Some college student threw him out as a three-year old and I took him home before a huge ice storm hit. He had a greatly enlarged heart but I hoped he’d weather that, and he was with me for twelve years.
Quite the hunter, he cleared three successive yards of thousands of moles, so the yards went from furrowed messes to no moles at all. He was always the strongest and quickest cat, but he was also the most loving to other cats I had. He tried to wash and cuddle them, but they mostly snubbed him. He would look a little sad but he’d still try again next time.
He patrolled the neighborhood, ranging down the streets and into the woods. My neighbors all said, “Yes, we love Nicky. He comes by every day.”
One incident reveals his soul. Our timid silver tabby boy, Willy, was on the back porch. I saw movement through the kitchen window and the aggressive forty pound half-pit bull who is always kept in his yard had escaped his fence and charged Willy, who shrank back against the wall, helpless.
I’ve had dogs and love them and I know the signs that a dog is playing or just trying to scare someone. This dog didn’t bark, he was going in to kill and charged, his mouth opening.
From across the yard, Nicky, fastest of the fast cats I’ve owned, zoomed in between the charging pittie and Willy, and in that one instant turned and charged the dog. All this was in an instant where the pittie tried to grasp Nicky in his jaws but Nicky struck his muzzle repeatedly with both front paws, claws extended. The dog recoiled and then, enraged, dove in with his jaws open to kill. Nicky stood his ground and hit the dog with his lightning-fast claws again, causing him to recoil.
I came boiling out of the back door and the pittie paused a micro-second, probably saw the fire in my eyes and wanted no part of me or Nicky and he fled. He was all for killing a helpless cat, but a cat who fights and a retired infantry officer were not what he’d planned on.
That one story, literally and metaphorically, is Nicky, the cat with the greatly oversized heart. Instead of zipping to safety up a tree, he protected his home ground, but specifically, he protected Willy. No greater love hath any soul than he give his life for another.
Nicky passed away in late May, 2020. I will mourn him until the day I die, and maybe beyond.
Start Where You Stand 