A story...

Soooo. Several of you know the story of our cats. But not all. So here goes. When our indoor-outdoor cat, Fluffy, died a few years ago, my parents decided no more pets. They wanted to be free to travel without hiring a neighbor kid to take care of them.

That worked for a while, until mom began to feel the effects of the empty nest as my brother and I got older. I went to college and she rescued an abused guinea pig. My brother went to college and she started feeding some wild cats. Eventually, my parents made the decision to have all the cats fixed in order to prevent mom from becoming the Cat Lady with 56 cats. The first one they caught had feline HIV, so he had to be put down. Another died on the busy street outside my house. The next one, Slinky, came away disease-free, and also future-generation-free. Finally came Sister. The vet said "I can't operate yet, she's pregnant." So mom found an animal hospital that was willing to do cat abortions. She got there and the vet's assistant said, "I volunteer at the animal shelter and we have a waiting list for kittens so I'd like to take care of Sister until the babies are weaned." She talked mom into it and as a result, Sister, a wild cat, spent the entire summer in a dog cage. She had room, but she was used to having acres to run around in. So in my opinion they tortured her, when they really should have just gone ahead with the abortion. But they are all cat freaks over there, so its totally unthinkable that you kill kittens. Funny how no one bats an eye anymore when you say that about a human abortion.

But, one day mom got a phone call saying "Congratulations, you're a grandma!" A few more weeks went by and the kittens were weaned, and Sister cried for them all night. A few days later (this morning), Sister received her little hysterectomy, and mom took the kittens. Amazingly, there was a huge waiting list for kittens two months ago, but for some reason now that they are born, no one wants them. Fancy that. So mom went to see Sister under the effects of anesthesia, and picked up the kittens and brought them home, "until they can be put in good homes." My parents don't know it yet, but we are keeping at least one of them. We already need someone to come over and feed Slinky and Sister when we go away, so if there are two, why not another?

Anyhoo... We need some naming suggestions:


When I walked in the kitchen and picked this one up, he took a flying leap out of my arms from 5 feet up. He also climbs on things, and in general, is a daredevil. He has huge ears, and when he is tired, plops himself down on the floor wherever he darn well pleases. Some suggested names for him have been: Yoda, Jack, Evel Knieval, Evil, Lyle (from the movie Italian Job- Lyle's nickname was Evel Knieval).



This one is friendly. She is quite comfortable around people, and likes to play with gusto. She has huge feet and also has markings that are unique from her siblings' markings (the stripes go along the body instead of down the sides). At the moment she has a little digestive problem. Some suggested names for her have been Spez (a cross between Spaz and Sped), Snowshoes, Stinky, Tiger, or some version of the word Ocelot. However, Ocelot will be voted down unless a unique version of it can be found because there is already a cat in the family named Elsie Ocelot.



The third one looks a lot like the male in the litter, except a darker shade. She can be friendly, shy, playful, or adventurous, depending on her mood. She's a lot like me actually. She hit all those moods in the space of an hour. Some suggested names have been Minnie, Baby, Runt, Marty, Shadow, and Little. As in, "Hey what's your cat's name?" "It's Little." "I can see that but what's her name?" "She's Little." "I hate you."

Lastly, there have been two suggestions for group names; in the order of the pictures they are: Yacko, Wacko, and Dot
Linus, Lucy, and Peppermint Patty.

Please vote on your favorite names!!