BJ (nicknamed 'Boojer') has a heart murmur and is a bit more lethargic than his brother. Ray, on the other hand is becoming quite a hunter and has repeatedly defended our fields and those of our neighbors from snakes, fieldmice and voles.

Squeak Our oldest kitty of known age is Squeaker, a shy sandy tiger whose mom dropped her in the milkhouse (outside the kitchen door where the kitty condos are) nine years ago shortly after we moved.   Squeak was probably only a week or two old.   We'd gotten a beautiful long-haired calico with the farm and moved Jen's 19-year-old black and white cat, but both died within the next two years.

Monkey, a gray kitty who looks like a Russian blue, is currently the only grown-up kitty who is still allowed in the house.   She and her brother, Tiger were dumped on our road about seven years ago. Her brother was a tiger kitty and very sweet who disappeared without a trace, we assume eaten by coyotes as many small animals disappeared that spring. Although she pretends not to like being picked up, Monkey loves to snuggle on the comforter at the foot of the bed. If you leave your door unlatched, she'll likely come visit you sometime during the night.

Tig (aka Tiggle Wiggle, aka the Nasty Cat) is a yellow-eyed brown and black tiger, about seven years old who walked in our front door and proceeded directly to the kitchen cat food bowl nearly seven years ago as guest were departing one Sunday morning. We ecstatically believed she was Monkey's brother, Tiger come home after a 9 month absence, until the vet who treated her digestive problems informed us that this was a girl kitty. So we shortened "Tiger" to "Tig" and added her to our feline family.
      The vet also took out Tig's stitches from being recently neutered and also pointed out that she had been declawed.   Somebody spent some money on her and then either dumped her or she ran off. She's been here ever since.
      Generally grouchy and complaining (hence the moniker 'Nasty Cat') her favorite hobby is to sneak in through open car windows and nap inside, so if you left your windows down, better check the back seat before you drive off - you may have an unexpected passenger. If she can't get inside your car, she'll likely sit on top of it.

Sasha we think is a Tonkinese, a breed created in the '70s by crossing Burmese and Siamese to get a very affectionate cat. A two-year-old, he joined us in April 2007 after spending the terribly cold winter outside our piano teacher's house in Erlanger. She, of course, bought him a dog house, filled it with cat beds and fed him canned food multiple times a day. After we brought him home, Dana suggested we name him Wyatt because his talent is urping.
      We shampooed carpet daily for weeks until his "sensitive stomach" calmed down, but his unceasing demands likely never will! We suspect he drove someone so nuts that they threw him out despite their investment. He yowls for stinky canned food, but is very sweet and lovey when his ever-growing stomach is full.

Alex is nearly full grown, and is larger than a few of his older siblings, but he is clearly the baby of our kitty family. A long haired tiger, he loves to be held and snuggle... for a while. He also loves to fetch his smaller toys when they are thrown across the room. While no kitty can replace Casey - the most beautiful kitty in the world (see below), we think Alex runs a close second.

Sara was a beautiful long-haired white cat, but was really neurotic. She would rub all over you and beg for attention, then bite or claw without notice.   She came wandering in through the fields and discovered where we feed the other cats in the milk house. Sara never claimed to belong to us or anybody, but she returned to the milk house on a regular basis.

Jake - In 2005, the orange and white kitty of a thousand names, who ended up dubbed Jake by a five-year-old guest of that name, disappeared at two. He had walked in on his own little paws and managed to elude Fluffy, who would run off or kill any animals that didn't belong on the property. Once she understood that Jake was a welcome addition and began to tolerate him, it was particularly funny to watch him rub up against her leg affectionately.

Casey, a rubber kitty who would stretch out upside down and purr, was a Maine Coon mix from the Boone County Animal Shelter. The most beautiful kitty in the world disappeared in the heat wave of July 2006. He'd been a big investment of both effort and expense: Close encounters with predators had left him with a broken tail ($250 in vet bills), and a shoulder abscess ($80) not to mention all the effort expense it took to get him healthy and growing when he came to us as a tiny little ball of fluff. One newlywed couple spent an entire afternoon laying on the dinning room floor playing with him when he was just a few months old.
      Casey loved to snuggle and was particularly fond of canteloupe. Whenever we prepared canteloupe for breakfast, he sat and demanded that we give him some of it.

Tom Tiger was the big fat lovey kitty who sat on the front porch, purring and kneading anyone who'd join him. He would move enough to mosey to the barn to get pets when people were grooming horses. Tom also disappeared in 2006 during the 90+ degree temperatures. We suspect keeping Fluffy in the air conditioning prevented her from patrolling her territory to deter the coyotes. Tom evidently hadn't had cat food before he arrived here, so he'd eat at the dog dish if the cat food bowl was empty.

Skinney little Minnie kitty, a beautiful Siamese-tiger mix, adopted from a Cincinnati cat shelter, had medical problems that made her health deteriorate. We had her put down in 2005 before winter would have made her even more miserable.