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The Cats Who Own That Yank
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In Ohio
The newest additions to our family are Faith (AKA Miss Kitty) officially known as Night Sky's I Have Decided, born October
8, 2003 of Night Sky's Brownian Motion (AKA "Kate") and GC The Cats Love Suptil of Night Sky (She joined our household
on June 14 and was still getting used to the idea of being a "solo" cat.) when Dominic and Kathy joined us...
Dominic and Kathy, born May 12, 2005 of GC RW Caricature's Isaac Hayes, DM and CH Night Sky's Mystique (they arrived on September
20 and are affectionately known around here as "Sugar" and "L'il Poop", respectively). Dom is a wimp and
Kathy is mouthy. None of the three resemble our previous Bombays, Beau and Shadow. I put it to being cattery raised... and
therefore not as socialized.
Mystique (the terrible two's mother) and Faith had the same sire (but different mothers) so I guess that makes Faith Dominic's
and Kathy's half-aunt...
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| Beau and Shadow (AKA Puss) |
BeauJangles, our senior cat, had a new buddy (at least, she thought so!)!
Her name was Shadow (although Charlie called her Puss), and she was another Bombay. Born March 26, 2003, Shadow was the
daughter of Champion Mr. Blackjack von Heidebergen (sire) and Grand Champion Tangy's Evening Light of Franklee (mother). A
West Virginian by birth, it may well be that Shadow didn't speak the same language as Beau. She certainly drove him nuts (and
it may just be that he was getting back from her, in spades, what he gave to poor Sam in the past!).
Shadow wasn't at all like Beau in behavior or demeanor. She talked, for one thing, and it's a constant insistant meow.
She wasn't a cuddler and didn't like to be carried like Beau did, on the left shoulder looking out on the world. Perhaps it's
her German "Daddy": we've read that European Bombays are different in several behavioral respects from American
Bombays...
Shadow considered herself the "great black huntress", brining home her favorite playthings, chipmunks, to set
loose in the house so she can play with them at her leisure. So much more fun than catnip mice!. Also, I think she delighted
in tormenting us with loose chipmunks, and enjoys watching us try to herd terrified chipmunks out the front door!
On the evening of June 2, she followed Charlie to the street when Charlie was putting out the garbage, and was hit and
killed by a passing car.
To lose two cats in one day is pretty hard to bear...
In Saudi Arabia
Although the two cats shown here were both born and bred in East Texas, they have lived most of their pampered lives overseas.
Both have traveled with us to London, Beijing and Saudi Arabia, and may in fact be two of the most traveled cats in the world.
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Neith's Samantha
This is Neith's Samantha, born April 13, 1988, in Pasadena, TX; sire CH Africa's El Tigre of Neith; dam Neith's Hot Touch.
"Sam", AKA "Sam Bam" was a ruddy Abyssinian female (neutered in 1992)with all the characteristics that
Abyssinians display; she was definitely top cat, even though she only weighed in at 4.5 pounds at her heaviest. Her favorite
toy was a coiled up pipe cleaner, which she fetched - as long as Beau didn't butt in, that is. Then she sulked. Sam was been
bred once - to "P.C" - and had two sons: "Bubba" and "Herkimer". We have lost track of where
both boys are now...
Sam died, August 11, 2001, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. We all miss her.
If you are interested in the Abyssinian breed of cats, click on Sam's picture above.
The black cat in the picture to the right is BeauJangles, born in Houston, TX, August 6, 1991; sire Gotagato Mickey Mouser
of Hippocrates; dam Shadowmagic's Aurora of Hippocrates. "Beau" (AKA "Bo" AKA "Bud") is a Bombay
with all the characteristics of an adolescent male: he is dumb, dumb, dumb! Sam did not much care for Beau (she didn't much
care for male cats of any kind, for that matter) but Beau couldn't make up his mind if Sam was "mom", friend, or
girl-friend. So he kept pushing the envelope until she growled at him and beat the [expletive deleted] out of him (despite
the fact that he outweighed her by 10 pounds!). One hour later, he was at it again! In this picture he is using Sam as a pillow.
Beau died on June 2, 2005 after a long illness and complications resulting therefrom. Beau was a wonderful cat and will
be missed.
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Two Sleepy Felines
The little devils liked to sleep on my bed. And they preferred it when the bed wasn't made. Here you can see one unmade twin
bed - with the lovely Saudi-style strawberry-pattern sheets; the other bed is made - with a white blanket (really smart -
white blamkets with a black cat; results in major laundry issues!). Since "Getting Organized", these beds are always
made first thing in the morning, so the pile of cats moved to the pillow instead!
This picture is a better view
of Sam - at least she wasn't curled up like a hedgehog here!
If you are interested in the Bombay breed of cats, click on the picture of Beau and Sam above.
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These aren't the only cats in That Yank's life. We started out with parking lot cats from USC (Runt, Flicka, Freshie
- and all their "kids") and strays in Walnut Creek (Tribble, who was "born pregnant"). Then we "graduated" to purebreds: Mau'ss
- another ruddy Abyssinian (who so loved the rugged tattered ears of the grey tiger stray in the neighborhood, she had two
litters by him before we finally got her bred to a pure-bred neamed "Snoopy"!) and Misty-Twit - a seal point Himalayan (who
was beautiful, and knew it - she was also a feline "blonde joke", and a poor breeder because she didn't have milk). None of
these cats are on digital pics, right now - we need to get a scanner before you can view them.
There were also the strays in Saudi Arabia (That Yank is a real soft touch), most of which were not tame enough to sit
still for a picture. An exception was Tommy, the guest house cat, a neutered male who ran the neighborhood. Here he shows
typical stray cat "smarts" - drinking from a water sprinkler!
Tommy, the Guest House Cat
Missing since Christmas, 2000.
If you are interested in the work of PAWS of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, a volunteer organization which works to
improve the condtion of stray cats and dogs in the area, click on the picture of Tommy to the left.
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