When my wife and I got married we each had two cats. I had two long haired cats and she had two short haired cats. When we brought them all together... We had cat fur all over the carpet.
Her cats; Min and Byter, were older than my cats; Spyder Cat and Fat Cat. Though we never knew just how old Fat Cat was because I got him *used* from a friend.
Min was the oldest cat. He was also the first cat my wife had gotten after she left her parents home and started to live on her own. He was a mostly black cat with some white spots. He looked to be wearing a tux. He was the king cat, and up until he died, he was the master of the house and yard.
Byter, my wife's temperamental calico, was close in age to Spyder Cat. We also call her "The Bitch Cat" due to her nature. Byter is not a bad cat, but she is a very persistent cat who likes to chew your hair while you sleep, and while you are awake... In fact, if you sit still long enough you will find her purring her way towards your head.
She is also very particular about being pet. If you sit on the couch, and she sees you, you will soon find her under your hand moving her head back and forth. Yes, she will use your hand to pet her if you don't. Also, never stop petting her unless she is ready, otherwise she will bite you.
Fat Cat, my 'used' cat came from a friend who had too many cats. She claimed Fat Cat was gay and hated all female cats. Well, I never saw him do anything to my other male cats but he used to do this really weird thing with pillows... He was passed on to my sister-in-law because him and the Byter just never got along. She did give him a torn ear as a going away present though.
He lived a better life where he went anyways. Often times when we visited my sister-in-law Fat Cat would hide from me. I think he was secretly scared I would take him back to the house of many cats. In his new home he was the only cat and he was treated as a child. All of the catnip he wanted and he got to eat out of one of those fancy dishes you see on the gourmet cat food commercials, the ones you say, "no one would ever feed their cat out of one of those," but then you go to my sister-in-laws house and say, "can I be one of your cats?"
Spyder Cat was not always named as such. He started out life with the name Harley, due to his very loud purr. However, after becoming an 'outside' cat he learned a very peculiar *trick* for getting our attention. He would jump up and grab the window screens. Then he would climb up the window screens until we let him in. We lost a lot of good window screens to his claws.
Spyder Cat is a very loving cat, but he is also a bit of a loner. On game nights he always comes to the game room and plays musical laps. The only problem with Spyder Cat is his grooming skills, he doesn't have any. He will often come in the house to eat and have a pricker bush hanging off of his butt. One time he came in with a whole Azalea bush stuck to his backside. He saved me a couple of bucks that day but I had to avert making eye contact with my gardening neighbor for a few weeks.
One day, while petting the Byter's belly, I noticed a hard lump on her. We feared the worst and brought her to the vet. My wife, thinking it was cancer, was overcome with grief. She was so overcome with grief that she went out and got us another cat while the Byter was still at the vet! she came with a cute orange tabby kitten that we named Max.
Max was a very cute kitten. when he heard my pants hit the floor in the bedroom he would come running and jump right on the bed and demand to be pet. Byter came home a few days later (it was a strangulated fat cell) and did not understand why some new kid was in the house. She was very suspicious...
Max and Min both died about a year later. Min had sever internal organ failures and we had to put him down. He would not eat, dragged himself around the house (when he moved at all) and all the fat on his body had burned off. His eyes had sunk in and he was a very sorry sight.
Max was diagnosed with FIP about a month later. I found him out in the yard, just sitting there, he would not even move for food. It was all very strange as he appeared healthy. After the vet told us the bad news we had to have him put down too. It was a very hard time for us...
Around this time we ended up with two new kittens. Grey and Figaro. Grey came first and he was a little off. He was prone to seizures and never got very big. He disappeared one afternoon when a thunderstorm passed through. We have no idea what happened to him as he never went more then 100 feet from the house. He was a quiet cat, but like most with brain problems he could never seem to retract his claws.
Figaro was fine though. He was very similar to Min in coloring and also very shy. where Min was the king of the house Fig was glad just to be in the house. He was never much of a fighter but he was a great cat to have on your lap.
We then added another cat to our home, Squirty. He is a long haired orange tabby that is all muscle. He is also a purr machine, if you just look at him he will purr. Once you touch him you can't shut him off. He has some grooming issues but he is no where near as bad as Spyder Cat. He is also very neurotic and hyper.
After a while my wife started bugging me about wanting a Siamese cat. See, she had always wanted one and since we were down to only four cats we had room for him! He would be an inside cat and never go outside. so, we broke down and got a Siamese and named him Kiko.
Kiko was a very interesting character. He liked to play fetch and be carried around. For the first few months I thought his legs might be made of rubber because his paws never touched the ground! He especially like to sit on your shoulder while you walked around the house. He was very loving but... He bonded to me.
This made my wife very upset, so she bought another Siamese! For those of you at home that brings us up to six cats! Koko was from the same breeder as Kiko but he looked less like the classic Siamese breed. Koko bonded to my wife and at first Kiko was real mad, but after a few days he realized he could play with Koko.
See, with the exception of Squirty, none of the other cats wanted to play with Kiko. I think even Squirty regretted it later because he got Kiko's undivided attention whenever he was in the house!
Also, Byter enjoyed being the mom cat! We have many pictures of the Byter covered in little sleeping Siamese cats, all you can see is her head. She was very good to the kittens and they still sleep with her on cold nights.
Eventually, Kiko and Koko took over the house. they are like two peas in a pod and play together constantly. Especially late at night when I'm trying to sleep! The other cats come in mostly just to eat or sleep, but sleeping is tough when the combined team of Kiko and Koko are chasing you! One will attack from above, the other from below, and unlike our other cats, these two work effectively as a team!
So there you have it, a quick tale about the cats in my house. Feel free to share your own cat stories.
