I NEVER MET A CAT I DIDN'T LIKE

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CHRIS' CHERISHED CATS

The Tortie is Nubs ~ white long-haired kitty is Putty ~ cat in the blue crate is Carly ~ white cat with orange spots and tail (Bailey look-alike) is Casey ~ pretty brown tiger in center is Feebee ~ handsome orange boy is Taylor ~ and the little brown tiger with the sweet round face is Coco.

My good friend, Chris, loves cats every bit as much as I do. Through the years, she's graciously taken a few of my cats to add to her tribe. Each of her cats has a story but I'm not sure I'd get all the facts right so for now I'll mention just the ones she adopted from me.

Casey is the big handsome white guy with orange spots and tail. He looks like a grown-up Bailey. Casey's pregnant mom was dropped on my sister's doorstep in the middle of the night some years ago. Sis called me and asked if she could bring the pregnant cat (Roxie) to me since she wasn't home during the day and I was. Of course I said to bring her and one week to the day after Roxie arrived, she delivered five healthy kittens - Casey, Alex, Mickey, Emma, and Lucy. I'm relieved to say all kittens found loving homes (and none was returned). Chris and her hubby, John, came one day to see Casey with the intention of possibly adopting him.

Shortly after Roxie came to live here, I rescued a small frightened black and white cat (Betsy) and her three kittens who had all been tossed out of a moving car. Within days of taking them in, I found a home for the two male kittens who looked like Maine Coon cats. The brothers continue to reside in the same home. Their "parents" send me photos of them periodically and the cats are gorgeous. Betsy's third kitten was a timid little striped girl who wasn't as fancy looking as her brothers.

When Chris and John arrived to see Casey, the little striped girl (Carly) decided she wanted to go home with them and promptly crawled up on John's chest and stayed there for the duration of the visit. John told Chris, "Well, I've got my cat", and for a couple seconds there was discussion about taking only one cat. Chris was smitten with Casey and Carly was smitten with John, so both cats went to live with my friends. I'm so lucky to be able to see them from time to time - my friends AND the cats.

There is one cat Chris and I shared. His name is Taylor - aka Garfield. He showed up at Chris' front door one day looking a bit ragged and his nose had been sratched. Chris said he followed people up and down the sidewalk as if he was trying to find a home for himself. Some of the other neighborhood cats seemed to pick on Taylor and he wasn't good at defending himself. She called me and together we made sure he was vet checked, given vaccinations, and neutered. He came to stay with me until his leukemia test was proven negative. There had been a question about it so poor Taylor had to be kept away from the other cats for awhile, then re-tested. Chris thought she had an adoptive family for him and took him to her home a couple days prior to taking him to the people who had seemed interested. The adoption didn't work out but Taylor stayed with Chris. She groomed him so well he looked like a different cat when I next saw him.

Chris and I say we don't need any more cats but somehow cats just seem to find us. We must have animal magnetism - that's better than saying we're crazy cat ladies.