Cat/Mao/Cattykoo/Eish-Meow

A few weeks ago, our good friends Jinty and Benoit, and their two boys, Leo and Emil, moved to Mozambique. We were very sad to see them go. Jinty is an avid gardener, and we inherited many of her beautiful indigenous plants.

We also inherited...

Mao!

Cat!

Cattykoo!


Leo named her Cattykoo, but we'd like to give her a new name. Aviva calls her "Mao," which is the Chinese word for cat. Then again, she calls every cat "Mao." The cat also goes by "Cat."

Our friend Beth suggested Eish-Meow. To explain, Swazis and South Africans use "Eish!" as an exclamation. (It's pronounced "eesh.") We might say "wow," or "yikes" or even "oh no." Eish-Meow sounds like the name "Ishmael," and it's our favorite so far, but it's a little hard to say, so for now it will probably be her middle name.

She is a very sweet cat, and her best personality trait is that she allows Aviva to follow her around, pet her not-so-gently, and even pull her tail, and she has never tried to scratch or bite Aviva. She just simply walks away.



If she's tired, she even lets Aviva sleep on her.


Peter didn't want her to be an indoor cat, but even he wasn't immune to her charms.