Meet The Amazing Kore

Original article by S. Veigel 06/25/2017

Reviewed for relevancy 07/07/2020

As you know I have dogs. But I am sick and tired of watching kid movies where, in every instance, the cat is the villain; never the hero. And it just reflects an undertone prevalent in society where the common wisdom is that cats are unfriendly, sneaky, mean and too aloof. So in this article I’d like to introduce you to the amazing Kore. And I do mean, “Amazing”.

First of all I apologize for not having photos here but the Kores lived with us many years ago and I’ll have to ask you to use your imagination a bit.

There were actually two cats named Kore. The name Kore we got from a book of names and back then understood this as meaning, “Gift of God”. Since then I learned that there are variations on this name depending on whether you’re using Greek or Hebrew but just work with me here. Because we thought the cats just had this attitude, as if they thought they were a gift from God.

The first Kore – not the most significant in this account – was a large short haired black male. Every day I came home from work Kore would be there to meet me. He’d roll affectionately on the sidewalk and then jump up to follow me in. In the house Kore number 1 would often hop up on the high back chair where I was reading and lay across my shoulders.

One morning as I arrived home I did not see Kore and found it curious. I looked up and down the street, called him and then got concerned. But then in the distance I saw an animal running across the street. “That’s a possum!” I exclaimed to myself. And then, I saw Kore running across the street. “That’s Kore!” I exclaimed. “Chasing a possum!”

Kore just had this attitude that nothing was too big to handle. One day I watched him confuse two Doberman Pinchers that were running loose. He was just not going to give ground in his yard and they did not know what to make of it. He didn’t hiss, he just sat there and stared them down. Another day I looked out my window and saw Kore on the neighbor’s fence and got worried. The dog next door was known to chase people down if he got out and I froze. But Kore didn’t care. He jumped down right in front of that dog and casually strolled across the yard. And the dog just seemed baffled to think that a cat could be so brazen.

Moving forward, we were in Navy housing in the 1980’s when we got my daughter a kitten. It was a cute little Main Coon. It was black with a white vest. And since the name Kore brought some interesting thoughts my way we, of course, named the new kitten Kore, not realizing that he would not only continue the legacy but that he would surpass it.

Kore number 2 was, of course, known for his attitude. He would stroll across the street at will regardless of whether or not a car was approaching. We would yell, not knowing what to do, “Kore, get out of the street!” And the car would pass as he was half way across blowing a breeze up his rear. But Kore was invariably undaunted. He would just stop and look around as if to say, “How rude” and then slowly continue on his way.

One day my daughter came down the stairs and she was worried. Kore was outside her second floor bedroom window sitting on top of the window air conditioner. How he got there I had no idea but I carefully crawled out onto the porch roof and retrieved him. Then, later, I saw him there again. “How did he get up there?” I thought. There were no trees nearby for him to climb. Occasionally he’d be on top of a neighbor’s porch roof and then jump down so I stopped worrying about it. But how was he doing that? And then one day I saw him. He walked over to a porch, climbed straight up the rod iron support columns and sat there watching the world go by.

Before Kore got really amazing we fell in love with his attitude. An attitude that was both endearing and troublesome. Endearing in the sense that he would sit on a car fender where I had the hood up to work on it. Endearing in the sense that he would follow kids around and sleep with my daughter who loved him. Endearing in the sense that when he wanted attention he would just sit, look at you awhile, then walk over and head-butt your leg. Then he would sit back down and stare at you as if to say, “You can pet me now”. But troublesome in the way he would bring cats home.

People talk a lot about how independent cats are. But they don’t often recognize that cats, though they are independent self-reliant hunters, are very social creatures; depending on the environment and how they are treated from a young age.

During this period of time we had Kore and a dog named Flash. We thought that was enough. But Kore didn’t. Navy housing was notorious for people who had to move to different duty stations and for pets who often got left behind. Occasionally Kore would be lying on the back patio with another cat curled up with him. They would play and be friends as we tried to pretend the other cats already had a home. And then, one by one, Kore would get up to come inside and the other cat would respond in kind; eventually being adopted by us and Flash.

Now let’s fast forward to 1992 when I was discharged from the Navy and bought a house in Virginia Beach. Both Kores had been pretty unique and I loved them. But this is where I really got to appreciate how unique Kore number 2 was.

Kore 2 continued his admirable attitude of course. One day I was mowing the lawn with a gas powered lawn mower and Kore was lying in the long grass enjoying a sunny day. Thinking he would move as I got closer I continued mowing. And then I started mowing around him as he looked at me somewhat irritated to think I would think to disturb him. Finishing the lawn, except where I had to mow a circle around Kore, I heard my neighbor next door. “Do you want to see something amazing” I called. She looked over and said, “I know. If I’m backing out of my driveway in the morning and he’s lying there I have to steer around him.” We laughed and then she continued, “One day my dog was in the back yard and cat got in. I looked out the window and saw my dog stalking the cat and I was worried something would happen to it. Then I looked around and Kore was stalking the dog”.

Not everyone liked Kore. A couple neighbors were irritated in quiet subtle ways that he was actually permitted to be outside without a leash or outside at all. But he was tolerated. And I didn’t care. Because I saw something amazing they didn’t see, care to see, know or understand.

Every weekend the children would be playing street hockey in front of my house. Invariably a couple kids would be sitting on the curb watching the game. And between the kids sitting on the curb was Kore. Every morning when the children walked to the school bus stop Kore would be walking among them and sit with them waiting for the bus. Some mornings, I heard, the school bus driver would have to stop Kore from following the kids onto the bus. And then, the most amazing thing. I’d observe Kore lying in the front yard and about 3:30 in the afternoon, as if he had an alarm clock, I would see him get up, walk to the bus stop, sit down at the curb and wait for the bus. The bus came, kids got off the bus and Kore would be seen in their midst as they walked home.

I don’t have a screen print of this yet but I have some old VHS tape of my son in the back yard with Kore. They’re lying side by side in the grass. Then my son rolls over and Kore rolls over after him. My son rolls back the other way and so does Kore in turn. He’s not a trained cat, it’s just who Kore was. He loved people, he loved life and he epitomized the best to be experienced when aware people relate honestly to animals.