This is a drawing I did of Manny. He was vaccinated against feline leukemia and was one of the 15% or so that get it anyway. Last Tuesday he was put to sleep. For all you cat lovers out there, I'll tell you of a very remarkable cat who I miss very much. Fifteen years ago, my husband, bought Manny at the flea market, for $3.00 (with a full set of fleas.) I walked into the house and was told to look under the lazy boy chair. I did and staring back at me were two, large round eyes. They did not look happy. Manny (unnamed at this point) had not been happy about the itching fleas, but was even less happy about the bath. I carefully drew him out and inspected my new acquisition. He was largely of the common tan and black with bits of white tabby variety, but when you turned him over and looked at his belly (not with his cooperation) it was apricot with black spots. It was so cute and required regular observance. In time it turned to a foxy orange and we didn't flip him over quite as much. It took a little while for him to tell us his name. Once he got used to us, he liked to come flying out and latch on to any ankle that was moving. Since we sometimes move fairly fast, he might be projected halfway across the room, before we knew we had been attacked. There is a character in a fantasy by David Eddings named Mandorallen. He is very courageous, loves to fight and is not overly bright. We had a name for our little kamikaze. It was soon shortened to Manny. As he matured, he grew into the kind of cat I really like. Long, lean, muscular and short haired. He was a terrific climber and leaper. Manny was neutered at the allotted time. This altered his passion, but did not diminish it. He loved soft furry blankets. I mean he LOVED soft furry blankets. He was quite happy to display his ardor regardless of where they were. One day, I was at my parents' home after my dad's stroke, and ladies from their church were visiting him. In comes Manny from one of the bedrooms, dragging a blanket he had stripped off the bed. "Oh! Look at the cute kitty with his blanket!" "Yes" I thought, "And I'm going to scoop up the cute kitty, before he does what he is intending, to his blanket." He was a terror at the vets. One day it took 4 vets to hold him down so another could take blood from him. It sounded like a cat fight was going on. When I walked out to the waiting room with him back in his carrier, every pair of eyes there were following my progress and trying to see what kind of monster I was carrying. The vet gave me a little bottle of pills, "Give him one of these one half hour before bringing him in next time." The pills had an unfortunate side effect. When he started coming down off of them his libido was greatly increased. This was not a cat that needed an increase in libido. I was sitting in a lazy boy, in a fuzzy robe when my right arm was accosted. What was my son's reaction? "Don't move him! Let me get my phone!" My son's phone had a camera in it. Somewhere, if he still has it, is a picture of my arm being molested by my crazy, lust filled cat. Manny was very affectionate. He was one of those cats who didn't want to be petted by one hand if two were available. He loved other cats and loved to bath them. One of my favorite auditory memories is of Manny bathing our new kitten Pepper. Pepper likes to suckle and had latched on to the fur of Manny's chest as Manny licked him. Manny wasn't at all sure that he liked this, but he didn't want to stop licking Pepper. I heard Pepper's trilling kitten purr and loud suckling and Manny trying to lick and growl at the same time. I couldn't stop laughing. Manny gave me a lot of laughter. He was a beautiful, demanding sweetheart of a cat. I miss him.