Cats, Cats, and More Cats

This page is devoted to my cat, Cleo, former cats I have loved, and cats in general.

 Cleo  

Our family also includes our mischievous cat, Cleo. This member of our family has developed the penchant for sleeping on top of me at night which is not always convenient or comfortable. She is a true tricolor cat (black, white, and coffee with cream) while also being small for an adult cat. She is the second female cat we have had that basically stopped growing after being neutered.

We took her home in 1994 after stopping in a supermarket parking lot to look at some kittens. We had no intention of getting another cat (we already had Baby), but we figured that she would make a good companion for Baby after our daughter, Elizabeth, was born. She chose us, too, as she purred in my lap all the way home.

Pictures of Cleo

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	This picture from 1994 was taken shortly after Elizabeth was born. Cleo was less than a year old.
	Baby and Cleo loved to nap curled up together.
	Cleo in Kirc's backpack
	Cleo sleeping on the bed
	Cleo perching on Pooh

 Baby  

Our cat, Baby (a.k.a. Fang-Baby), was my husband's and my first "child". He was the best cat that ever lived. My good friend, Buddy Fazzio gave him to me for a Christmas present in 1988 (the best Christmas present I ever received). Buddy got him from the SPCA. I highly recommend getting your pets from animal shelters to save these great animals from dying. The shelter estimated that Baby was about a year old at that time and was already spayed when I got him.

He was such a great cat that Buddy and his roommates almost wanted to keep him for themselves. Buddy had named him Wilco after the Wilco Building in Midland, TX where he was found in the parking garage. However, after Buddy gave him to me, he wouldn't answer to his name. My mother did not want another cat in the house since the last cat we had shed a lot. Baby melted her heart as he did so well and she started calling him Baby. He answered to the name so it stuck.

Baby was a very gentle cat while still being tough and holding his own with not-so-friendly cats. One very unusual trait he had was being very maternal to kittens. (Yes, I know, a maternal male cat. Go figure.) He passed away in October of 1996 after suffering from incurable bone cancer. We had to have him put to sleep as the doctor said that there was no hope and he was just suffering. We miss you Ba-Ba-Ba-By Snuggems. You will always be "Mr. Wonderful" to me.

Pictures of Baby

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	Baby usually liked to sleep where we didn't want him to.
	Just call him Fang-Baby.
	This candid picture was taken during a move from one apartment to another in 1991. As you can see, Baby was sleeping on the job again.
	You know cats. They'll sleep anywhere they think is comfortable, even on the toilet cover.

 Monkey  

Monkey (a.k.a. Monk Monk) was a kitten born to a stray mother cat in the neighborhood in 1990, during our first year of marriage. The mother cat gave birth to her first litter of kittens in a storage unit of the apartment complex and was locked in unknowingly. Unable to get water or food for herself, the mother cat was unable to feed her kittens who then died. The apartment manager felt so bad about this that, when the mother cat became pregnant again almost immediately, the manager let us house the mother and kittens in our apartment until they were weaned and could be given to good homes.

Monkey came from this litter; the only girl with three brothers. Monkey got her name because, when she was a very young kitten and her head still had that very round look, she looked like a cute little baby monkey. From just a few weeks old, Monk Monk knew that our home was her home, too. She started climbing up on the bed and sleeping with us and let it be known that she had chosen us for her family. Naturally, we fell in love with this little kitten who loved us so very much. One time in 1992 in particular, I remember getting ready in the bathroom one morning while Monkey sat on the bathroom counter and watched me wash my face. I looked down to see her gazing up at me with the most adoring look on her face.

While I have loved other cats in the past and since, Monkey will always remain my special little cat who I truly felt was mine. I like to say that we had a mutual attraction society going on between us. On October 13, 1992, Monkey did not come home after being out all night. We have assumed that she probably got run over by a car. I was so broken hearted by her death that I used to go by that condominium complex even after we moved from there the next year, hoping to perhaps see her, that she had not died but was waiting for us.

Pictures of Monkey

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	Here is a picture of Monkey laying on my lap, her favorite place.
	Monkey's favorite toy was a cotton swab (Q-tip) which she would often take out of the trash if we did not give her a clean one to play with.
	Too many times, I caught Monkey laying on clean towels in our linen closet after she had snuck in there when I wasn't looking.

For more pictures of cats and kittens who have been a part of my life, see my Cat Photos.

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