Elvis (my cat) and laughter

Laughter. Giggles. Joy. A vibrational impulse that puts a smile on your face. Many jokes, pranks and people have put a smile on my face, but none have done it as consistently as the furry face that I see every day that wanted to be called “Elvis”, my cat. I have come to realize that while some beings and animals vibrate at a rate that makes us think of perfect love, Elvis vibrates at a level that brings out laughter and smiles.

I first saw Elvis almost two years ago, in July at an adoptathon I was working at the Humane Society. My old cat Speedy had lived to be 26, and passed away a few months earlier. My lone cat, a yellow tabby a few years young, deserved a friend. Having grown up on a dairy farm, my whole childhood was filled with KITTENS. I all kittens, they obviously know that you can die if you do not play.

That adoption day, the humane society had so many kittens they were piling them out in the front room. He had a brother with him, and I felt a momentary twitch about separating the two. I fell in love with Elvis instantly, he has an adorable black spot on his check right under his nose, and though he was black and white, he had additional randomly placed “bb” sized spots, like someone had opened upon him with a black paint gun. When I stuck my finger in the cage, he came over & played with me. I was going to be at the adoptathon for three days, so after playing with Elvis a few minutes I went back to the room I was doing readings in & started working. So every time I took a break I checked in on him. One time he had just eaten and was slumped in the corner sleeping. Deeply. I could not wake him up to play.

The next morning I snuck into the adoption room early, thinking I’d take a peek at my boy before I did my first session. He wasn’t there. The cage was empty. I was beside myself. Once again, I had waited too long to make a decision.

Well, he had been off the site at the Petsmart to be adopted. Luckily, he didn’t have anyone who chose him, and he was mine, all mine.

Elvis fell asleep on the desk while I was checking out. We put lei on his stomach & took his picture.
When I brought Elvis home, I threw a simple male name on him, like Mike. He responded immediately with, “ You won’t remember that name even seconds after I die. I want a name that befits me. I want to be known as “Elvis”. Then he proceeded to give me three reasons that he should have that moniker. “I have mostly black hair, I am one of a kind, and I would like to be known as: “the king”.

A month after I had brought Elvis home, I was unpacking some of the ceramic plates that I had made for the art fairs. I left one with a black and white cat that had his tail around a red heart leaned up against the wall. Later that afternoon I saw Elvis lying in front of the plate, and gasped. The black and white cat on the plate that I had made 3 months before Elvis came home with me was marked exactly like him. Elvis had foretold his coming and had my heart from before I even knew him.

Elvis has learned how to sit up on his hind legs outside windows and run his front claws over them, making a noise reminiscent of fingernails on a blackboard. I open the window in the living room and returned to the bedroom. Within 3 minutes, Elvis was at the bedroom window, working his claws on the blackboard magic.

Every time I open the hall closet door, I see a white & black paw come into the open crack by the door hinge, batting away, I always smile, and play with him for a while.

When I feed the dogs their treats, Elvis is sitting in line with them, waiting for whatever morsel is parcelled out. Of course beforehand, while I am cutting up the treat, he is by the counter, with his paws on the oven handle, looking up at me, touching me with his paw and then putting them together underneath his chin, managing the most beguiling, suffering look. It makes me lol ~ Elvis is a lot of stuff, but starving for food is not one of them.

I have noticed that any time someone is over and I bring out Elvis, they start laughing or at least smiling. Just like their human siblings, some cats come with a destiny they know immediately, others have to find their way. Elvis came with the ability to make not only brighten my day, my world but the path of everyone who comes the way.