The Cats

Diane and Tom's Babies

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Diane and Tom enlarged their family in 2006 with the addition of two new kitties--two long haired orange baby boys, Tangerine and Cheddar. Diane and Tom adopted them together. They were only 1/2 pound each at adoption, but they have grown to about 9-12 pounds each now. These babies, however, have been more "rambunctious", shall we say, than all the rest put together when they were kittens. This now makes their number of "kitty babies" ten---yes, you read that correctly---ten cats. But we have now come to grips with the fact that we are "at capacity". Can you just imagine ten cats in a 2 bedroom apartment with all the antique glass, copper, china, 9 Christmas trees and numerous Santa displays! Imagine taking the cats camping and fishing! Well, it has certainly changed our lives--for the better. Our babies are all different, both in appearance and in personality. They have been pretty good about all the china cabinets and Christmas trees, etc. They have their own large jungle gyms that they climb and jump on for the most part. However, that has not meant there have been -- shall we say-- experiences for all. For example:

Truffle crawling in the sink and chewing on the lamb chops being defrosted for dinner and swishing water from all the water bowls onto the floor
Tangerine crawling in the sink and grabbing the pork chops being defrosted and running off with them--causing Diane to have to chase him around the dining room table to get it back
Cheddar chewing everything in site, including Diane's Instructor Guide to the class she was about to teach, and constantly running into closets and hiding in the farthest corner
Marmalade running out on the terrace and almost getting over to the neighbor's balcony. Also running out of the enclosure camping and having to be chased around the campsite
Pepper chewing into Diane's computer power cord and Tom's computer mouse cord resulting in both computers crashing during the work day
Creamsicle crawling and hiding in the wine cooler as the door was opened and getting locked in for a few hours until we found her
Marshmallow clawing Tom uncontrollably while we were trying to give her a pill
Pepper opening the drawer where the cooking string is kept, grabbing the ball of string and unraveling it all over the apartment
Spice climbing the Christmas tree, and eating her Dad's lunch everyday
Cocoa jumping into the refrigerator as the door was opened and getting locked in until found by the noise of his jumping up and down on the shelves
Licorice dismembering a very old Japanese Santa

We invite you to meet our babies below. Let us introduce you. Also take a look at our babies dressed up for Halloween and Christmas.

Marmalade is an 6 year old orange kitty. She is very social and likes to be with people, but is also the most intense and the most emotional. She is always around when people are over and greets guests at the door. She is also the most upset when her "Mom" is gone for a couple of days. She will make sure everyone knows she is angry by walking up to you and then turning her back and putting her nose in the air. This usually lasts for a day and then she is overly affectionate and wants to be held and petted a lot for another day. Marmalade is also very vocal when she wants something (like being held and petted) or is upset--just open the door at the vet's office and she starts yowling like someone is going to kill her at any moment. Marmalade has her spot on her Dad's desk next to his computer. If anything is put in that spot, she promptly knocks it on the floor. She is also very unhappy with squatters in her spot.

Creamsicle is the 6 year old buff colored one. She is 2 weeks younger than Marmalade. She is chunkier than the rest with a round face and big eyes. She has become very outgoing and social. At the Christmas party, she plopped herself on a chair in the middle of the guests and would not move for the entire party. She likes to be petted and is very affectionate. She has a tiny voice and uses it to signal that she wants to be picked up and petted. She will also "knead" you with her paws. If you don't pick her up or pet her right away, she will either jump right up on you or give you a little nip until you pay attention to her. She also likes to poke you with her nose on the face or forehead until she gets attention. Creamsiscle is the only kitty who sleeps with us all night . She just lays between us. She appears to be the most well behaved. The real thing is that she seldom gets caught, but she is the one who has jumped up on top of curio cabinets and from cabinet to cabinet when she thinks no one is watching. Last summer we got a fish tank and some tropical fish as "pets" for the cats. Creamsicle loves to watch them for hours and falls asleep by the fish tank. She also is very fond of the printer and tries to pull pages out as they are printing. She has caused me numerous paper jams!!! Creamsicle likes to jump up on the table and has knocked things over wishing her tail.

