Our 8th cat, Tawni, was born in 1992. Her father, probably a Himalayan, was a stray that our friend Michael called "Frankencat" because of the way he looked when he strolled into his family's life. After getting cleaned up and fattened up over a few weeks, "Frankencat" moved on to somewhere else, leaving both of Michael's female Silver Tabbies "in a family way"!

We adopted Tawni, who, due to her size, is sometimes lovingly referred to as "Brawny Tawni" the biggest tomboy cat in the house! Even at her current age, she still likes a good curtain climb or jump to the top of a door! Tawni also likes to "share" evenly among her human companions and will go back and forth to make sure she's being fair. Due to her size and powerful legs, she lately seems to be pondering a more public role as a possible "top cat" (which she thinks that she already is... in her own mind).

Tawni is also our resident cat treat addict, immediately showing up whenever treats are being given out. Her motto appears to be: "I've never found a treat that I didn't like!"

Peewee, our 9th cat, came to us in 1998, after moving to Texas from California where he participated in a cat photo contest. Forced by circumstances into living in a garage with few friends except for his original family's Great Dane puppy, he picked up the unusual habit of sleeping with his front paws out straight and his back ones to the side (just like a Great Dane). Having dark smoky-brown (nearly black) fur, Peewee manages to hide well and enjoys playing "Pounce" and "Chase" with his new friends, Lucky and Ellie. While enjoying this second "kittenhood", Peewee still remains rather shy and unassuming with the humans in his life (except when he wants to snuggle).

Ellie, our 10th cat, was born on June 10, 2000 and came to us at the age of 10 weeks, just a couple of months before Frisky died. Receiving her name from the sculpted markings on her front paws that (vaguely) resemble elephant paws, our newest Tabby, is showing all the early signs of being a very loving and affectionate addition to the family. Little is known about her parents, but her marking and size seem to indicate that she has some Maine Coon cat in her somewhere, and she is rapidly becoming a very large cat.

Her primary activities revolve around her 2 best friends, Lucy and Peewee, and consist of wrestling, "chase" and playing with every toy that she can find in the house (including some that we thought were lost a long time ago). Ellie is currently sharing Pat's attention with Lucy.

Lucy, our 11th cat, was born on May 22, 2001 and also came to us when she was 10 weeks old. Mistakenly named by her original owners as "Leo", then (again, mistakenly) renamed to "Louie", and then renamed again (temporarily) upon closer examination by our vet, to "Louise" and then permanently renamed to "Lucy" (which might be short for "Lucyfur" since she is such a little devil), came equipped with her own "male" camouflage! After a week of cautiously trying to find her place in our family, Lucy has won over the hearts of everyone except our largest cat, Tawni, who has a history of disliking new kittens. Ellie has become her best buddy; Peewee and Lucky have been known to play chase with her; and even Cookie seemed to tolerate her antics.

Rusty, our 12th cat (and 2nd Orange Tabby), was born in mid-May, 2003 and came to us from Kool Kats, an animal rescue organization, on July 5, 2003 when he was about 8 weeks old, after growing up at the Southlake Animal Hospital.

Being a smart kitten, he learned quickly to avoid Tawni (who continues to show her total disdain for anything under the age of 3 or 4) and quickly made friends with Peewee (his unofficial protector) and Ellie. He is working on becoming friends with Lucy.

He is a very affectionate cat who seems to really enjoy being around humans and is quickly winning the hearts of all who meet him! He has also become our latest "top cat" mostly through friendship and alliances with the other cats.

Charlie, our 13th cat, came to us in May, 2005, after worming his way into our hearts outside our house. First visiting once in a while to eat at our outside food bowl, then more and more often until he finally decided to just stay behind our front bushes. Charlie is a black and white shorthair with very unusual facial markings that reminded us of Charlie Chaplin.

Charlie also is credited with introducing the game of "Obstacle" to us; as the acknowledged expert of the game, Charlie manages to find the perfect spot in the house to be the biggest obstacle to everyone else (especially the humans)... doorways, walkways, hallways ... all some of his favorite spots.

Sunny, our 14th cat, is another Kool Kats Rescue cat (Like Lucky and Rusty) and is our first almost fully white shorthair. Originally named "Aramis" when he joined our family on February 4, 2006, and immediately renamed for his "sunny" disposition, he instantly became "best buddies" with his mentor, Rusty.

