A Collage of the "Cat Cafe" Membership

Meet Mama Cat. She came to us as a stray in 1998. She was very young, scared and scrawny, and had 3 baby kittens in tow. They were all living like wildcats, hiding in our woodpile. Eventually, we captured the 3 kittens and Mama Cat; had a real struggle taming them down; found wonderful, loving homes for all the kittens and decided to keep Mama Cat because she had nowhere else to go. She turned out to be a beautiful, intelligent cat with a great sense of adventure. She's an outdoorsy girl, and loves to climb trees, catch mice, garter snakes and moles in the yard. Her favorite indoor game is "Kitty Ball," where she sits at the top of the stairs and bats the foam ball to George Blowfish down below. Mama Cat's favorite meal is canned tuna, which she always grudgingly has to share with Rocky the Tomcat. She used to roam the neighborhood far and wide, but a few years ago some asshole with a BB gun shot mama cat in the eye. It caught her in the very corner, and luckily she kept her sight. Now she stays closer to home. She's very gentle and sweet, very shy around strangers and will run and hide when company comes. But when its time to turn in, she loves to knead the covers just so; curl up in a ball, snuggle up close and snooze the night away. She loves to work on the computer (as you can see at top) and she likes to type; although George can't understand a single thing she writes. I've never regretted keeping Mama Cat.Give a stray a home, and you've got a friend for life.

Meet Rocky the Tomcat. I first met Rocky hiding in our back yard. He'd been hit by a car or had been in a really nasty cat fight. He had a badly infected gash on his head, and looked about half dead. He wouldn't let me pick him up, but I brought him some food and water, and rubbed some antibiotic ointment on his wound. He disappeared for about a month, he recovered; then we'd see him around occasionally. He'd stop by our back porch (The Cat Cafe') have a little snack and hang around with Mama Cat. He was very skinny, had bad fur and a crooked tail, and most of the neighborhood cats were scared of him because he loved to fight. That's why we call him "Rocky." In Winter 2001, he chose to make his winter home under the back porch. He refused to come inside; even in the worst weather. He survived a cold, snowy, brutal winter. When spring came, we finally coaxed him to come inside the house. Needless to say, he's thoroughly adapted to the joys of modern indoor living. Now he spends lots of time in our kitchen "kitty window" watching birds. Since his "operation," he no longer feels the need to pee all over the yard and fight day and night. So he hangs out with Mama Cat, drives her to distraction; and likes to socialize with the neighbor's kitties . Rocky loves food. You got food? Got any more food? Hey you...got food? He loves to play with cat toys, especially little foam footballs, fuzzy cat mice and empty plastic sacks. I think he was deprived of a real kitten hood, so he's making up for lost time. He's now very healthy, fat and happy. And although he's a typical tomcat and has a few moody days, he's been mellowing. He's fit in fine, and it wouldn't be home without him lounging on the back porch cat cafe'.

Meet Misha, or "Meesh Meesh." Misha came to our neighborhood from the family that lives behind us. After a few months following his arrival on the scene in spring 2004, Meesh decided that our back porch was his very favorite place in the whole world. Time after time we would pass Misha over the fence to the neighbors, and within a half hour he'd be back on our porch again. As fall turned into winter, Misha started sleeping on our back porch. It was obvious he was not going home. The nights were getting colder and colder. Mrs. Blowfish and I had kept Misha out of the house, in case he should decide to return to life with the neighbors. As the temperatures dipped below freezing, we decided to let him and Zappa (see below) sleep in the garage. Both Misha and Zappa got along great, like brothers. One night, he came home bleeding from around his neck and chest. Misha had been in a very nasty cat fight. We took him to the vet, where they found multiple bite wounds on his neck, back and chest, along with claw punctures on his shoulder and head. Misha spent the night at the hospital. Now he's good as new. Misha has a friendly, curious personality and drools when he purrs.