Marshmallow will be 6 in April. She a solid white long haired fuzz ball. She is really beautiful with a little pug nose. Her eyes are very light blue, but look red when light shines on them (very unusual in a kitty). We are also lucky in that she has very keen hearing (most blue eyed white kitties are deaf. She is by far the most social and affectionate. She loves people and will cuddle up with anyone. She will also come when called. She loves to have her tummy rubbed. She just lays on her back and will let you rub her for a long time. She does not like to get any medication and Tom has the scars to prove it. She usually follows her "Mom" around all day and has commandeered a nook in Diane's desk as her special spot. She gets very annoyed if another one of the "babies" goes in her spot, and will sit on the desk and giving the "squatter" dirty looks and pokes until they vacate her spot. At night, Marshmallow likes to crawl up on Diane's pillow. She has also begun to become jealous if any of the other try to cuddle on Diane's pillow at night--she just pushes them off or climbs right on top of any other kitty. She has to fight for her place on Diane's pillow with Tangerine. Half the night they are pushing my head back and forth trying to commandeer the best spot. Marshmallow also likes to "groom" Diane's hair at night. Unfortunately, because she is a long-haired cat, her tongue is like very rough sandpaper and this "grooming" amounts to pulling Diane's hair out!

Truffle will be 6 years old in May. She is solid black with green eyes and medium fuzzy. Like the mushroom, she can be elusive and hard to find. She is shy, and will rarely let anyone pick her up. She runs and hides when she knows she has to get any medication and you have to get her when she is eating. She has come out a lot in the last couple of years. She will be out most of the day with her sisters. Although she seems to be more comfortable and trusting, she is still "stand-offish" with anyone except her "Mom". She has now decided it is alright to get petted and will cuddle with Diane at night provided the other cats are not right there. Truffle loves catnip and rolls in it. Then you find her sprawled out under the dining room table with a smile on her face. She will eat anything and will grab any food left out and drag it off. She especially likes to lick on butter. She will eat whipped cream and ice cream from a spoon. She also likes to play with water and is constantly putting her arm into the water dish up to the elbow and swishing water out on the floor. We are convinced she must have been abandoned as a tiny baby and learned this behavior on the streets before someone took her to the shelter. Truffle has a loud whiny kind of voice and uses it to signal to her Mom that she wants to be petted, as long as I don't try to grab her.

Pepper is an 5 1/2 year old black and brown striped baby. She is long, lean, muscular and a bit of a scamp. Pepper is the very easy going. She likes to stretch out on her back on the floor with her legs up in the air and will let most rub her tummy. She still is getting into everything, like biting cords all over, biting the other girls' tails, hiding in the pillows on the bed, pulling down the corner shelf in the bathtub, etc. Her latest trick involves my ball of cooking string. She knows which drawer it is in, and jumps on the counter or stool, opens the drawer, grabs the string and runs off. Then I find the ball of string unraveled all over with multiple kitties tugging at every end and in the middle! The really good thing is that she gets Truffle to play with her doing tugs of war with the string. She is the only one not impressed with catnip and just ignores it. Pepper also likes to crawl into one of the bookshelf niches in Diane's desk for an afternoon snooze. Lately Pepper has become very affectionate with her Mom and jumps up on Diane's lap a lot for petting, and will allow me to cuddle her like a baby.

Spice is a few months over 4 year old, and is silver gray. She looks very much like a Russian Blue. She was a feral kitten and was caught and sent to a shelter when she was about 6 weeks old. She is a voracious eater and will push the others out of the way when food is around. She will beg, jump on you and bite your sandwich or put her face right into the cereal bowl. She has a tiny little voice and uses it a lot, especially to get more food. She is the most shy and skittish of all the babies, but sometimes jumps on the bed to get petted. (Unfortunately this usually happens just before dawn!). If you are not turned toward her, she will continually meow right into your ear until you turn over and pet her. She has also gotten Truffle more out of her shell to play with her and chase around. Spice will now let tom pet her--a new break though. She also comes in to Tom's office at very specific times of day to signal that it's time for her "Greenie's" snack or to get a bit of Tom's lunch. Spice also likes the fish a lot and will bat at the tank when they are swimming around.

