Mabu, Peanut & 张三

Dramatis Personae · Three cats, briefly described

The biographies.

Names, dispositions, recurring habits, and the occasional fact that could not be left out.

Portrait of 张三, a pure white long-haired Linqing Lion-Cat with pale eyes, large tufted ears, and a magnificent plume tail. 张三 Plate I

Plate I · 临清狮猫 · The Linqing Lion-Cat

张三, quiet & immaculate

A 临清狮猫 — the rare Linqing Lion-Cat from Shandong: pure white, long-haired, with pink ears, a pink nose, and a plume tail that arrives in the room slightly after the rest of her.

张三 carries a placeholder name with great dignity. In Chinese, “张三” is the standard stand-in for any unnamed person — the everyman. She has made it her own. She does not announce herself; she simply appears, already composed, already exactly where she meant to be.

Her preferred operating mode is “observing.” The other two run a small, ongoing business of nuisance and noise; 张三 files quarterly reports.

Breed
临清狮猫 (Linqing Lion-Cat)
Coat
Pure white, long, with a generous ruff
Eyes
Pale, with a faint hint of green
Preferred surface
Anywhere with a clear sightline to a doorway
Signature sound
A soft, civil prrt
Portrait of Peanut, a short-haired curly-coated ginger Devon Rex with very large pointed ears. Peanut Plate II

Plate II · Devon Rex · The Curly Ginger

Peanut, warm & relentless

A Devon Rex with a ginger curly coat, a pale belly, ears like satellite dishes, and a face that suggests she is always about to ask a question.

Peanut considers most surfaces to be either “hers” or “temporarily hers.” She performs the duties of a small orange sun: she occupies laps, she rolls over for inspection, she announces her arrival by the simple fact of being arrived. A paper bag is, to her, a worthy adversary.

She is, in technical terms, easily delighted. Stringed objects, ankles, the rustle of any wrapper, and reflections of all kinds are filed under Items Worth Investigating.

Breed
Devon Rex
Coat
Short, lightly curled; ginger over a pale belly
Ears
Conspicuously large
Preferred surface
Whichever lap is occupied
Signature sound
A clipped, indignant mrrp
Portrait of Mabu, a long-haired silver-tabby Norwegian Forest Cat with a white chest and a fluffy plume tail, sitting on a yellow shelf. Mabu Plate III

Plate III · Norwegian Forest Cat · The Silver Tabby

Mabu, fluffy & theatrical

A Norwegian Forest Cat — long-haired silver tabby with a white chest, white socks, tufted ears, and a tail held like a flag in still wind.

Mabu supervises, mostly from a high vantage point, and has strong opinions about which shelf belongs to whom. Her preferred furniture is whatever a human is currently sitting on, edged out only by the rule that windowsills outrank everything else.

In photographs she favors a three-quarter profile and tends to look just past the lens, as if something more interesting is happening behind the photographer.

Breed
Norwegian Forest Cat (norskskogkatt)
Coat
Silver tabby, white chest & paws, plume tail
Eyes
Pale gold-green
Preferred surface
Anywhere elevated
Signature sound
A small, surprised chirp