Since we bought our first home in Burlington in 1990, we have had cats. They have insisted that they have their own page!
Our first cat came home on New Years Even in 1990, a pet store find at 12 weeks of age. He yowled so much we named him Mick Jaguar. The following spring, we decided to get him a buddy and brought home a feisty 4 week old tabby who we names Hobbs after the tiger character in the comic “Calvin and Hobbes”. Even though it turned out Hobbs was a “she” and not a “he”, the name stuck. Mick and Hobbs had a relationship of tolerance: they rarely fought, but they didn’t cuddle together much either. They both were house cats as we felt it too dangerous for them to go out, as we lived near very busy streets and feared for their safety.
Upon moving to the farm, it became evident very quickly that in order to keep the mouse population down, a barn cat or two would be needed. Our first two barn cats were Thelma and Louise, a black and a tabby. Unfortunately, Louise’s fearlessnes was her downfall and she disappeared. At the time, we brought them home, we also found a very pregnant, feral cat in our brush pile out back. I left her food by her hiding space, and lo and behold, the next day, she came into the barn looking for more! So much for feral! She quickly moved her new kittens into the run-in shed, and then into the barn and took to following me everywhere. She was named Shadow. We kept one of the kittens, a beautiful grey that we named Zane and found homes of the others. Shadow, Zane and Thelma did a fine job of mousing, and we rarely see any.
In the fall of 2011, I found a tiny kitten hidden in the run-in shed at a friend’s farm. He was a georgeous tabby with lots of white. I brought him home with me, he sleeping on the seat next to me in the Miata – he must have been exhausted from crying for his momma! I slept on the couch that night with him on my stomach to make him feel at home and to have some company. Once Max was old enough to be neutered, he was introduced to barn life. He is the only one of the barn cats that wants to come into the house.