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| Name: |
Hachi-Ko
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Age: |
Deceased, ten months old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Domestic Shorthair
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Home: |
San Jose, Costa Rica
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This is my Hachi-Ko, or Hachi, as we called her. She was named after the famous Japanese dog of the same name. Hachi means "eight", but that is not just any number in Japanese, it's special to some extent. Ko can mean many things -- Japanese is a complex language that I do not fully understand, but Ko generally means "Precious", "Jewel", "Child", etc. It's essentially a diminutive term of endearment. At any rate, the entire name comes from the dog of the same name. Honestly, I think it sounds better for a girl.
She was ten months old, definitely a "mutt" or domestic short hair cat, but did appear to have a lot of Siamese traits -- including the smile; the very skinny, tall, lean body; the very vocal nature; and she walked about like a princess. She was pure Tica, born and still living in San Jose, Costa Rica. She had an amazing leap for her size, but I am sure that her low weight helped with that. Despite my attempts to gorge her, she maintained a constant 2.6 kilos -- and yes, we had checked for every possible problem that both I and our vet could think of. She was simply a naturally lean cat.
Hachi has melanism, which is the opposite of albinism. It had no adverse health effects as far as I know, but her fur and all whiskers will be solid black forever, and her eyes will always be yellow.
Ms. Hachi was the smartest cat that I have ever had and knew about 15 words in English and 7 in Spanish. When she heard me preparing her food mix in the kitchen, she routinely waited by her food bowl location, which is far away from the kitchen. She took to wearing a harness immediately, and wore it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, along with her name tag. She was also easily fully leash-trained by the age of five months and loved to walk on her leash.
Probably the most amazing thing about her was her intelligence. While my other cat (whom she mothered incessantly) chasesd the remote control car and the balls and fake mice that we have around the house, Hachi simply waited for the memorized patterns that she observed. She knew the tiny remote-control car turns left at the far-right corner of the coffee table and simply gets it with minimal effort. She wouldn't follow anyone into the kitchen unless you said "Treat" first. I have never had such a smart cat before, and we loved each other.
Words she knew -
ENGLISH:
hachi (or hacheeeee-ko) -- her name
no
down (get down from various kitchen perches)
here
pinky (her favorite toy)
blankie (her pink fleece blanket)
dinner
treat (or treatie)
daddy
mommy
honey (term of endearment)
bad (we do use "bad" to express disapproval, but never punish her)
housie (her carrier)
fishie (her shamu killer-whale doll) -- fishie is almost as big as Hachi, and seemed to be of comfort whenever we took her to the vet
baby (her second favorite toy)
lovies (used for "come close to me", or "stop biting/clawing")
brother (our other cat -- Koshka.) Hachi never responded to "Koshka" as being his name
kisses for daddy? -- she loved to lick me on the face, so I use his phrase like "that's enough" but not as "no"
SPANISH:
aqui! -- strong version of "here"
si -- approval (yes in Spanish, although I never use "yes" in English)
mi princesa -- princess (used to express affection/approval)
mi novia -- my girlfriend (same as princesa)
no la mesa! -- stay off the table (she is not allowed on eating tables)
abajo! -- strong version of "down"
jamon -- treat
oh, mi amor! -- my girlfriend uses this like I use "mi princesa"
arriba! -- get upstairs! (banishment for unruly behavior downstairs)
I do use Spanish to be more emotional in both good and bad directions, and she understood it. You'll notice that a lot of these words (just like her name, Hachi) end in an "EEEEE" sound, which cats respond to better, and is why I chose most of the words.
Unfortunately, little Hachi died far too young. I took her in to be fixed, and she died while recuperating from the anesthesia. My vet is very good, and the operation went perfectly, but probably due to some congenital defect in the heart or lungs, which went undiagnosed, she was unable to regain normal breathing or heart rate. A sad time for us all. Such a beautiful and sweet little kitty.
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