gender

A half dozen of the cats we were certain were girls have turned out to be boys. Of the Golden Girls, Blanche became Blake, Rose became Ross. The last of Mamacita's children turn out to be two boys and a girl instead of all girls.

A friend tells me it is common to have a higher percentage of males than females. This is good news for my pocket book. The boys, because of the simplicity of anatomy, are cheaper to do. They recover faster,too.

But there is a surprising adjustment on my part and others who know these cats. When Zorra turned into Zorro, I switched to calling him Zo-Zo. His name comes from the Spanish for "fox", but because we have an association with high masculine adventure and the name Zorro, the fit seemed less accurate. He's just too sweet to envision carrying a sword and dashing about on horseback. He is the one most likely to be found snuggled up to our sickly Louie-Louie in the morning. He walks closely to the others and seems not at all disturbed by TangaRoo's bossing him.

Yesterday, I took his sister Felicity to the vet's. Felicity, in a conversation through Sharon last week, said she would be ready on Tuesday. My friends and I imagined her checking her kitty calendar to be sure the day was clear for her rite-of-passage surgery.

I reminded her the evening before that it was Tuesday the next morning and I would be setting the trap. I see no need to hide the preparations, so I brought out the carrying trap, and the covers, and set the string that pulls the nail from under the door. In the morning, I set the door and put a little food inside the trap. Everyone knows what I am up to, so it is really up to whoever is willing to come forward to do so. Some mornings no one has been willing and ready.

After some hesitation, and a sense on my part that Felicity was considering waiting until the NEXT Tuesday, she entered and let herself be contained in trap, carrying trap, and car.

A few hours later our vet called to say Felicity is a boy.

I considered changing names to Felix, but Sharon said Felicity wants to keep his name. A friend suggested using Felicitito as an endearment.

It is only perception that has been jolted. I came of age in a time of a wave of feminism. We advocated for genderless baby clothes and activities with the belief it would lead to more equality and more freedom of expression. It interests me that I need to make an internal adjustment to the identity we name gender. Boy cat, girl cat, what does it matter?

Felicity is home now, greeted with affection by his siblings Zo-Zo and Rimpoche who see no difference in who he is. He was the last of the group I take care of who needed vet attentions. I'll move the trap to my neighbors with the hopes in the next weeks the last half dozen will come forward. I think they take courage to do so for the good of the colony. And I don't think they care in the least, once they are neutered and the hormones have calmed, if they are boy or girl.