Lady Bast was an unusual addition to the feline pride that resides in our household. In the fall of 1997 she bullied her way in.. a little stray Queen of spotty stripes and green eyes. She hissed at the other cats and pushed her way inside the door when it was opened to admit those waiting on the wrong side of the door. She claimed my son, Chris, as her main human and moved into his bedroom.

Lady Bast's Double Life...

In May of 1998 she gave birth to a litter of beautiful kittens, and she hasn't carried another litter to term.. until now. She gave birth to four kits April 14, 1999.

Just before Christmas 1998 , Lady Bast came home wearing a new flea collar. She had gone out that morning without a collar. We had no idea where she got it, but we got the idea that she had another house in the area. A couple of month's later, she came home with a different collar on. We didn't have a clue as to where she was going, but Chris mentioned several times that he wanted to tie a note to her collar, but never did. Each morning when Chris left for work, he would let Lady Bast out.. and she would be waiting for him by the kitchen door each evening when he returned home.

On Thursday, April 8, '99, Lady Bast had a note tied to her collar. It was from the law office two buildings from here, from the office staff.. asking if she had a home and with an offer to take care of her and her kittens if her people could not afford to. The next day Chris paid the office a visit..

At the office, she is called Tort and is the office cat. She arrives every morning and she leaves every evening when the staff close up for the day. While she is hell on paws around here, she is the sweetest cat in the world while she is at work. She pulls up laps and desks and has the run of the building... and is loved by staff and clients alike. There are cat toys for her, her own dish.. and one of the clients gave her the latest collar. And our Princess and Garfield have paid the office visits as well. Princess has gone inside while Garfield has tried mooching kitty treats outside.

As for Tort.. aka Lady Bast.. her double life has been revealed. She was a working mom. Her friends at the office had already claimed four of the unborn kits.. and set up a fund to help get her spayed after the kits were weaned. Chris was happy to know who the mystery people are, and the office folks were happy to know that she has a home to go to after work.

.. a funny thing in all this.. the law office has run an ad in the local newspaper and their logo has been a cat silloette. I was amused by the cat on the ad, and thought that any firm with an office cat would be a special place. Little did I know that it was the fiesty little alley-cat I dubbed Lady Bast who was the cat for the office..

After her last batch of kittens were weaned and she was spayed, Lady Bast spent less and less time here and now comes to visit the occassional weekend.

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~ Honest as the cat when the meat is out of reach.
~English Proverb

~ To please himself only the cat purrs.
~Irish Proverb

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GEORGE

Another stray to arrive around the same time as Lady Bast was a spotty young fellow that we dubbed George. George stayed the winter to grow into a strapping young tomcat, and come summer he was roaming the neighborhood in search of adventure. Mid-summer of 1998, George stopped spending much time at all around our home... and a few months later we found out what happened to the affectionate fellow. He had moved in with the family who lives right behind us. There is an elderly widow and her adult son, and George decided that they needed a cat. The humorous thing about this is the name that they gave to the cat : George. He will visit here now and then to play with his friends and raid the outside chow dish. George is loved by his humans.. in both houses.

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~ In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats.
~English Proverb

~They say that the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?'
~Samuel Butler

~ Most cemeteries, he says, provide a dog's toilet and a cat's motel.
~Evelyn Waugh

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Over The Rainbow Bridge