My Beasties

Zoey is a mixed breed Siamese known as a tortie point, a mixture of tortoiseshell and seal point kitties. The markings are unique to each cat, and there are some beautiful mixtures. Hers are no exception, which is part of why I picked her...she's such a pretty girl. Her facial markings give her a look of perpetual "surprised fierceness" but she's really just a love pretending to be bad. We adopted her, along with her buddy, Buster, from the Siamese Cat Rescue Center* in VA. She was a friendly little thing, but methinks that was just a ploy to get adopted. It's taken the better part of this past year to get her accustomed to being handled, but she still doesn't tolerate being held very well. She likes to rub up against me and she lets me pet her, but that's about the extent of her tolerance. I sorely miss having a lap cat and I'm hoping to wear her down, but... In the meantime, I amuse her with her favorite toys - she likes kitty balls and wand toys...anything that doesn't require contact - and touch her every chance I get!

Buster is also mixed but predominantly a seal point Siamese. We kept the name he was given at the Rescue Center, but we really should have renamed him Bubba or Buddha. He's my fat little Buddha-boy who immediately gained about 5 pounds in his first few months here. He lumbers along and lazes about, plopping his chubby little self down wherever he pleases. Unfortunately, that doesn't include a lap. He's a head-butter, loves to have his belly scratched, and purrs like a motorboat, but like Zoey, laps aren't his cup of fish juice... sigh ... He does like to play though, and his favorite is a wand-toy with a feather at the end. He likes his furry little play mice and an old shoe lace too.

They're both about 3 years old now* and have become the best of buds. They play rough sometimes and the fur literally flies when they do. Generally it's his but he could flatten her if he wanted to. He's a gent though and tolerates her 'tudes, 'Course she tolerates his interrupting her nap time so it all evens out in the end. I'm grateful that they're healthy and playful and I'll just have to accept that they're a little different from my previous meezers in the touchy-feely department.

*Fast forward to about 6 years old now and still the best of buds. My touching every chance I get has paid off and while not totally curl up, purring machine lap cats, will deign to occasionally crawl into one for a bit of head scratching or belly rubbing. They're both much more tolerant of others now and don't hide under the bed every time someone different comes to visit.