated.

"We call him 'Joe'.  He's fixed, had his shots and gets along with everyone." 

The cat's stoic look went from his owner to me.  His calm, elegant demeanor, black and white coloring and gentle eyes reached out to me.

While the tuxedo cat is not considered a breed, it has distinct markings and an intelligent, affectionate personality.  They are bi-color, with solid black throughout most of the body and white patches on chin, throat, chest, belly and paws. Some are street-wise and prefer the outdoors.  Some are not and spend their entire lives rightfully indoors.  Indoor Tuxedos are far too laid back and passive for the outside world.  Their lack of aggressive tendencies often means they are unlikely to fight back, even if threatened; causing no end of scrapes and bruises in the outside world. The secret to having a tuxedo cat in your life is to know the difference.  Instinctively, I did not reach for him.  Apparently, he approved.

“My name is not Joe. I prefer to be known as Sebastian.” 


Now, I don’t pretend to have the psychic abilities of my cousin Kay where animals are concerned.  But I am Irish and fey, so on occasion, I do sense what they are feeling or thinking and this was one of those times.  While the cat did not speak out loud, of course, I heard him as clear as a bell inside my head.

“I think he wants to get down.” 

“I really hate to part with him, but I just can’t handle the litter box thing anymore and he refuses to go outside.”  She gently placed the cat on the floor.  “You’re my last hope.” 

We both watched as the cat walked across the room to the kitchen booth and leaped gracefully up onto the seat.  He sat and stared out the window. 

“He’s quite large, isn’t he?”  I was thinking as rapidly as possible.  Clearly, Sebastian belonged with me.  Well, as much as any feline “belongs” with a human.  Cats look on humans as their subordinates and I already had one independent, authoritative, but much loved cat.  Cosette is one of those street-savvy outdoor/indoor tuxedos.  She wanders in and out all day and sleeps comfortably on my bed at night.  I also have Molly, the happy Chihuahua.  She is my beloved companion and tolerates all cats with her usual enthusiastic “wanna’ play?” attitude.   But I live in a fifth wheel, for heaven’s sake.  I debated long and hard about rescuing Cosette, who, by the way, is half the size of this fellow.  I just didn’t have the room.

“Of course I’ll take him.  Is there anything else I need to know about him?”

That was a week ago.  Cosette is still somewhat irritated but resigned to the presence of another “chief” in the home.  Molly is disappointed that the new member of our household is polite but not inclined to play.  Sebastian has made himself completely at home and has not left the trailer or my side since he arrived. 

I guess I’ll just have to start looking for a larger trailer.