I began to call Charley things like The Calico Monster and The Calico Horror when she was about 3 months old and I realized that what was to me a tiny and adorable baby kitten was to the elderly Lucia a relentless little thug with needle-claws who was always tagging after her and wanting to wrestle when she just wanted to sit in the window or the armchair and mind her own business. The phrase “Leave the Big Kitty alone” became commonplace for awhile, and the only way to get Charley to knock it off was to take her or Lucia to another room and shut the door so Lucia could have some peace.
Eventually, I did get a second kitten (Emily, The Calico Horror Part II) and that took Charley’s attention away from poor Lucia. Lucia died last autumn, and I don’t think she was ever happy about kittens overrunning her house, but at least her last months weren’t miserable with them bothering her.
The two calico girls are no longer kittens, but are still happy chasing each other up and down the house and getting into mutual headlocks on the living room floor.