Introducing....

Welcome! This blog will follow the never-ending moment-to-moment household drama surrounding our five cats: Tianni, Priscilla, Neko, Skye, Patch and Frosty, as they interact with us and our husky, Jimi. Each cat deserves his/her own introduction. You will get to know them even better with time, but for now:

Tianni:

Approximately 8 years of age. Full-black female. She was a stray we adopted after our next door neighbors moved and left her behind with another kitty, our boy Prince, who is now deceased :(. He was quite old when we got him...rest in peace, "kitty cop!" Nightwatchman and yard guard, he patrolled the yard for foreign cats and people 'til the day he passed. Tianni has many names. "Yanni, Yannifiable, Certifiable, Yannistic, Yanniful...." you get the idea, and the list goes on :D. Matriarch of our Page cat clan. She spends most of her time in the house, only leaving to use the ladies' room. Pleasingly plump; she has a sack of fat underneath that is only visible when she is standing or walking; this we call her "purse." She'll move like a possum around younger cats, hoping to go unnoticed. Patch and Frosty like to tease her. Will suddenly start playing with toys like a kitten on occasion. Reacts to music...especially techno and Yngwie Malmsteen...will put her in weird moods. Sweet and exquisite yet quick on the draw/paw if she is the slightest bit irritated! When you enter the room she will let out a quick meow, this is why we call her the "sensor." Tianni is a bit of a control freak. When you lie down to take a nap, she wants out of the room; when you are busy at the computer she will want in, then out again in 20 seconds once you get comfortable. She has been known to meow by a door for at least an hour if she wants in. Her primary spot is on the end of my mom's bed, but will go out to sleep under trees occasionally. Does not like to be petted on her lower back; insists on being petted from her neck to midback ;)...or else!

Priscilla:

A pretty long-haired tortoiseshell who we also adopted when a neighbor left her behind. Her name used to be "Menace." Very sweet; not tempermental like Tianni and Neko; all in all just a good-natured beauty! She is psycho, however. Many a time she has outwitted us; dashing past our feet and finding a hiding place in the house, not to be discovered 'til much later. She is our star hunter. Something to marvel at; brought a gopher in weeks back. Leaves her quarry for us on the porch. The best at plotting to get into the house whenever my mom (aka Nana) doesn't want her in yet. She knows the exact moment anything, human or small animal, is taking that slight pause for thought. I could just picture her waiting for an hour near that gopher hole; calculating her deadly strike :).

Neko:

The baby of the bunch until Patch, Frosty and Skye joined us a year ago. He was a wee little guy when found at the Marina park all alone on the grass; his ears slightly curved as he was still formative. He acts quite different from the other cats and has a strange kind of humanity about him as he meows; attempting to "talk." Appears to be at least part raccoon with his thick ringlet tail and the way he lumbers low to the ground. Muscular all over. Distinct white cheeks on his face and socks. I frequently call him my "Neek." At times he attempts communication by facial expressions it seems. My brother and a friend found him just before people walked by with two pit bulls. Mom still recalls the night they brought him to the door; he hissed as she stared down at him. We bottle fed him with enriched kitten formula. We've a hunch that the L-arginine in it acted as a kind of growth steroid. The "battle of the bottle," as we called it, began everytime we fed him, for he would actually attack the bottle when the milk didn't flow fast enough. Sparred with Hello Kitty as he grew, and Taz of Looney Tunes (he went through two Taz...once the other one was torn up, mom won another one for him on eBay :). His penchant for being a "vewy vewy sweet wittle man" then seizing your arm is infamous. He won't draw blood but nearly so :)...after which he'll go right back to being a sweetheart. So "vewy, vewy" loveable but always on the lookout for a fight. Likes to come into the house just before bedtime, nap on my bed, then get us up at five AM to let him out...or have fun with us and act indecisive as we wait for him, bleary-eyed! Likes to drink the droplets of human essence-infused bathwater left in the tub. Snores loudly and grunts often. Has earned the wrath of the local mockingbirds, who regularly dive at him and nag him in the backyard :). If the kittens are in the house, he'll jump onto the hamper to get away from them, meowing nervously, yet seek out big cats to fight with when outside....

Patch:

Of the three one-year-old littermates, the most daring and eccentric. They were found attempting to cross a busy street one night, but my brother rescued and brought them home...we couldn't resist...just as with Neko ;)! White with tabby patches all over. Will eat anything...have to keep a constant eye on him. If alone in a room for more than 5 minutes, he'll start meowing as if extremely lonely. Likes to just sniff your finger most of the time and not let you pet him; will jump off a chair and run away from you, then let you pet him on the next chair. He squints often so I call him "disaffected Patch." Cries loudly if alone for ten minutes or more. He knows mommy doesn't want him outside; when on the front lawn he'll let you pet him, until you try to pick him up, at which he'll run away. Long and lanky!

Skye:

The second of the three babies. We call her a fairy kitty because of her almost silver gray coat and pretty green eyes. She is very shy, so we mostly call her "shy." Very elusive but a sweetie...will run from you until you catch her, then start purring loudly as you pet her...can't make up her mind :). She once worried mommy so much when she disappeared for five hours, later to be found sleeping under a rocking chair. When she meows, it sounds like the air being let out of a semi-inflated balloon very slowly. Loves to eat cheese :).

Frosty:

The outlaw of the three...will not let us pet him! Bit my brother the night he rescued them, earning him the nickname "Frostbite!" Has a silky jet black coat, white socks and front paws that look like he reluctantly dipped his toes in white paint :). He's blacker than Tianni, who by now has been sun-bleached somewhat. "Fwosty!" is what I sing everytime I pass him sleeping on Jimi's dog bed in the living room, which he has claimed all for himself :D...sees Tianni as a kind of surrogate mom, no doubt because she's the only black cat. His name Frosty goes with his standoffish demeanor as well as his appearance :).

So, there's all the introductions! Next time, I'll begin the day-to-day drama!