CHALLENGE ENTRY
MAGIC’S STORY
Magic came to me through my best friend. She said her sister-in-law had a black kitten but she was about to just put him outside because she found one she liked better and would I take him.
Of course I will. I couldn’t let that happen. I had about ten kitties at the time and I was trying to not take any more. Older males are a nightmare to re-home but a cute little kitten would be easy. Get him altered and vaccinated, let him get used to being loved and find him a good home. Easy.
First problem, she held him out the car window and he was anything but little. She said that he was some kind of special breed that is big and that both parents were very big and both over 20 pounds. Okay not what I expected but I’ll figure it out.
I’ve since confirmed the story but she has a few disabilities and I thought maybe she was confused. A friend of her parents breeds Bombays and he had a runt with a few imperfections and thought a kitten would be just what she needed.
Second problem, as soon as I held him I knew he was mine. He came with the name Midnight and I don’t rename cats but I kept accidently calling him Magic and he didn’t seem to mind so I went with it
Third problem, he was high need from the start. Pregnant, 5 kids, a bunch of cats and an abusive husband I was trying to keep under control and it took 2 days to notice that the kitten refused to eat. He got excited when I opened the cabinet and super excited when I opened the refrigerator.
I had my friend find out what kind of food and what was up with the refrigerator thing. The food was a different flavor of what I was trying to get him to eat and the refrigerator thing was because she would share cookies and milk with him. He absolutely refused to eat so I got him his own food. Sorry kitty, no more milk and cookies.
He was glued to me from the start. I would pick him up and he’d snuggle up on my shoulder and rest his butt on my arm. He thinks he still fits and it’s still one of his favorite places to be.
Fast forward a bit, my entire world was gone inside of a week and Magic never left my side. I remember standing in the middle of the street and all I had was the clothes on my back, no shoes on my feet and Magic. He stayed with me everywhere I went and wouldn’t let anyone near me.
I saw a sign that fits perfectly - In my darkest hour I reached for a hand and found a paw
Everyone thinks I’m joking or crazy when I say that he thinks he’s my Alpha until they see him. He sits in the doorway guarding me when I’m in the kitchen and is with me everywhere else. My husband recently said “The only one more protective of you than him is me. Magic MOVE”
Guarding against anything that might come through the bedroom door
CARE AND FEEDING OF HIS ROYAL KITTYNESS
He requires lots of attention. LOTS of attention.
INTERACTING WITH HIM
When I describe the process of him letting anyone else pet him, I feel like I’m talking about the Hippogriff in Harry Potter.
He requires a lot of attention.
He gets bored easily. He needs something challenging, and his little fuzzy mice. He likes the tan one in the middle of the small package best. He won’t touch the ones from the big package. I keep several packages because he stashes them near his favorite places. I left my night table drawer open one night and he apparently put his mouse in the drawer because he reached in to grab it before we left the bedroom. He also likes to bat things that roll back and forth, particularly little toy cars.
He requires lots of attention.
He talks a lot and has three main sounds, one I would describe as chirping, one sounds like a dove purring and the other one I guess I would call a click. He puts them together in different order depending on what he wants and they are often accompanied by a leap turn combo.
His left ear is crumpled from a recent medical issue but he’s happy and healthy and I think he’s cute with his little crumply ear
He has the beginning stages of Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome and Cardiomyopathy. He is on a strict diet of very expensive food. He is an overeater and he will swear that he is starving.
He is a high maintenance kitty
He needs to drink water a few minutes before you give him his food or it will come back up.
He is a high maintenance kitty
His water dish needs to be cleaned every day, changed first thing in the morning, midday and at night and if even one speck of anything is in his dish it will need to be rinsed and refilled. He’ll watch to make sure you’re doing it right.
He’s a high maintenance kitty.
If he’s hungry he pushes his food dish in the middle of the floor, if he is displeased with his water he tips it over, if he wants to play he pushes his toy box to they middle of the floor
He is a high maintenance kitty
HYGIENE ROUTINE
It’s mostly a Bombay thing but his nose is also a medical thing.
DAILY: Wipe his eyes, ears and nose with slightly warm, damp cotton balls.
TWICE WEEKLY: Flush his ears with his ear solution.
WEEKLY: Massage the pads of his feet with a warm,slightly damp cotton ball. He LOVES having his front feet done, his back feet not so much
He is a high maintenance kitty
Magic is a true Witch’s companion. He comes to me when I’m upset, he is where I keep my calm. The first few days after my concussion my husband had to pick him up from the bed and shut him out of the bedroom so he would eat and use the litter box.
Overview of Bombays
In the late 1950s a woman from Kentucky set out to create a breed of cat that would basically be a house sized big cat.
In her attempt to create a mini black panther, she bred Sable Burmese with British Shorthair and American Shorthair. By the mid 1960s she had succeeded and the Bombay was recognized by The Cat Fancier’s Association in 1970
Her inspiration was a Melanistic Indian Leopard, an all black Indian Leopard also known as a Black Panther. They are also referred to as “The Ghost of the Forest” as they are one of the rarest Big Cats to see in the wild. Photographing one in the wild is every wildlife photographer’s dream.
Characterizations of Bombays
Bombays are all black. Their nose, nails and pads of their feet. They have a shiny black coat, round copper eyes. Everything on a Bombay is round, the tip of their tail and ears, and their muzzle and paws. They have an extra toe that is positioned like a thumb making their front paws look like hands.
Their big swipe, stealth and speed despite their size make them excellent hunters even though they prefer to be inside. And I do mean excellent hunters, imagine a house cat taking down a rabbit.
Bombays are very affectionate and are often referred to as Velcro kitties. They’re playful, cuddly, smart, bossy and needy. When they want something they will tell you. They make a variety of sounds, none of which are the sound of a normal cat.
One of the coolest things about Bombays is that they have many Black Panther traits. The bridge of their nose, the sway in their walk, the body to tail proportion and the long question mark tail.
I mean… I have six ball pythons and they’re all my babies – even the snappy one named Firefly 
they’ve always been a source of inspiration for me in one way or another. They go through transformation regularly. They are a source of fear for people. They are connected with the spiritual world, though I didn’t know that early on. They’re a source of growth and inspiration!
as my animal spirit!
Maybe stick with the snakes, they’re very soft to hold, I held one in a park and it was cuddly. 
I could feel your words, if that makes sense 
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