Clarence McClacken, The Cat That Quacks

All photos property of T.K. Millin

What’s faster than a speeding bullet, can catch a squirrel with its bare paws and double dips on meals from the neighbors?  

Not Clarence.  At least, not anymore.

It was the summer of 1999 when Clarence first showed up in the condominium complex my husband and I lived in at the time, and was he ever cute as a button!

At first, I didn’t bring him inside to live.  I had four other cats at the time (two of them are featured in my post, A Tail of Two Kitties) and he seemed content in living outdoors.  After all, he was King of the jungle!   Well, at least in the undeveloped woods that faced our back patio.  

I delighted in watching him stalk and outrun squirrels, sunbathe on the patio and even laughed when I found out my neighbor was also feeding him, which explained his rapid growth.

That fall, my husband and I were going to spend two and half weeks traveling Europe and even though I knew my neighbor was also feeding him, I worried about what would happen to him.  So, after my carefully planned and thought out conversation with my husband, (ok, there may have been some manipulation involved), he agreed I could board Clarence at the Vet’s office, but with one stipulation... Clarence would have to go back outside when we returned.  I agreed to the terms for it was better than me worrying for over two weeks about him disappearing, or even worst.

By the time my husband and I returned to Europe for another vacation in the fall of 2000, Clarence had warmed his way into our home, and into my husband’s heart. 

These days, Clarence couldn’t catch the world’s fastest tortoise if he tried, however, he does still spend most of his time sunbathing, and double dipping on meals!

"Mmmm, I wonder what's for dinner?"

Why do we call him, Clarence McClacken?  Because, when you talk to him or ask him a question, he responds with either one simple, “cack,” or several, “cack, cack, cack,” turning him into, Clarence McClacken, the cat that quacks!  

Every tail has a story.  What’s yours?