My novel Stray Cats has been out for almost a year, and many people have read and loved it. A question I get asked is, “Are the cat characters real?” Unlike the canines from its predecessor, Lost Dogs, the felines from Stray Cats are all based on actual pets I’ve known.
All of the real-life cats were so complex and interesting, that I could only portray them in broad brushstrokes in the book. If you’re a cat lover, spare me a few moments, and I’ll tell you all about them and how they made the transition to the page.
“Pimmi”/Pimienta
The main character of Stray Cats is “Pimmi,” a female black cat who is note-for-note our Pimienta. We adopted her as an 8-week old kitten from a local animal shelter, and she’s the only one of the dozens of pets we’ve had over the years whose birthday we know: March 17, 2014.
Pimienta’s mother had been taken in by the shelter while pregnant, and she queened her kittens there. Because they had been born on St Patrick’s Day, the staff gave them appropriate names: our kitten started life as “Clover.”
When our daughter Ally-Jane brought home “Clover,” she renamed her “Pimienta,” or “Pepper” in Spanish. We nicknamed her “Pimi” (with one “m”), and she quickly became Ally’s favorite (and vice versa). Whenever Ally was home, Pimi was often cuddling with her, and she always slept with Ally.
When Ally went off to college, Pimi stayed with us, but sometimes, she got lonely. My wife Joni developed a morning routine she calls “Coffee with Pim,” where she sits on Ally’s bed, has her coffee, and listens to The God Minute app while Pimi snuggles her, suckling and “kneading dough” on her favorite stuffed critter. I’ll often sit with Pimi in the evenings, after work.
Pimi has her food dish, water bowl, and litter box in Ally’s room. Correction: now that Ally is done with school and moved out, we’ve started calling it “Pimi’s Room”. To maintain her space, we’ve trained our dogs not to go in there. Our cat Sophie (who doesn’t much care for Pimi) stays out, too. Only Gandalf, the gray tabby, comes in, sometimes sleeping on the bed.
Pimi is playful, fond of laser pointers and toys. She likes to wrestle Gandalf, lying on her back in front of him, claws out, daring him to make a move. When he was younger and enjoyed fighting, he was all for these bouts, but now that he’s old and in poor health, he doesn’t care for them anymore, whining in irritation until we rescue him from her.
Pimi is very shy: when people come over to the house, she hides. It was weeks after we got our latest dog, Sheba (an intimidating Kangal), until Pimi came out of the bedroom, usually only at night after all of us (and Sheba) had gone to bed.
While she still avoids the big dog, Pimi has become less wary of Sheba. In fact, knowing that Sheba isn’t allowed to chase her, Pimi sometimes saunters past her, saucily flicking her tail, teasing like, “Ha! Ha! You can’t mess with me, or Dad will fuss at you.” How cheeky!
While Pimi likes lounging (or dramatically napping) in open windows, she has no urge to go outdoors. We tried to take her into the yard a few times on a harness and leash, but she cringed and didn’t want to go anywhere, anxious to get back inside to safety as soon as she could.
It’s her timidness that I picked up on for Stray Cats (and the kids’ book Pimmi Makes a Friend). “Be brave!” the fictional Pimmi tells herself, as she contends with the cosmic menace of the Kurindans.
More About Pimienta:
- Though she’s not a big eater, Pimi does have a…shall we say…prominent primordial pouch.
- Pimi likes to chew on cellophane (not that we let her).
- Pimi only learned how to meow this past year.
- When creating the fictional version of her for Stray Cats, I spelled her name with an extra “m” to note the correct pronunciation of her name: “Pimmi” rhymes with “Timmy.”
Come back soon for Part 2 of this series, and I’ll tell you about the cat who inspired the dual character of “Mister Muffins/Pharaoh.”
Kenton Kilgore writes killer sci-fi and fantasy for young adults, and adults who are still young. He also dabbles in children’s books. Follow Kenton on Facebook for frequent posts on sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. You can also catch him on Instagram and TikTok.
So that brave looking cat on the cover is wishful thinking on the author’s part!
I love reading about Pimi and her adventures. My cat, Peanut, also loves chewing on cellophane, the only one of my many cats to do that weird thing.
Great cat pics, and dog pic too! Pimi is quite lovely and sounds like fun, too.