I really think two cats is the ideal number.

We have three.

Sometimes we have to have someone into CareForOurCats (when we go on trips).

Miles (aka Tiny Miles)

Niccolo

Marmaduke

Past cats

Rosie (Miss Fishwhiskers)

Rosie was our first cat. Dave found her in 1987 when he was living in a studio apartment in Brea. She moved with us when we moved to an apartment in Claremont -- in retrospect, I think she might have had multiple folks who thought she belonged to them. Sadly, she was hit by a car on Towne avenue in Claremont one night in 1988.

Woody

Woody was abandoned by neighbors of a friend of mine. He was a tuxedo who gave backrubs and purred constantly. When we adopted him in 1989, he was FeLV^? positive. His symptoms progressed, including tumors throughout his abdomen.

Near the end we were giving Woody weakly cortizone (prednisone?) shots. He was perfectly happy, didn't seem to be in any pain, but he had an infection he couldn't shake and just wouldn't eat (he couldn't smell the food). We had him euthanized.

Madame (d'Aulnoy)

We found Madame around 3am one morning on Arrow highway in 1991. She was a white cat, of indeterminate age and particularly grubby appearance. She was also FeLV^? positive and anemic. She grew worse, because she also had mouth pain issues and wouldn't eat. She died at home with Dave, while I was off at my grandfather's funeral.

Marlowe Guthrie

Marlowe was found as a kitten in a closet at CMC by the academic computing Admin assistant in the summer of 1988. He particularly enjoyed sitting on the refrigerator and announcing his displeasure with the world and sitting in the tub and announcing his displeasure with the world. He was frequently displeased by vacuum monsters and motorcycle helmet monsters.

Occasionally he slept or otherwise acted adorable, but mostly he stomped around worrying about things. he was a fluffy gray hair of large build (12 pounds and all muscle). He developed diabetes sometime in 2003 and it was very hard to keep him regulated. He did best on the humulin-U, but after we moved to Seattle it went off the market and we tried diet control (a miserable failure) and glargine (which eventually worked.) He died one weekend in May 2008 while we were out of town.

He was almost 20 years old, so he had a really good run.

McGillikitty (aka Gilly)

We brought Gilly home to keep Marlowe company the summer of 1988. She was a month or two older than he was and while there were never really cuddly close, they always got along. She was a lilac with over eating and going over the edge issues.

She started losing a lot of weight in October 2004, and ended up dehydrated and anemic. We did try a blood transfusion with her, but a day after bringing her home she was back where she'd started. We left her at our local vet's for the last day and I stopped in to say goodbye to her. Her eyes looked locked in a failing body.

-- HeatherSherman - 31 May 2008
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