Her name is Minnie. She, like all beloved animals, has many nicknames. Her favorites are Min Bin, Buddy, Bing Bong and Bubba. She does not like it when her name is spoken to the tune of "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppet Show (but her mom loves to do it anyway). She hates things that most cats like (tuna, wet food), but loves tortilla chips, pretzels, and really, any salty human food that comes out of a crinkly bag (even though those are NFC - not for cats). She plays with her favorite stuffed platypus like she is still a young girl, but sleeps on a heated blanket to warm her bones for all other hours of the day.
Minnie is, to all human knowledge, 17 years old. She was adopted from the now-gone PAWS outlet on 85th and Greenwood in January 2004, partially hairless and pretty sick. She'd been living on the streets and had somehow made her way to shelter there, along with her very young kitten. As is the way, the kitten had been adopted on the spot, but Minnie (then called Agatha by the well-meaning PAWS staff) still needed a home. Like her soon-to-be mom, she initially came across as aloof and a bit grumpy - but the deal was sealed, and she was taken to her first home on Capitol Hill. She was so tiny, so skinny. She was miniature. So she became Minnie.
Minnie and her mom lived in 5 different places around Capitol Hill and Ballard before finally making a home with her dad. She found her ultimate best friend in him, and reminds him of that fact with daily bonks, nips and licks. Her mom knows that he's made Minnie's life happier and suspects that his love for her has made Minnie's life longer too.
Minnie spends her days now in a house nestled among trees in West Seattle. She jumps soundlessly to sit in open windowsills and sniff the air. She rotates between sunspots, open laps, arm crooks and couch corners. She is the heart of the home. Our heart. She lives here.