My Sister and Her Punk Rock Cats

Photo by Jae Park on Unsplash

My sister, Andrea, is someone you just have to meet in your lifetime. You then will understand her unusual preference for cats with a certain punk-rock personality, shall we say.

When shopping for a new cat, Andrea may be told: “Mittens has a loving personality, purrs all day, and loves to curl up with you for a relaxing nap.”

Mittens sounds pretty cool, right? Nope. Not for my sister.

Andrea is guaranteed to push back on the owner, with a dismissive: “I need a cat with a little more edge to it…”

Her current cat is the perfect example of edge. “Tidbit,” locks in on me and licks his chops whenever I visit.

The orange tabby with piercing eyes then violently swipes at my nearest body part whenever Andrea is out of view.

The look says it all: “You’re dead to me.”

And I am just one of many humans where Tidbit has carved tattoos on open skin.

Not sure why my sister likes the opposite of almost every other human being.

Maybe it brings her back to the crusty personalities she met in her long and distinguished career as a Navy nurse.

To her credit, she did get Tidbit all dressed up for a cat picture contest held by The Washington Post.