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Nicky Cat
Nicky Cat, a great animal with tremendous heart and an
unmatched capacity for love, lost her battle with an
overwhelming litany of health issues, and passed peacefully
to her next life Thursday, April 7th at the age of 17.
Brave, resilient, persistent; Nicky was all of these, but
words alone can’t do justice to her indomitable spirit and
the plucky attitude with which she courageously faced her
illnesses, with nary a complaint or yowl of protest.
Born into meager beginnings at the animal shelter in
Chatsworth, California, eight week old Nicky, suffering from
a nasty case of pneumonia, was snatched from death’s
doorstep by her mother, Christi-Shannon Kline, who heard
Nicky call out to her in a dream. She was brought to live in
Burbank the following day along with her brother and
littermate Leonardo, where she spent the first nine years of
her life before moving to New York City.
Named after musician, clown, actor, and stuntman, Nicky
Hammerhead, she bore not only his noteworthy moustache and
go-tee, but also his zest for life and sense of adventure.
Among her many interests were earthquake preparedness, sun
bathing, spiders, sleeping, auto repair, painting, masonry,
dry wall construction, digging, religious idols, kabuki
theatre, exploring, and of course military history; spending
countless hours plotting, planning, and launching sneak
attacks on her brother from a intricate maze of bunkers she
had developed throughout her home.
Her striking resemblance to a despotic and reviled
historical figure, coupled with her charismatic personality,
led to rumors that she harbored ulterior motives of global
domination, and some went so far as to aver that she was
overhead yowling “Today the litter box, tomorrow the world!”
on more than one occasion, though no empirical evidence of
such nefarious activity is known to exist.
Like her namesake, she also had many aliases and personas:
Nicky White Flies, Nicky Baskets, Nicky Small Paws, Mumps,
Big Mama, Nicky Piskers, and Nicky Dreidels to name but a
few.
Nicky possessed a great love of music; forming a folksy duo
with a dufus hipster hairy dog that lived in the yard next
door; and crooning her favorite song “Crack Corn” at various
late night venues. Sadly, the musical duo came to an abrupt
end when the hairy dog suddenly disappeared, never to be
heard from again. Some speculated that he was swept up into
the witness protection program, but others pointed an
accusing finger at Nicky Cat, who continued to yowl solo
renditions of her favorite songs for years to come.
Contrary to her species, and much to the embarrassment of
her brother, Nicky also loved to fetch thrown objects,
relentlessly chasing puff balls up down stairs and returning
with the prize clutched in the side of her mouth beneath her
crooked whiskers, before dropping it and twitching her
expressive tail in anticipation of repeating the process
over and over again.
Generous by nature, Nicky loved to share and was always
ready to lend a paw around the house; chatting amiably while
she helped to make the bed each morning, re-organize a work
space, or simply to offer moral support during difficult
moments.
Though numerous health issues dogged her throughout the
years, she led a rich and happy life. In the end, it took a
trio of deadly diseases to do what no single illness could,
and the combination of congestive heart failure, kidney
disease, and inflammatory bowel disease finally overwhelmed
her despite the best efforts of her personal physician, Dr.
Arnold Plotnick, along with Dr. Victoria Sheheri and the
rest of the caring staff at Manhattan Cat Specialists, and
cardiologist Dr. Jessica Gentile at NYC Veterinary
Specialists..
Always quick to purr and display affection, Nicky remained a
constant companion to her brother and a devoted daughter to
her mother until the very end. She transcended her physical
limitations, embodying all creatures, great and small, and
was a vessel of pure love. She will be mourned and deeply
missed by all who had the privilege to know her.
Nicky is survived by Brother Leonardo, Mother Christi
Shannon, Father Bob, Uncle Dan, and Cousin Moochie.
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