Koko the Magnificent

testing ...... testing..... Eureka! It worked! Just when I'd all but accepted that I'd reached the limits of my computer-challenged brain. I've uploaded a photo -

This is Koko the Magnificent, my secondary cat who came to me by a circuitous route via my generous neighbor Marni as a thank-you for looking after her cats Kramer and Oliver (sounds like a vaudeville team) because she felt my primary calico Fergie needed a companion ("sure', says Fergie, "like I need a terminal case of ticks")

But it's Koko's origins that fascinate - she was actually bred at the NRC in Ottawa for research purposes. I feel faint to think about it. Rats - great. Mice - why not? Even rabbits - they multiply like - ha-ha - rabbits anyway! But CATS?? Especially this elegant Norwegian Forest Cat. Fortunately for Koko one of the lab techs just fell in love with her (as who would not?) and adopted her. But the tech's primary cat was less than enamored with the new addition and went into instant attack mode with the result that poor Koko was relegated to the Humane Society from whence Marni rescued her. As one can see, she is not wasting away at 19 lbs, even on weight-control food. But she has a disposition that humans would envy, and that defuses irascible felines like my brother's caramel cat Ellwood with the personality of a cut-worm, so that he visibly melts in her presence (Ellwood, not my brother).