Our cat family

In our household we now have nine cats, all strays or orphans: Jennyanydots, Martina Navratilova, Margarethe Cammermeyer (Maggie), Misty from Big Rapids, Oscar Sugar Boatwright McCullough, Sidney Poitier, Harley, Rudi, and Molly Rose. Last winter our Rita Mae died. She's pictured here in her buggy, in which she enjoyed many happy outdoor hours during her last summer. She was special (a tortie with a 'tude) and we miss her.

We've taken quite an interest in helping stray cats. This is primarily Janice's project, but Malinda helps too. When we can, we catch the cats with a humane trap (live trap) and test them for feline leukemia. If they're well, we have them immunized and neutered and then find homes for them. We don't know how many we have trapped in the past several years, but it's been quite a few. Some were ill and we had them euthanized; others were adopted. Several (as you can tell from the first paragraph) have stayed with us.

Neutering is especially important. Thousands of cats (and dogs) are put to death every year in pounds and shelters simply because there are not enough homes. If you want to adopt a pet, please consider a homeless stray or a pet from a shelter or pound, and remember to adopt older animals. Kittens and puppies are cute, but the personalities of older cats and dogs are more predictable, so there are advantages to adopting them.