In fiction household pets usually have names like Fluffy, Spotty, Fido, or Rover.   This story is about an enormous black and tan tabby tomcat, who started out his life as Timothy, and ended it as Manza.   In between he had more than a dozen names in thirteen years, however, the process of change went something like this: Timothy was too pompous for our gaggle of nieces and nephews, who changed it to Timbo.   Which was too slangy for my mother, who changed it to Timmie, which later became Tim.   Then Timza Cat (in effect “Tim is a cat”), which became Manza Cat (”Man is a cat”, since he was a Tom, or man cat), which was finally shortened to Manza.

Funnily enough, although kids always seemed to love Manza, he in turn always hated kids.   Manza had been born in a household where there were half a dozen kids, and after coming to our house (where there was three adults plus my teenaged sister, Christine), it took him all of two days to decide that our house was better than his original home.   So that when

his first owner, Charlene, came calling a week or so later, to the amazement of her kids Manza snubbed them.

To their surprise the tabby got halfway in through the cat-flap in the back door, took one look at the horde of kids standing with their arms outstretched to greet him, and reversed back out the door.   Not returning until two hours later after hearing the sound of their car driving away.

That became the norm with Manza from then on.   He would disappear at the first sign of kids, to reappear a minute or two after their departure.   Sometimes he wouldn’t even get in through the cat-flap, but would hear the sound of young voices from outside and would go across to lie on top of the garage roof, or the carport by the side of the house, to wait, sometimes for hours for them to depart.   However, sometimes to Manza’s shock, Charlene and her brood would stay overnight with us.   Then when he came in for his supper, Manza would be pounced upon by a swarm of kids, squealing their delight as they wrapped their little arms around his big, furry body.