Bernice, A Smart Cat

Our MA member Chris shares the story of her beloved cat, Bernice:

"This is Bernice. That's ber-NEES, not BER-niss. She *hates* BER-niss. Actually, she prefers B. Or, Little B. "B-B-B," said in high-pitched tone, really gets her moving.

Bernice was adopted from a shelter. Her mother lived on a Massachusetts farm.

Little B was one of seven sisters, all orange and white. I've heard it's unusual to find a female cat that color, let alone seven of them.

B is a very smart cat and has taught her humans lots of tricks, such as feeding on demand, belly scritches on demand and letting out on the porch on demand. No flies on B.

B's fiber is also quite useful, as it makes wonderful B-balls (not what you are thinking) when combed from her coat and rolled between your palms. It is fun for Bernice to chase B-balls all over her house. Her humans keep a jar of B-balls on display; they look like some wonderful, exotic art-fiber thingies and always elicit comments and questions from visitors.

Although B is very much a cat, she does exhibit some unusual behaviors. For instance, when bedtime is announced, she gets up from where she might be reclining and goes straight to the bedroom. She also loves to sleep on her human's bellies."

B's human slave Chris commented further, "There is so much more to tell about Little B, but she does prefer to keep some mystery about her. "