Meet Baxter, the newest member of the Cat Cafe, joining us in 2007. Baxter appeared during the winter, sleeping on the back porch with Neighbor Cat and Ginger, two of the other kitties who visit regularly. Baxter is very friendly and loves to be petted. He's very laid back and loves people. He generally gets along with other kitties fine, but one day in April he was laying on the back porch with a golf ball sized lump under his left front leg. It was a puncture wound, and was infected. Much like Mr. Kitty (see below) we took him directly to the vet, who drained and dressed the wound, clipped his kibbles and bits, kept him overnight for observation, then sent him home. We cleaned Baxter up, gave him a flea treatment, and let him recover in Mr. Kitty's original basement apartment. We think he'll get along with the other kitties in time. We've only had Baxter for a short while, but it looks like he's going to fit in with the family just fine.

On 12/7/06 we lost our beloved boy Mr. Kitty. He originally came to us in late December 2002. Mr. Kitty had run away from home or been abandoned, and was looking for a little food and warmth. He would press his little cat face against our kitchen glass patio door and meow on bitterly cold nights. We didn't want him fighting with Rocky, so we let him sleep in the garage on the extremely cold nights. Of course, soon Mr. Kitty wanted to sleep in the garage every night. One day, he found himself on the losing end of a terrible cat fight and had a deep gash below his right ear, a bad limp and puncture wounds on his chest. We didn't notice the puncture wound until it almost killed him a week later. For a couple days Mr. Kitty just laid around the garage and slept. I knew he didn't feel well, but hoped he'd get better with rest. I wasn't sure who (if anyone) he belonged to, so when he didn't show any signs of improvement, I took him to the Vet. He had a very high temperature and was tested for all the lethal cat diseases. He was negative. The Vet kept him overnight for fluids and antibiotics. He was dirty so I asked the Vet to give him a cat bath. When he did, they found a puncture wound deep in his chest under his fur, and drained several CCs of gunk and fluid out of a big infected pocket. That's why he had a fever. He was very close to dying, and the Vet saved his life. Mr. Kitty spent five wonderful years with us. He had liver problems the last couple years, which eventually took his life. Mr. Kitty was very loving and was a very bright cat, We laid him to rest under the Tulip Tree, next to our dear Chuckie the Cat and Zappa Cat. We miss him every day, and think of him often as we watch Baxter's antics.

On 11/8/05 we lost our beloved Chuckie the Cat. Chuckie was our first kitty, and our queen kitty. She was named Chuckie because the frat boys who had her as a kitten were too stupid to know how to figure out a cat's gender. Mrs. Blowfish rescued Chuckie from an abused kitten hood. She's was our cat pal ever since Mrs. Blowfish and I started dating more than ten years ago. Chuckie spent most of her days sleeping and laying by the big glass door in the kitchen where she tanned the sunny afternoons away. Chuckie loved shrimp night, Gates BBQ, turkey and McDonalds cheeseburgers. She also loved her kitty treats, had a bowl of milk each and every morning, and played with used dryer sheets. Chuckie was very smart, and was our most talkative kitty. We loved Chuckie more than words can say. I'll desperately miss Chuckie helping Mrs. Blowfish and me through our morning routine. Chuckie was 18 and we laid her to rest next to Zappa under the tulip tree in the back yard.

On 1/29/05 we lost another one of our family cat members. This is Zappa, who was taken from us by Feline Leukemia and Feline HIV. He had been around the neighborhood for some time, and I suspect Zappa was either dumped or abandoned by his original family. In spring of 2004, Zappa would stop by the cat cafe' each day for a kitty snack. He had a terrible case of ear mites, and scratched his ears literally raw. Zappa would not let us touch him, and he would hiss and growl at us if we tried to pick him up. During the fall, Zappa and Misha became cat pals, and began to hang out together. When Zappa saw us pick up and pet Misha, he slowly came around and let us pet his head and rub his back. As winter approached, Zappa began sleeping on the back porch huddled up with Misha. Zappa finally decided to trust us, where he would allow us to pick him up and pet him. During the winter, Zappa took sick, and was weakened by his illness. Zappa was very mellow and laid back, and got along with all the kitties very well. We laid Zappa to rest in our backyard, in a patch of cool grass that was one of his favorite napping spots. Although he was with us for only a year, we loved Zappa, enjoyed his company and will miss him very much.

That's our kitty menagerie. Mama Cat, Rocky, Baxter and Meesh Meesh welcome you to drop by anytime you have kitty treats and want to set a spell at the back yard Cat Cafe'!