Cocoa is a 3 1/2 year old little boy. He is very dark brown, and looks like a blacklama mink. He is long and sleek, like a panther. We were originally told he was a girl, but upon closer examination, the vet discovered he was definitely a little boy. He is a little marauder--and chases his sisters all over the place. The only time he is not moving is when he is asleep. He wants to wrestle all the time. Some of his older sisters are not overjoyed at that prospect, but the other baby boys are only to happy to oblige. He is a very jealous baby and will push his way in if anyone else is getting petted. He stays around his Mom and Dad all day. If Diane is working on her computer, he climbs on the desk and stands in front of the screen until he gets some attention. Cocoa had a serious illness 2 years ago and almost died so he has to be on a prescription diet. What fun trying to keep the rest away from his food and vice versa! When the Christmas trees were up, he would run back and forth under all of the biggest ones. The trees would shake back and forth and Tom and Diane would just shudder. As a result, we wired the trees to the drapery rods and the walls for extra protection.

Licorice is our other 3 1/2 year old sweetie. As you know, we had another all black kitty named Licorice, who had a heart attack during her spaying surgery and died at 6 months old. When we found our currant Baby Licorice, she was at a high kill shelter, and was scheduled to be euthanized if not immediately adopted. Tom said we could not let another Licorice die, so we took her right away. She is a long haired little fluff ball, with a big fluffy tail that is longer than her whole body. She has stayed small weighing in at only 8 pounds full grown. She is the sweetest little thing that likes to hide in the pillows on the bed. Licorice and Cocoa are great buddies and run and chase each other much of the day. Licorice is a voracious eater, and has a sort of loud whiny voice that she uses a lot to get attention and food. She loves to jump up on her Mom and cuddle right under Diane's neck for a snooze. The only problem is that she continually swishes her fluffy tail in Diane's face. He also loves to cuddle with Marshmallow and they are often found curled up together.

Tangerine is one of our new babies--a 2 1/2 year old little long haired orange scamp. He is so cute and has a face like you see on greeting cards for cute cats. He is always in trouble--wherever it is, he is sure to be in the middle of it. He has a long fluffy tail that is like a Swiffer duster-- it is always full of stuff that he has gotten into. During the holidays, he climbed the Christmas trees so many times, it was impossible to count. I spritz him with water when he does something bad, and one day, he just kept climbing one of the trees over and over until he was soaking wet. Then when he saw the spritzer bottle on the table, he just kept knocking it over and yowling at it. He discovered toilet paper and drags it all over and then shreds it, He drags clothes off the bed all over the apartment. He grabs bones and meat out of the garbage, and you have to chase him to get it back. He crawls into the pantry closet, and chews a hole in the bottom of the dry food back. Then when some one tries to pull it out, the whole bottom of the bag falls apart and the food is all over the closet floor. He does the same thing with bags of litter. He also likes to play with water coming out of the faucet. One day I was washing dishes and he jumped on the counter, stuck his paw under the water and splashed it into my face! He and his brother Cheddar, have figured out how to open the pantry closet door--one pushes on one end and the other puts his paw underneath and pulls the door open. After his shenanigans, he comes over to cuddle, and give kisses on the nose, sleeps with his head on Diane's face, or roles over on his back and looks up batting his eyes. -- The lovable scoundrel.

Cheddar is the last baby, also a 2 1/2 year old long haired orange little boy. He is the softest one with the most huge fluffy tail you have ever seen. Cheddar is a real lover. He is always trying to cuddle up with the rest of the cats, especially Marshmallow. He likes getting and giving kisses. He chews on everything, paper, books, Diane's work materials, etc. Yesterday, I pulled some paper towels off the roll only to find the towel was full of chew holes! He likes attention from his Mom, especially when she is trying to work. If Diane is working on something, he will jump on the table and lay down on her work. He will jump on her computer keyboard over and over until she holds and pets him. He will meow into the telephone speaker during Diane's conference calls. He is also a voracious eater, and will sample each other cat's food just to make sure they didn't get something better than him. Last spring, he pushed open the screen door and snuck out of the patio and jumped off and fell 5 floors into some bushes about 20 feet from the building When we finally found him, he was wet, in shock, with a collapsed lung and a dislocated bottom jaw. Luckily, there is an animal emergency hospital close by and with some surgery and 6 weeks of recuperation his is just fine. Of course he is still always trying to get out on the patio.

Take a look below at some new "pics"of our motley crew!

(Click on the picture to get a full size view)

Never a dull moment with Tom and Diane's "Kitty Babies" !!!

Updated February 23, 2009