She bit a lawyer, and she got away with it.
That would have been our 16-year-old, neutered, front-declawed, female, longhaired calico cat Makita. Yes, our very own Koshka who went to cat heaven on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
And, yes, in the final months of her long and productive cat life, Makita bit a lawyer on the leg and survived the wrath of both that lawyer and her lawyer husband. They wanted her head to see if she had rabies, and Makita would not let them have it. She was, after all, defending her turf.
And Makita, who came to our turf from that of our good friends in Three Oaks, Michigan-Bruce and Carolyn Graham-on the fourth day of Christmas, 2001, was all about guarding her turf and warming our hearts. She not only stood down two, not one, but two lawyers, but she stood up to a German Shepherd, a Springer Spaniel, a Golden Retriever, and who knows how many raccoons, deer, squirrels, foxes, hawks, owls, and, yes, even coyotes.
Makita was one tough cat because she had had one tough kittenhood, but she took the time to win Natalie and me over to total cathood. That’s because she was really looking for a good home after all she had been through.
And, if you’ve got a minute, I’ll gladly share the story I wrote about her in the January 17, 2002 edition of The Beacher.
To wit:
Makita, you see, had come to live with the Grahams and their two sons, Luke and Cole, quite by accident a few years prior to 2001 when a person who shall remain forever nameless deposited the captivating calico in the Graham’s barn under the cover of darkness. Knowing that the Grahams keep barn cats there to discourage mice, this person thought that Makita would just sort of blend into the general cat mix.
Except, of course, Makita had no front claws with which to defend herself, plus, she had no street smarts so neighbors soon began reporting to the Grahams that they had a calico cat.
“No, we don’t,” Carolyn Graham said.
“Oh, yes, we do,” son Cole said.
And so they did indeed have Makita, who soon took up residence in the shop where Bruce and his sons tend to their tree-trimming equipment. Makita bonded with Luke and Cole, who fed her and tended to her litter box, and she was given free run of the place.
But she also had to contend with the Graham’s dog, Boomer, who had little use for cats.
Unfortunately, Boomer was struck and killed by a motorist on the road in front of the Graham house before Christmas 2001, and this only heightened Carolyn’s concern for Makita, because the pretty calico cat was prone to running across the same road, especially at night.
So, knowing that we were thinking of filling the void that our beloved dog Harley had left in our hearts when she departed this mortal coil on October 4, 2001, Carolyn called Natalie just before Christmas and asked if we would like a free cat-namely Makita herself.
We had pretty much decided that we would go to the Michiana Humane Society on Friday, December 28, 2001 and let one of the cats there adopt us. And then, according to their rules, we would return the following day and claim our cat. We had already purchased all the necessary cat supplies from a pet supply store in Kalamazoo, and I gave Natalie The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory for Christmas to get her in the mood for being owned by a cat.
And even I, the male who refuses to read directions, had browsed through a manual on cat ownership we had bought along with the cat supplies.
We were ready for the age of the cat, but we had convinced ourselves that the right and proper way was to adopt through the shelter, particularly right after Christmas when there would be so many “returnees’ from which to choose.
But then came Carolyn’s call and her concern for Makita’s safety.
Natalie phoned our friend and former Harbor Country News editor Phyllis Kelly, and asked for advice. Phyllis, you see, raises dogs, cats, and horses on her farm near La Porte, Indiana, and she had actually been having some success in reforming Harley of her bad dog habits before Harley’s untimely demise.
To make a long phone conversation short, Phyllis, after hearing all that Natalie had to say on the subject of Makita, said without hesitation that we should head right over to the Graham’s house and allow that queenly calico to claim us as her own.
Which, of course, we did.
Makita was in the Graham garage when we arrived on the afternoon of December 28, 2001, and she allowed us both to pet her.
Then she curled up close to our feet as we whiled away the remaining daylight drinking coffee with Carolyn and Bruce and talking cats and dogs.
Son Cole came home while we were thus engaged, and we asked him if we was truly willing to part with Makita, and he said: “Sure, as long as I can come and visit her at your house.”
“Sure,” we said.
And so off we set in a caravan of sorts from the Graham home and farm near Three Oaks to our hamlet in Harbert. Bruce and Carolyn followed us in their truck with Makita, and Bruce brought her into our house and took her right to the food dish we had set out for her in the kitchen.
She pronounced it acceptable in that regal cat way, and Bruce departed in peace.
Natalie and I sighed collectively and worried that Makita was going to hide under the bed for the next week or so.
No.
Makita took it upon herself to take the full tour of our 800-square-foot, single-story cottage-in-the-woods, looking with approval on the placement of the litter box in the bathroom and the easy accessibility of viewing perches at various windows. Then she settled on Natalie’s pillow and took a cat nap.
Later that night, she came and curled up with us in bed, and upon awakening the next morning on the fifth day of Christmas, she happily played with all the cat toys we had gotten for her, and then she went to the window ledge to survey her new domain and then retired to the “cat couch” for a long winter’s nap.
That account in the Beacher in early 2002 was not the last account I wrote of the cat we variously came to call: Two Cats, Koshka, Cat Pup, Kitty Kat, and, of course, Makita. Nor will this be the last, because Makita emblazoned pure cat love upon our hearts, and although our hearts are broken upon her passing from this life, we are better humans for having been owned for almost 10 years by a marvelous calico cat called Makita.
Here, Kitty Kat!