Duke EllingtonBirthday: May 2010
Observed Birthday: May 25th (Towel Day)
Name: Duke Ellington was named after a legendary jazz musician. Since he already knew his name when I adopted him at two-years of age and responds very well to being called Duke, I left it as is due to feeling that it would be very unfair to the cat to rename him.
Description: Duke Ellington is a black and white tuxedo print cat with white markings that are perfectly symetrical on his feet and stomach, while being asymetrical on his chest. There is a very miniscule amount of white on his chin near his lower lip that you have to get in very close to see it. His body type is slender with long legs such that he looks lanky.
He sometimes makes funny expressions [as shown in the picture to the right] where he looks like he isn't amused by whatever it is that he is currently looking at. However he is also a very playful and friendly cat that will find something to entertain himself. Besides his cat furniture in the living room, he has also claimed the top of a shelf in my bedroom as his that he kept clearing off until I got the hint and stopped putting things on it.
Unlike my other cat, he bites his nails, and I uploaded a video to YouTube that you can see here.
He is an exceptionally intelligent cat and learns things very quickly, especially if it is something he observes and copies from either my other cat or even myself. His favorite spot to sleep at night is at the foot of my bed, but I have noticed that he'll go out to the living room where Rikku [my other cat] likes to sleep when she is having one of her bad nights.
Although he is not a kissy cat, he will lap sit if a blanket is tossed over your lap, likes to kneed, and is a cuddler.
Prior History: Duke was originally adopted out as a kitten but sent back to the sanctuary at around age two when his cat parent became engaged [and the fiance was allergic to cats.] Something I do know about the sanctuary he came from is that they really only get kittens because of unspayed feral mothers. While the mother cat can only be trapped, spayed then released; the kittens can be bottle fed and acclimated to people very easily if caught young enough.
The only downside I've found [if you can call it that] is that your getting a cat that will have absolutely no survival skills at all and will be entirely dependent upon you for his survival for his entire life. When bugs do get into the house, Duke will just sit there and stare at them as if he doesn't know what he's supposed to do with them.