Sunny is a very acrobatic cat who is known to go to any extreme to catch anything flying past him, especially his favorite toy, feathers attached to a spring metal wire on a wand (also known as "the birdy"). He will do flying, twisting leaps to catch it, landing (sometimes upside down) on the bed with the feathers firmly grasped in his teeth, all the while growling loudly, warning any would-be takers that the birdy is his!

Our 1st cat, was a (mostly) silver Tabby born somewhere in Northern New Jersey sometime in 1977 and adopted from the Noah's Ark shelter.

Besides being the first "Top Cat", Dusty started his career as a "teaching" cat early with Buddy and Punky, Dusty continued in this role during the difficult years (when we moved to Texas) with both Frisky and Cookie until his retirement (due to arthritis, a heart condition, and a little senility) in the late 1980's. Dusty passed away peacefully in his sleep during an afternoon nap on September 4, 1996, and will always be remembered as one of our sweetest cats.

Born outside our house in Rockaway, New Jersey during the winter of 1978, Buddy, our 2nd cat, was the result of a brief laison between his mother, a former house cat who escaped and went wild a few years earlier and his father, an unknown neighborhood visitor.

Known for his unique ability to make friends (or "buddies") with all feline or human acquaintances, both in New Jersey and later in Texas, Buddy lived a fulfilling life until his passing on December 26, 1991.

He continues to be dearly missed by both his family and his many friends.

Nephew to Buddy, Punky, our 3rd cat, was born in 1979, outside our house in Rockaway, New Jersey. His parents were Buddy's sister and "Horny Henry" a frequent visitor from a close-by neighborhood, 2 blocks away.

Upon becoming part of our household, Punky immediately took on the role of "juvenile delinquent" or "punk" in a black leather jacket by callously attacking anything that moved within sight (especially feet)! After the traumatic move to Texas, he spent many years as a reclusive passivist, avoiding most contact with both humans and felines (except Buddy). After Buddy's passing, he mourned for 2-3 years and became much more outgoing until leaving us on April 8, 1997 due to complications of an inoperable tumor.

Our 4th cat, Frisky was born in Texas in the spring of 1983. His mother, "Rags" and his father, "Scraggles" were both well-known neighborhood visitors.

After a brief attempt at being an "attack cat", Frisky's true skills as an empathic companion and healer of human feelings came to the forefront. As Pat's favorite, he has enjoyed special privileges for most of his adult life, giving much love and affection in return. Called upon early in life to serve as "Top Cat" when Dusty's health failed, he demonstrated his ability to keep the rest of the feline population peaceful and under control (most of the time). Affectionate and loving until the very sad day that he left us, November 15, 2000, Frisky will remain in our hearts and minds forever.

Our 5th cat, Cookie, was born in Texas in the spring of 1983. Sharing the same mother ("Rags") as Frisky but obviously different fathers (her father is thought to be another neighborhood cat with similar markings), Cookie entered our household shortly after Frisky after a brief attempt to "live off the land" in our back yard.

Getting her name from the sharp contrast of her black and white fur, often compared to Oreo cookies, she settled down to a somewhat reclusive existance staying as far away from her half-brother as was possible until his passing in 2000. Cookie, who lived longer than any of our cats, so far, passed away peacefully on January 21, 2003.

Gigi, our 6th cat and our only "Tortie", entered our household in 1984 after being rescued from the streets of Irving, Texas where she most likely had been trying to make it on her own. Being smaller than most cats her age (probably due to malnutrition at an early age), Gigi showed quite early-on, that she could "growl" with the best of them! Her "Grrr-Grrr" was so loud and threatening that all other cats wisely avoided her like the plague! This quality was shown to be her greatest and her name, Gigi, is a contraction of the G-G letters that described the sound.

Being in relatively poor health due to her early days, Gigi passed away suddenly on September 20, 1997 surrounded by her friends and family. Her unique kissing followed by love bites is missed by all of us!

Lucky, our 7th cat, was bought from a pet store in 1991, 6 months before Buddy died. Our first Orange Tabby was a loving affectionate cat who was devoted to Jim and was known to follow him around the house and cry if not allowed to be in the same room!

He enjoyed exploring a paper bags, cardboard boxes or even a small shelf in the linen closet. He also loved wrestling, first with Frisky, and later continued the tradition by teaching Peewee, Ellie and Lucy to wrestle, too.

Lucky suffered a severe head injury on May 15, 2003 during a freak accident while playing with his friends, Ellie and Peewee, and passed away a short while later in the emergency room after numerous attempts to save him failed.

He left us too soon and will always be remembered by all of his human and feline friends and family.