Cat Picture of the Week: Sophie

This is Sophie, our little "Bat-Cat." She is so nicknamed because she is part Oriental of some kind, and at about 3-4 months, she had huge ears and a pointy little face, and looked more like a wingless bat than a kitten. She's technically a torbie; when the light hits her fur, you can see the red tabby stripes over her entire body under the tortie coat. She was born in our local feral colony earlier this year, and her mother brought her brothers and her to Joni, one of our neighbors, when they were sick with an upper respiratory infection.

We found out later that the litter had been living on another neighbor's balcony, and the mother brought them to Joni the night before the other neighbor had planned to take them to be euthanized due to the infection (whew!). Mike and I bought them a large playpen to live in until Joni nursed them back to health (she's a doctor); then, those who weren't adopted by either Joni or us went to other forever homes. Sophie used to hiss at everyone, including Joni, her brothers and us, but is now a friendly little girl to her adopted family.

Sophie has become the best friend (and favorite toy) of our 1-year-old male, Sebastian. Although she's barely more than 1/3 his size, she can hold her own in a wrestling match with him because she's so fast and agile. Our 4-year-old, Audrey, grooms her and plays with her, and even our 3-year-old calico with cattitude, Abby, will run races with her sometimes. She's charmed every human she's met with her antics, such as leaping nearly to the top of our picture windows to try to catch a bug or a snowflake on the other side of the glass.

At precisely 6 every morning, Sophie hops onto our bed, whispering softly in her tiny soprano voice, and cuddles up to me until it's time for me to get up and feed the cats at 6:30.

She eats like a horse and has boundless energy for playing with anyone who will oblige, but she is a tender little cuddler when someone is ill or sad.
© Sue Todd

Sophie is a beautiful little love, and a wonderful example of success in turning a feral kitten into a loved and loving member of a family. Sophie's photo also appears in the 2008 Tortoiseshell Cats Picture Gallery, as do all of November Cats of the Month.

My Cat of the Week photos are selected from pictures sent which comply with the Photo Submittal Guidelines. I will not consider photos sent specifically for "Cat of the Week" or "Cat of the Month."