March 31, Annakiya Monkeycat!

Ha!  Here's the last cat of March!  March Madness is DONE!  Now for APRIL INSANITY!!!!
Oh just kidding!  Everything will be calm til JUNE JACKINGJUMPUPS!!!

Anyway, here is the amazing story of this amazing cat, Annakiya Monkeycat, and the fun thing is that this painting was commissioned by a neighbor of this cat, not by her owner!  Isn't that great?!?!

"Tiny little Annakiya comes to me from the great state of Montana.  My Dad has a little ranch house on a Mountain 20 miles outside of Lewistown MT, where he lives with his dogs.  In October of 2009 an injured black and white Manx kitty showed up at his door looking for sanctuary, and he took her in.  As all stray cat adopters know well, one will lead to another...  Just a few weeks after adopting "Sweetie" she returned home followed by a very thin Calico, who my Dad promptly christened "Calico Kitty."  The 2 females did not get along with one another whatsoever, so he would keep one in the garage during the day and then switch them at night in the interest of fairness.  When he came to visit for Christmas, he brought them both and left with only Sweetie. 

At the time, I had 3 darling boys, Phineas, Thomas, and Blackie, and really once you have 3 cats, why not have 4?  There is not a big difference.  But, I could not abide having 3 dreadfully uncreative cat names to call out.  I renamed Calico Kitty, Annakiya, which means "Sweet face."  She immediately went about assuming the position of Queen of the household, swatting the boys to keep them in line.  I decided she would be an indoor kitty, which lasted about 3 months during which she made more escapes than Steve McQueen, and I gave up.

As my amazing neighbor Joyce mentions, Kiya is an extraordinarily felicitous cat, while also being quite striking looking, playful and adventurous. This combination is not lost on the citizens of our neighborhood.  She follows the dog (Ruby Dee) and I on our thrice daily walks, and will follow and keep up on walks of any duration, time of day or season.  She especially loves to zip past at a run and fly up the next tree along the boulevard, then wait there for us to catch up, lazily sharpening her claws.  She is quite arboreal, which is why we often call her Monkeycat, which has morphed into her middle name.   She has brought me dozens of new acquaintances from among my neighbors, who tell me of her visits, especially her love of their children.  One little boy told me that Kiya was his best friend, and another mother told me her son "recognizes Kiya's voice from inside the house," and goes out to pet her.  Just this morning another neighbor referred to her as the "Queen of the Neighborhood." I sometimes have to call over to Joyce's to ask if she is visiting there.  I feel very lucky to be the human companion of this special little cat."

Thank you Erin!

And stay tuned for more paintings!
PLUS I will be asking for DOGS for July, starting the end of May, so keep that in mind and let your friends know!  And you can click here for last year's dogs on this blog!  You'll just have to scroll backwards to see them all~
Thank you ALL for following!