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When Karen's daughter moved back to Lawrence in the fall of 1999, she brought a kitten she'd rescued from an abusive situation and nursed back to health. Erin was planning on keeping the kitten herself, but we got so attached to him while Erin was looking for an apartment that we persuaded her to let us keep him. Rufus looks a lot like a miniature version of BB, but is much more relaxed. In fact, we suspect he has a little rag-doll (a notoriously laid-back breed) in him. He and Nissa are great friends, and Maxine has even started playing with him. |
| We found Nissa (pronounced KNEE-sa) on our patio Memorial Day weekend, 1999, hungry, collarless, and apparently homeless. Although we fed her, we hoped she was merely visiting. It stormed the entire weekend, and by Monday we realized she'd taken up residence in our garage. A quick trip to the vet to have her checked for feline leukemia and get her shots…and we had another cat. Nissa is tiny (six or seven pounds) but is at least a year old by now. She's extremely affectionate, but at present still acts like an active, playful kitten. |
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BB is the biggest at over 15 pounds (unless Bonnie has caught up with him!). He has a quirky personality (he spends much of his time sitting in the odd position in the photo) and enjoys hassling the other cats, although he's been mellowing out a bit lately. For all of his size, he's literally scared of his own shadow. BB has become much more affectionate the past year or two and has actually turned into a lap-sitter. |
| Bonnie is really sweet. I adopted her from the animal shelter after my cat Max died. She sits up and bats at her ears when she wants attention. We have it on video but don't have a photo yet. She had to have surgery for bladder stones (rare in young cats) but made a quick recovery. We're trying to figure out how to put her on a diet. |
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Kaos is the most exotic-looking of our cats. Despite his elegant appearance, he's a klutz. He also has a water fetish. Turn on a tap anywhere in the house and he's usually there wanting a drink. He also likes balancing on the edge of the bathtub and watching people bathe. Sometimes he falls in! |
| Gizmo would probably prefer being an only cat. She doesn't pick fights, but when she's threatened by one of the others her yowl is astonishing. She loves to cuddle and won't leave me alone when I'm trying to take a nap. |
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Sindle is another animal-shelter adoptee. That was her name when I got her in 1987, and I have no idea what it means. She's mostly Siamese, but in spite of that is soft-spoken. She likes to be pounded rather than petted. Sindle is one of the smartest of our cats. She has "coughing cat syndrome" (a form of asthma) and requires a cortisone shot every six to eight weeks to keep the congestion out of her lungs. Sindle has maintained normal health for nearly ten years with the help of the shots. |
| I got Toby and his brother Max as kittens when I bought my house in 1986. Max died unexpectedly in his sleep in May of 1992 (the vet could find no cause of death). Toby's a little weird, but loveable in his own strange way. He has a water fetish similar to Kaos's, although not quite as extreme. Lamar was his sleeping buddy, and Toby has been acting even odder than usual since Lamar's sudden death on December 14, 1998. |
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We absolutely weren't looking for another cat, but Maxine showed up at our door pregnant and was pretty insistent about staying. She's a delight. She's playful, absolutely fearless, and doesn't let any of the other cats intimidate her. After she had her kittens (Karen found homes for all of them) she was terribly scrawny and the vet suggested we "fatten her up" a little. Unfortunately, Maxine took the advice too seriously, and despite eating Science Diet Light she now rivals Bonnie for fattest cat honors. She is by far the smartest cat I've ever been around. You can tell by her eyes that there are a lot of deep thoughts going on in her head. I have a feeling she thinks she's a person rather than a cat. |
| Lamar died unexpectedly the morning of December 14, 1998. See the Lamar Memorial page for details about this brave cat. |
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Cassie was put to sleep the morning of September 15, 1998. She had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer in late August. She had been diabetic and receiving insulin shots for more than a year. Cassie deteriorated quickly after the cancer was diagnosed and, despite all we could do (including pain medication and baby food), quit eating. We decided it was pointless to go to extraordinary measures to keep her alive since she was in pain and was never going to get any better. The diabetes made any kind of treatment difficult, as well. Cassie could no longer move around much on her own and had visibly lost her will to go on. She spent her last night in bed with us and seemed as relaxed and comfortable as she had in weeks. She was Karen's favorite and extremely sweet and intelligent. Cassie would have been 14 in October. She had a good, full life, but losing her so suddenly was incredibly painful for us. She will always be missed. |
| This is Linus. He was Karen's extra special cat. In a way, his and Max's death brought us together. I posted a message on Prodigy about grief for a lost pet that Karen answered. She understood what I was going through. We started e-mailing, and look what happened! You can now read Karen's story about Linus. |
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Here's a photo of Max taken around Christmas, 1987. He was really a joy. Although I no longer think about him every day, I still miss him terribly. He was always waiting to meet me at the front door. Note Maxine's rather uncanny resemblance. |
For People Considering Getting a Pet . . .All of our cats have been spayed or neutered and never go outside. I have seen too many mashed cats along the busy street that runs in front of our house. Before you get a pet, you might consider confining it to the house. Studies suggest that indoor-only pets have twice as long a lifespan and require much less veterinary care as those that are allowed to roam outdoors. Studies also indicate that indoor-only pets have generally happier and less stressful lives. Cats, in particular, don't pine for the adventures they're missing by being confined in the house, particularly if they have feline companions. Ours are certainly never bored! Please also keep in mind that pets can be expensive and that it's an owner's obligation to provide whatever health care is needed regardless of the cost. Sometimes I think we spend more on the animals than we do on ourselves. |