Here's a rundown on my current boys.

Most of them showed up on the doorstep. Two cyber friends and I are firmly convinced it's the cat wind chimes that act like a beacon calling them here.

Cosmo: followed my DH up to the porch the same month I lost Circe (long-haired black cat) and Geesha (long-haired white cat). He is long-haired black and white. I'm firmly convinced the cat Goddess Bast sent him so I wouldn't lose my mind after losing two of my babies in one month. I opened the door, and he ran in as though he'd always lived here.

Internet: my only shelter kitty (they usually show up, as I said, so it's rare I get to go out and adopt one from a shelter!). Another cat, Tiki, had just gone to Rainbow Bridge, and Cosmo was our only cat left, and depressed. Why he was depressed is a mystery, since Tiki hated other cats and all she really did was ignore or hiss at Cosmo. But he was depressed, nonetheless. So we went to get him a new friend. We couldn't find the right one, and were about to leave, when Internet reached out of his cage and snagged my coat with his claw. With a loud meow, he announced that *he* was the cat we were seeking.

Sabra: He had been showing up on the next-door-neighbor's porch for five days. Pure black, our superstitious neighbor was freaking out. I called him over to our porch, petted the love-starved guy, and brought him in.

Trill: Another black kitty, he had been loose in the neighborhood for at least six weeks, shortly before Halloween. A couple of neighborhood kids were knocking on doors, trying to find his home to no avail. By the time I found the kids, he'd escaped their arms. He didn't go far, and I simply walked back to the alley and picked him up. He was content until he caught whiff of all the other cats in here, and then turned into Psycho Kitty. I thought "Crap, this isn't going to work", and let him back outside. The next day it turned cold, and the following day it rained. I saw Sabra hissing at what I thought was his reflection in the window, and then realized it was Trill! I brought the now-accepting kitty in, planning on taking him to the Humane Society (we had four at the time, we couldn't possibly have five! Yeah, right.). They said they would put him down because he had ear mites. Whaaaaaaaaat??? I brought him back home, and he's been here since.

Wolfie: Wolfie was originally adopted from a flea market as a gift for a friend who had lost her cat. Unfortunately, they didn't really connect. When I told her I had had a dream about having another all-white cat, she told me about Wolfie. A week later, she brought him over, and Wolfie reached out to me from her arms. She said he'd never done that before with anyone.

Brando: Our sweet little former feral. Along with a large orange cat, he'd been showing up on my porch for weeks, eating the food I leave out for any neighborhood strays, ferals, and semi-owned cats. Winter was coming on, and I decided I was going to try to trap whichever of the two cats got into the trap. I borrowed my neighbor's trap, and set it up. Brando was the prize. I was fully intending to find him a home (uh-huh, sure!). I had borrowed a cage from my neighbor, too, and I spent a couple of months working with Brando in the cage, having no clue what I was doing, and delighting in each step of progress he made along the way. One night I told my DH "We're keeping him!" and that was that. He is now a very loving lap cat.

Copyright © Ginger-lyn Summer
January 19, 2001