Opie Matthew Edwards Birthdate: May 1, 1997 Birthplace: Martinsville, Indiana Nicknames: Redcat, Opie-dopey, Holey roller, Mr.Chicken an otters I cann't tink ov rite now. Likes: Too role on da flore wen da hoomins cum in da howse. To goe inn da bedrume weneffur da dore openz. Too plae wif mie bigg brofur Sammey, an chaise da gurlkities. An I lylke ta slepe wif Jakkee on da teevee. An oh yeah, I luv ta plae fetch wif Daddy. Da nooest ting I lykes ta doo iz chaise Widegy. Sheez soooo fat she cannt run furry fasst! Hee hee! Dislikes: Wen ole Bitesy swatts me, witch iz efurry time shee seas mee, an wenn itz tyme ta putt me owt of da bedrume at nite. Onely Sammey an Bitesy gitz ta slepe in dere, I donoe whie. I kepe da bedmowsies awae frum dem!

I izz prackticin up ta bee da Kinng ov da Howse--dis iz my bossy luke!

Lyk moast orange boys, I gitz a liddle crankie at tymes. Dis wuz wun ov dose tymes.

I beelongz to a swel klubb fur orunj kities. Goe sea abowt dem heer,an

see da fun youse kin hav by joynin...but onely if youse iz an orunj boy!

Hay! I jiss joynded anutter klubb. Dis wun iz fur tomz onely. Youse kin sea it on da saim paij.

 

In August of 1997 I was missing Hootie more than usual, as August was his birth month. I wanted another orange boy, and told our neighbor Barbara so. A few days later she came to the door carrying a little bundle of orange fur, handed it to me and said, "This is Matthew". Her husband had gotten him from a family in Martinsville. He was the last of a litter, the only kitten who had not gone to another home. At three months old, he already had the face of a grown cat--a very cranky cat at that. He was not the least bit happy at being carted from his home and being dumped in with two strange humans and a bunch of even stranger cats. And two d*gs on top of it!

After the first few days of sulking and generally cranking out, he began to settle in. Before long Sammy had adopted him, washing and grooming him like a mama cat, then playing and wrestling with him. He and Sammy are very good friends now, but the other cats steer clear of him...he's just a bit too aggressive for their tastes. Well, Jackie, the other holy terror of the family does play with him on occasion. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

How did Matthew get to be called Opie? Ask lisaviolet, whose meowmie had mentioned she liked the name and thought it would be good to give it to an orange boy. Since Matthew failed to respond to his birth name, we thought we'd try Opie on him. Well, he didn't respond to that name either, but it seemed to fit so we left it at that.

Opie's full-grown now, and as suspected he is a big guy. And in spite of his cranky attitude, he can be very sweet and loving. He's really a happy cat, and we're happy to have him.