Shadow Beni

Shadow Beni is my cat. We've been together since 2004, when I rescued him from a tormented existence as a stray near a rumshop. He loves hearing steelpan, as I was practicing when I found him. From the start, he was a well-behaved gentleman, sitting quietly in a grocery bag as I travelled home in various taxis, then using his litterbox unfailingly with only one demo.

He is named after an herb used abundantly in Trinidadian cooking - similar to cilantro but a bit more pungent. (HE, however, is not pungent!) At Christmas, he loves sitting under the tree, when he's not batting the ornaments off.

He "talks" often and has many funny adventures. One of his favorite playtime activities is to sit in a box while a human pulls him around, as if he is driving a car, resting his head on the edge, like a "cool dude." He also likes to pretend it's a plane - that requires a box small enough to pick up and wave around in the air (more difficult as he's getting bigger.)

While he's an indoor cat, he rules his domain by chasing away other strays who try to taunt him with his scary-sounding calls and his fluffed-up self. Also, he is an excellent bug-catcher. Tiny lizards, too, although I try to rescue them and take them outside before he gets to them. Once he even caught one and put it into his "toybox" with his other stuffed mice, balls, etc.

He's the softest cat I've ever lived with - perhaps due to his insistence on eating only Science Diet. He loves it and is not interested in other brands or in "wet" catfood. However, he enjoys the occasional bit of chicken, tuna, salmon, or cheese. Not much, mind you, but just a few morsels. Also vanilla ice-cream, melted and licked from a spoon.

Shadow just wanted me to introduce him as he has not yet perfected the art of the keyboard.