The Arnold Pride
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Julia
Julia is the grand-daughter of our niece Kelsea's cat (Becky), and the daughter of her aunt's cat (Mew). We adopted her at two months; she turned three in June of 2007. She's a very delicate, refined lady, and rather shy, even around the family. She's also very picky, distaining mere (wet) cat food in favor of tuna. She's David's favorite, but doesn't care.
Jessie
Jessie is a rescue cat from the mean streets of Chester, PA. We adopted her in 2005; she turned two in April of 2007. She's the most mellow, type B, "moldable" cat I've ever known, and will put up with just about any reasonable attention from people. She was originally adopted because Eileen wanted another dilute calico after Gray's passing, but now has become Katie's cat for the most part. She was apparently abandoned too early, and still wants to nurse on us. She'll do so for as long as we'll allow, or until she falls asleep.
Blossom
Blossom is the newest addition to our family, turning one in May of 2007. She's the most animated of our current pack, and is often the instigator of cat racing in our house. She loves attention, but hates to be held(!), and has the loudest purr of any cat I've ever known. She's also the resident punk, being the youngest and most likely to start trouble.
 Julia grooming Jessie |
 Blossom and Jessie grooming each other |
 Blossom and Jessie hanging out |
Maggie was Eileen's first "full-time" cat, and a real class act. I used to walk around the neighberhood with her; she would walk with me! She was hit by a car at about 5 years old, and lived for another several years as a tailless cat. No matter how bad her health problems were, she always carried herself with grace. Maggie was Gray's mom.
Gray
Gray was the cat we'd had the longest (Eileen had her since she was born). Gray really craved attention, and would hold her paw out to you, kneading the air or patting your cheek, to get you to pet her. When she died in 2001 she was our second-oldest cat at 15 years old.
ET
ET (for Extra Trouble) was found by my parents when she was about 8 weeks old. She had been treed by a pack of dogs, and my father rescued her. We inherited her when my folks passed away, and we've had her since 1995. ET was our grand dame; she lived to be 16, and passed away in 2000.
Samantha
We got Samantha from the Montgomery County animal shelter in 1990. She was pregnant when we got her, and delivered a litter of six kittens two months later. Sasha and Agamemnon are two of her sons. Samantha was a real sweetie, in spite of how she looks in the pictures! She left us in the summer of 2002.
Sasha
Sasha liked to think he was the Alpha Cat in the house, had a big mouth (as you can see in one of the pictures) and was very good at acting put out if we don't treat him the way he expected to be treated. He was a good kid, tho. He left us in 2003.
Agamemnon (Aggie)
Agamemnon is named after a cat in a children's book that dates back to when my mother was a child. Ever since I read it, I'd always wanted to name a cat that; it seemed such a ridiculously big name for such a small animal. Aggie was a heavy-weight, weighing in at about 25 lbs. He was a big powder puff though, a real sweetie - very mellow and very shy of people and other cats. He could could have been Alpha Cat, but didn't care. He left us in 2004, less than a year after his brother.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin was our last addition of "the old batch", and was with us from 1997 until 2005. He was another big one, about 26 lbs., talking the heavyweight crown from Aggie in 2001. He was also a very sweet cat, and had opposable thumbs (polydactyl). We were his third family.