The Cats'
Pages
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Sassy was our first cat. We got her from some people who were moving and didn't want to take her along. She was a long-hair Heinz 57. When we moved to Russia in 1977, we were erroneously told we could not bring pets. We found her a good home in Texas before we left. |
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Tanya
joined us in Moscow in 1978. Her owners were transferring to the UK and didn't want
to have to put her in mandatory quarantine for 6 months since she was just a kitten at the
time. She traveled everywhere with us--Maryland, California, Germany, and Texas with
several stays in Pennsylvania along the way. She died of old age in 1995 at age 17.
We'll see her at The Rainbow Bridge. |
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Simon (a.k.a.
Rubert, Bubba, Bebear, Beeber, and Simone) is the senior cat. He was born on a
ranch, and he's the only cat who gets to spend most of his time outdoors tracking down
wild game and bringing it home for us to inspect. Simon hates the indoor cats and
they're very suspicious of him on the rare occasions when he wants to play with them.
Simon's a talker when he wants in or out. He says "Hello." |
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Bailey (a.k.a. pencil-tail
puss, Big Bailey, Bailey guy, and Baylore) is the next senior cat.
Originally Natalie's cat, he was rescued from the animal shelter. He's a whiner, a
kneader, and a big-time sleeper. A kitten in a big cat's body. We thought
Bailey was big until Zachary arrived. |
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Nicholas (a.k.a. Nick,
Snick,
and Snicholas) was our next senior and our "low-maintenance" Siamese puss--he
loved getting brushed and didn't mind having his claws trimmed. He also
loved to
eat chicken (or anything that tastes like chicken). He liked to track down the small
lizards that were attracted to the light in the summer time. Nick was found in the
classified ads as a free-to-good-home give-away. Nick talked in a quiet, squeaky
voice on the rare occasions when he has something to say. |
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Zachary (a.k.a. Scoobie,
Zacherly, Zoober, and Porker Puss) was the next senior and the biggest of the group (23.7
pounds in August '99). Zachary appeared to be part Siberian judging by his coat and
huge paws. Kira rescued Zach from being pulled behind a truck on a string.
Zach talked when he was hungry and when the other
cats, especially Chelsea, invaded his personal space. He was also fond of playing
in the water (as some of his pictures show). |
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Chelsea (a.k.a. Chels, Goofus,
squirter girl, and squirt kid) was the "baby." When she was the only girl, the
other cats hated her, which only caused her to tease them more. Chelsea is fearless
compared to the "guys" who are all scaredy cats. Chelsea was rescued from
one of the local veterinarian's offices. She talks in a raspy little voice
(sounds like someone stepping on a duck) when she's
tracking bugs and moths or when she gets stuck in a closet or closed room. |
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Tobi
(a.k.a. Tober, Tobler, Toblerone, Fuzz, or Fuzzbutt) was our next addition. She was born in April 2001, and was a
terror to the other cats upon her arrival. They slowly realized she
was a new
resident and not just a visitor, so now they get along somewhat. She
was the princess and the bug chaser of the group (that duty
seems to befall the youngest). |
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Christy
(a.k.a. Squeak) came to us on Christmas Eve, 2003. She showed up in
our garage, starving and scared. We took her in and fed her and, as
soon as possible, posted a Found ad in the local papers, called the animal
shelter and Humane Society, and checked with the local vets to see if
we could locate her owner. No luck. She's was 2 years old
and it took a while, but all the other cats have generally come to accept the fact that she's not
leaving anytime soon. |
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We adopted
sisters in August, 2005. They were 10 weeks old and had been spayed by the
local animal shelter. We named them Sasha and Tasche. They're
pretty busy keeping each other entertained, so they don't bother the older
cats very much. Squeak has been trying to play with them with a little
success. |
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"Garfield" was the neighbor's neglected cat who adopted us when his owner decided she didn't have the funds to have him neutered and was going to take him to the city pound. We usually just call him Goofy or Buddy. He led to Shadow's appearance.. |
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Shadow started showing up with Goofy to be fed. She nearly always followed him, so, if she didn't appear with him, we'd ask, "Hey, Goofy. Where's your shadow?" Turned out she was pregnant and that's possibly why someone dumped her off in our neighborhood. |
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Stormy was Shadow's sole surviving offspring out of four. He was born on the rainiest, stormiest night we'd ever seen, thus his name. He's not overly friendly and is more of a scaredy cat than either Squeak or Sasha. We thought Goofy may be his father, but when Shadow showed up, she was already very pregnant. When Stormy was 6 weeks old, we captured both him and her and took them to the vet. She was spayed and he got his kitten shots. |
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When we took Stormy away from Shadow, he cried all night. (Poor Shadow searched for him for a week.) So we needed to find him a playmate close to his age. Mick, Mickey or Mickey Duck, is that playmate and his best buddy. He's a little goofy, but a really nice, soft kitty. |
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![]() A group photo. Each is reacting to catnip on the carpet. |
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![]() The gang gathers on the car's warm hood in winter. |