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| Lenin by G. Foutoux All Rights Reserved Copyright L.Ivison |
Ming the Siamese cat had just given birth to five Kuppies. They sucked at their mother's teats, purring before the Great Hall Fire and Prince Volonski sat looking satisfied with his new breed. The Kuppies' father, Lenin, was a Dalmation and the Kuppies had black muzzles, black legs and a black tail. Their ears, however, instead of being upright and standing on their heads, were twice the normal size and hung over their still closed eyes. You could already see the black spots on their bodies and their purrs were twice as loud as normal kittens, indeed the Kuppies themselves were twice the size of normal kittens.
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| Ming and Kuppie by G. Foutoux All Rights Reserved Copyright L.Ivison 2013 |
Prince Volonski was renowned for his inventive nature and his Rose Garden was noted throughout the region of N. in France where he had been exiled with his father half a century before. In particular, his Crimson Neige variety was famous for blooming all through the year. Bored by a long wet winter the Prince had hit on the idea one night when Ming, with her usual indifference, had walked across his shoulders while he was sitting on the sofa, using him like a bridge. He wondered why cats couldn't be more like dogs and, for that matter, why dogs couldn't be more like cats. Of course, Ming's independence compensated for her indifference while Lenin the Dalmation was always getting under his feet, was too big and brought muddy puddles into the house.
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| Lenin Stretches by G. Foutoux All Rights Reserved Copyright L.Ivison 2013 |
"Wouldn't it be wonderful" he thought, "to have a dog that was a bit more independent and a little smaller and a cat that didn't climb up the curtains and was a bit more affectionate." And so it was, he hit upon what he called his "highbreed" idea - or, more affectionately, his COGS. So far, he thought, as he looked at Ming and her Kuppies, so good. The Kuppies were healthy, they had purrs that even on their first blind day sounded like small lawn mowers, and Ming's iris eyes opened and closed with satisfaction.
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| A Kuppie by G. Foutoux Copyright All Rights Reserved 2013 L.Ivison |
It was not long, however, before the Prince began to regret his experiment. It was true that Ignatius, Portia Penelope, Rodolph and Zorro grew into active Kuppies and were as affectionate as their mother Ming was indffeerent, but the cross-breeding had not eliminated the curtain climbing and the chateau's velvet curtains had been torn to shreds by the weight of the new breed. The Prince hadn't accounted for their refusal to use the litter tray like normal kittens and he now slid around the chateau floor finding large puddles wherever he went.
When the Prince went out walking passers-by were unnerved by the Cogs who purred while he passed the time of day.
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| A Kuppie goes Walkies in the Prince's Park by G. Foutoux All Rights Reserved Copyright L.Ivison 2013 |
He had become attached to Ignatius and Rodolph in particular but he gave away Portia, Penelope and Zorro as soon as they were weaned. The philosopher in him recognised that cats were the size they were for a reason and that Cogs who barked and purred at the same time would always be considered odd.
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