Pharaoh and Minerva

For those of you that don’t know, I have two cats, Pharaoh and Minerva. I have a thing for “classical” or retro names for pets. In retrospect, I should have named them Yin and Yang.

I got Pharaoh for Christmas from my daughter a year and a half ago. I was very reluctant to own a cat or any other kind of animal. Vet bills are horrendous nowadays, and animals, unless they have a rich owner, die in gruesome ways. We have packs of coyote passing through my foothill neighborhood, and I had seen firsthand what happens to a cat that gets caught by a coyote.

But my daughter, whom I shall call “Ariel” (until she says otherwise), had confidence in me…...and she felt guilty about going to college up north and leaving me alone. She wanted me to get a cat.

I had specified that I were to get a cat, I would get a kitten. The last two adult cats I adopted had severe health problems, and I didn’t want to experience animal death again in the near future. Plus, having taught kindergarten, I knew how important it is to get in on the ground floor. I was confident I could “raise” a cat at least as well as I helped “raise” Ariel.

However, I had forgotten all about the cat discussion by the time Christmas came around. So I was jolted with surprise when Ariel brought him out Christmas morning.

I have to admit, he was endearing. He zigzagged all over the living room cluttered with open presents, empty boxes, and tissue paper and sampled everything, including the people and their breakfasts. I was in a state of shock. I wondered if I was going to be able to handle that kind of hyperactivity...he reminded me of some of the ADHD kids I had taught over the years. I made a comment about his short attention span, and Ariel’s mother remarked that it was more likely a sign of healthy inquisitiveness.

I decided that there were going to be some rules, much the same ones I would have for a three year old: No staying out after dark, you don’t go out after you get fed (unless it’s breakfast and I’m going to be around all day), don’t go far from the house, come when your name is called, you have to stay in the house if I’m out of town. I chose the name Pharaoh for him because he looked like an Egyptian cat statue I had seen, and I wanted to raise him like a prince. Also, the name has only two syllables and four phonemes, so it was easy for a cat to remember (as it would be for a three year old).

So the first night I had Pharaoh home he got out. He found a space with a loose board by the air conditioner. When I discovered his escape I ran out the front door, calling his name even though he didn’t know it yet.

He was lying calmly on the neighbors’ front porch, totally innocent and unencumbered, confident that no harm was going to befall him. I realized at that point that I could love this cat.

The months passed swiftly. I had to leave Pharaoh inside the house alone most of the day during the week, and I could he hated it. When I would try to put my shoes on in the morning, he would attack the laces with his claws, my fingers occasionally getting in the way. Once, when I told him goodbye on my way out the door, he hid his face behind a bookcase….just like an angry three year old that doesn’t want you to see him cry.

I decided that if I was going to have one cat, I may as well have two.

Minerva came from a litter of semi-feral kittens born on the back patio of a gated apartment complex. The woman who owned the mother cat was an idiot who let her unneutered cat run loose. When the kittens were born, the woman ignored them except to put out food.

The two cats took to each other immediately. Pharaoh treated her like a little sister, teaching her games, showing her how a cat is supposed to fight, even occasionally helping her groom herself. I named her Minerva because with her long, puffy fur she reminded me of pictures I had seen of 19th century women’s clothing. Minerva sounded like a 19th century name.

So now I have two cats with two disparate personalities.

Pharaoh is aggressive, confident, the alpha male of the five cats around out courtyard. I don’t think he’s ever gotten into a serious fight...the other cats just naturally defer to him. I think he learned good social skills at the shelter where he spent the first few months of his life; there he was allowed to romp and socialize with many other cats in a protected environment. Minerva is shy, although she makes cat (and squirrel) friends easily.

Pharaoh is an expert hunter who eats everything he kills--potato bugs, lizards, birds, and rodents. Minerva chases anything that moves, like most cats, but to my knowledge has never killed anything. Pharaoh likes to be petted when I come home; Minerva likes to be petted when I get in bed at night. Pharaoh prefers the warmth of the sunshine and is always the first one in at night. Minerva would prefer to stay out all night and sometimes needs to be bribed with Treats to come in when canned food isn’t enough.

Last winter I told someone that Pharaoh and Minerva were the best family I ever had. I realized this one evening when I was watching TV, Minerva peacefully asleep on the top of the couch, Pharaoh perched on the T.V. just like the cat statue. Just like a family, we are three different personalities doing the best we can together to make a household.