 Home | Table of Contents Volume 3 Issue 6 
| ||
|
|
KT: How many cats do you have? CC: I have two Abyssinians. Their names are Minstrel and Music Man, or M&M. I also call them Major and Minor. To be honest I have a ton of names for them. They like it when I call them my little Gooserheads KT: Growing up did you have a lot of pets? CC: No. We had a dog for about two weeks. I didn't really like him; he had an aroma that I did not care for. My sister and I always wanted pets, so when my brother was born he started keeping Parakeets, and we had tons of Parakeets. When I moved out on my own, I had my own cat named Nefertiti. It was a black cat and she lived to be 18. The day I bought my home in Beverly Hills, she died, so she never came here. It was like she said, "Go on, it's time to move on with your life". Many years before I went on a dock near a bay, and I saw this cat, so I followed it to its owner and he told me it was an Abyssinian. He went on to tell me everything about them. So that day, in a manner not unlike Scarlet O' Hara in Gone with the Wind when she picks up the radish and says, "I'll never go hungry again," I said if I ever make money, I will own an Abyssinian. And so I did. KT: How did you acquire most of your pets? CC: Well Nefertiti just wandered into my life. I was living in a cave, and she just showed up and became my bud for 18 years. All the Abyssinians I have bought from breeders. I had Songbird--my first one--whom someone stole, Harmony that died of a rare disease, Minstrel and Mistro. Mistro passed away, and now I have Music Man. KT: Do you spoil your pets? CC: Well they are Beverly Hills Cats, so they have 5 kitty liters. They are fed twice a day. I try not to give them much people food. So, I do my best to take really good care of them. They get cared for by Dr. Winters of the Beverly Hills Small Animal Pet Hospital, so I insure they only get top-notch treatment. KT: Do you travel with M&M? CC: No I prefer not to, God forbid I'd take them somewhere and they spent the entire trip under the bed cause they where terrified. I have a pet nanny named Susan Jones, a remarkable lady who takes care of the cats wonderfully. KT: Do you work with any animal organizations? CC: Well I help when I can. I occasionally work with Feline and Friends, that is run by Sherry Hacket, Buddy Hacket's wife. I'm involved in Shambala, which is Tippi Hedren's organization. I strongly support 1-800-HELP-4-Pets; they help locate lost pets. I also do a lot of work with children; I believe you've got to help humanity as well. KT: Do you have a favorite animal? CC: It would definitely have to be cats. Big cats, small cats, any color or size-I love them all. I also am in love with Dolphins. Every time I'm in Florida, I go down to Key Largo and to the Dolphin Research Center. I've got a friend there who lets me swim with the Dolphins in exchange for some Cigars. KT: You have been fortunate enough to work in several projects. Which one of them are you most proud of? CC: Well, I was lucky enough to co-write the theme to Rocky with Bill Conti and Anne Robins which went on to become the physical fitness songs of the world. That was one of my lucky stars. One of my favorite songs was a tune called With You I'm Born Again from a film called Fast Break. It has gone on to where many people have gotten married to it. The Rescuers was a great project because it was animated. We were nominated for an Oscar for that one. KT: What will you like to be remembered for? CC: I guess I'd like to be remembered for my music. I've written a song called Only the Music, Only my Song. Part of the lyric says, "Only the Music, Only my Song, will be there after I'm gone. Only the Music, Only my Song. They're my friends after all my friends are gone". I think I'd like to be remembered for music because that seems to be my life. KT: If you could be any animal which one would you be and why? CC: I'd be a porpoise, because I love the water. I'd like to be that intelligent. Or a cat. KT: What do you think about music today? CC: Well, I watch MTV, and I listen to today's music. I listen to Rap and I think some of it is just so brilliant; the rhymes and the words are wonderful. Yet some of it is very angry, very anti-police, pro drug and crime. I think it is our children crying out to us and telling us this is what they are living. I think some of it is brilliant, and some of it is just so awful. KT: Do you feel you and your cats have a special bond? CC: Yes, of course. In fact, when my cat Harmony died I had dreamt her death the night before. It came to me in a dream and they told me they were taking Harmony from me. I said no. They said she has to because she had to visit my father. My father had already passed away. I said ok. I'll get another kitty, I'll name it Mistro, the voice said, and it'll be a little boy. That morning Harmony died. I was supposed to go to The First Aids Benefit that night given by Sammy Davis Jr., and I couldn't because I cried so much. Another thing I learned was to be very careful with turkeys. Mistro died cause he ate the string that is used to keep the turkey together, and it wrapped around his intestines. During Thanksgiving, it is very important we watch out for similar accidents. | |
