Luci-fur: The Black Demon

October 6th, 2020 is not a date I will forget any time soon. October 6th, 2020 was the day we rescued the most beautiful little panther in the world from her unfortunate lot. October 6th, 2020 was the day our little household became complete.

We didn’t know much about her and it seemed like the rescue agency didn’t either. She was barely a year old, but had already had kittens. Poor thing. Sex is not happy for cats, and childbirth isn’t happy for any creature.

Her name was Amelia. They told us that she was very calm and very quiet. And that was a fucking lie. She was absolutely terrified for the first day or two and stayed under the bed, only coming out to use her litter box. She didn’t eat or drink any water. I found that very concerning. I shouldn’t have worried.

We decided to change her name for the reasons that: 1) I thought Amelia was a dumb name for a cat, 2) Cat’s don’t care what their names are, and 3) She looked just like the black demon from Disenchantment. So we renamed her Luci. Thanks to Black Sabbath, and to the chagrin of my religious family, it was changed again to Luci-fur.

Day by day she spent more time out in the open and she even started to eat her food. After a little bit she even exposed her belly to us. We were horrified to see that she had been spayed, stitched up, and immediately given to us. Poor thing.

I put her in her little cat carrier to bring her to the vet. I was amazed how little resistance she put up. I was so sad to see her little face which just read, “Oh I’m being moved again. Okay.” I guess in her short life, apart from being on the streets, she’s been moved from house to house every week or so. That’s tough on a person, imagine being a cat who doesn’t understand what’s going on.

The vet got her stitches out and gave me advice on a super caloric cat food to give her. Within a few months, her weight problem shifted from too little, to too much, to “Oh Lawd, she coming!” It happened so quickly, we didn’t even notice until it was too late. Now we’re going the other way. It’s much easier to get a cat to gain weight than it is to get them to lose it, we’re finding.

For all of October and November, she was nuts. She still is, I suppose. Every box we receive becomes a fort and then a victim. But she is also the sweetest little thing in the world. She cuddles hard, purrs, and gives kisses. She lives for little spanks on the butt and rubs on the side of her mouth. She loves attention and whenever a maintenance guy or anyone needs to enter our apartment (should be a lot more of those soon) she immediately approaches them, flirts, and rubs her body against them.

She’s created little games for herself. Our favorite is her most complex game in which she stalks a little ball that has a bell in it, picks it up with her teeth, puts it into a box, attacks the box, jumps inside the box, and finally removes the ball to start her whole process over again. It’s my favorite thing in the world to see her little mind at work.

She’s nuts because of the simple fact that she’s a cat. But she’s the sweetest little panther in the world. I’m so happy we were able to find her a forever home. I’m glad we could improve her life by existing, and I’m glad she could improve our lives by existing.