Meow,

Grabow & Lucy are brother and sister. They were found abandoned at a construction site, before they were old enough to be seperated from their mother. Lucy was half drowned in a mud puddle, but Grabow was high and dry on the trailer steps. They were taken home and bottle fed for another couple of weeks. We've been their faithful servants for 12 years.

Grabow is the alpha male, in our Cat Clan. All he has to do is look at one of the other cats, and they stop what they are doing until they know what Graybow has in mind. For such a powerful kitty, he has only a squeak of a voice.

Lucy is the one that the others in the Clan come to, when they need a comforting lick. She is just a lump of lovable fur, purring almost all the time. Her purr sounds like a squeaky fan belt, and is unmistakable. This cat LOVES canned tomatoes, and I have to share with her when I'm using them in my cooking.

Sissy to be added soon

Pookie, Sissy, and Chibi only look like Siamese clansmen. They are actually mixed breed, with the good luck to appear purebred.

Mom had recently lost her beloved Siamese of 16 yrs, and I thought I would give her two of these lovelies to keep her company. She declined the offer, for reasons I won't go into here. So now I have the Sissy and her two brothers. Oh, I brought home the third because it would have been the only kitten of the litter left, and the people said it would probably go to the SPCA. (Thinks they could spot a sucker and took advantage.)

Pookie is everyones friend. He's the first to befriend an addition to the zoo, and joins us if we visit in the neighborhood. His name came from Garfield's teddy bear, as a kitten he looked like a little stuffed teddy, all warm and cuddly.

Sissy got her name because we couldn't come up with anything else that fit. She's always answered to it, so there has been no reason to change it.

Chibi means 'little one' or 'runt' in either Chinese or Japanese. As kittens he was the smallest. He's outgrown Sissy, and is the same size as Pooks.

Mere... what kind of name is that? No she is not named for the Russian spacestation Mir.

No special story for her joining the Clan, just someone giving away kittens at work, and I couldn't resist. She was left un-named until one that fit came along. When calling her, it was... Come here kitty, but sounded more like Com-mer kitty... then as we go lazy it became Mere kitty... so it finally evolved to Mere.

This Clan member will stand in the kitchen and yowl, as if to say 'where are you, I'm alone'. Then comes running once you answer.

Vincent was a dumpster kitty. A woman brought him into the veterinary clinic I was working at, to have him checked over before trying to find a home for him. He was there for the day, and I bathed and fell in love with him. This is one time I called home and asked if I could add a cat to the Clan. The Keeper told me he would think about it. That evening he came to pick me up, and I put this orange ball of fur in his hands... the Keeper fell in love, too. One of the girls at work suggested Vincent as a name, I wanted to name him for where I got him.. Vinton Veterinary Hospital. The cat liked it, so it stuck.

Ok, I have to admit here and now, Vincent is the prettiest/most handsome cat we have ever had. And, he's my baby. In the Clan, he will be the next alpha male. All the other cats, except Grabow, pay attention when he's about. He, also, took Mysti under his so called wing, and taught her how to play and get along with the dogs.

Mysti Kitty was one of several kittens, that had been taken to the Clans veterinary clinic, to be adopted out. On a visit to the clinic with another member of the Zoo, several kittens were brought to the front desk for some humans to observe. All the others were snatched up, leaving this little grey fluffball all alone. Under fear of death or divorce, I made this kitty a member of the Cat Clan.

For a month or so, we called her a number of different names. Then one morning, before the sun rose, I woke to see her standing on the bed in front of my face. In this sleepy haze, her grey fluff made her appear as if I saw her in the mist. Whispering 'Mysti', she turned her head and looked at me. She was named.

Raja was considered disposable, by the family that bought him from a pet shop, at the age of three months. He's a mix breed so they didn't pay much for him. After having him in their home for three more months of his life, they decided he was mean. Trying to return him for the price paid, they discovered the shop couldn't give them the money, nor take him back into the store, after so long a time. In a fit of anger the man dumped the cat, out of a makeshift carrier, onto the floor and stormed out. Witnessing the whole incident, I went and found the cat... swooped him up and tried to comfort him. Can you guess what happened next? He's the last one to join the Clan.

Once again, after trying several names on him, he finally chose Lal Raja. It means Red King, in Punjabi. Avleen had been trying to teach me abit of the language, and I liked the sound of it, so did the cat. The Keeper took the sound of the name, and calls him Roger.

Ethel and Jesse are the other two members of our Cat Clan. They are two more rescue cats. Their original owner had to move out of state, and couldn't take her three cats. Her mother and father agreed to keep them for her. Turned out that her father didn't like cats, and her mother was afraid of them. (Hard to imagine either!) The couple was planning to have all three put down, when a local cat rescue volunteer learned of their plight. The volunteer happened to see a friend and me looking at cat calendars, came up to us and told us about these three cats. A few days later I brought home 20 year old Cinderkitty, 16 year old Jesse, and 13 year old Ethel. Last spring Cindy went to wait at Rainbows Bridge. Ethel and Jesse were scared of me for the longest time, but now let me pet them and occasionally give them a cuddle.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get pictures of them to post here.

How to tell if your cat has a problem:

(Ask yourself the following questions)

1. Does your cat sleep 22 hours a day, and spend the other two hours in non-stop eating?

2. Does your cat take frequent naps in annoying places, such as in the center of the dinner table, in the kitchen sink, or on top of your freshly-cleaned-off-hair (and favorite) bedspread?

3. Is your cat selfish? Conceited? Arrogant? Aloof? Insensitive?

4. Does he wake you up in the middle of the night and refuse to stop meowing until you accompany him to his food bowl to watch him eat?

5. Does your cat tear down holiday decorations? Does he destroy any stuffed toy or cat-sized household ornament which might be misconstrued as his competition?

6. Does your cat perceive himself to be sole owner of all property? Does he often show disdain for your taste, or act as if you are an embarrassment to him?

IF you answered "yes" to most of these questions . . .

Relax----Your cat is normal!!!