Our Jingle, (properly "Elizabeth Jingle," though we often call her "Jing"), is 13 this year. We're getting ready for her to go to college soon -- she's planning on becoming a Gourmet Food Taster. (Not a Critic, mind you, just a taster :-) Our Jingy was born in Houston (1996), and we adopted her from the SPCA just after we moved back from Singapore.

Curiously enough, we acquired her as a "common grey tabby cat," however Jingle had other thoughts, as we came to find out. Over time, a large tan spot on her hindquarter become more pronounced, and her stripes all but faded into non-existence. However, when you are used to seeing a cat every day, you don't really notice the difference. The revelation came 10 years after her birth, when the vet said, "Another torty!" and my mom argued vehemently that she was a tabby. Obviously the vet was right: stripes gone, replaced with characteristic torty spots, my Jingle had transformed into a tortoise-shell cat, complete with "eccentric" personality. The only remnants of her tabby-ness are the "hula hoops," also known as the "bar code" on her tail!

Scaredy Cat

Our Jingle has certainly grown up over the years -- it's amazing how many stories she's given to our lives. Jingle has had a peculiar relationship with rodents. While we lived in Houston, at some point, a mouse colony moved into our garage. (Clearly this was an unpleasant situation at best). Well, one day one of these little creatures snuck in the house, and scared Jingle absolutely senseless! She hid behind the washing machine for three days and wouldn't come out! (Luckily, the laundry room was host to their food bowls and litter box at the time, so at night she could come out and grab a snack).

A few months later, she vanquished her fear: my mom saw a mouse running across the counter. (If you've ever tried to catch a mouse with your own hands, you know this is impossible!) My mom called Jingle, picked her up, put her on the counter, and Jingle easily "scooped" the mouse up with her paw, and jumped down and proceeded to play with her newly caught "toy." (Of course we apprehended the mouse then, and put it outside before it became damaged). We were very happy to see that Jingle had conquered her fears; in fact, our Jingy became an excellent mouser. (Though she does have a tendency to play with the creatures rather than eat them).

Dietary Interests

Jingle has particular proclivities toward sardines and anything with sauce -- in fact, she'd prefer her food without food, replaced with lakes of gravy.