All the kitties I've been blessed with in my life have either been strays or rescues. The 3 kitties that currently grace our home are no different. 3 years ago I was wrestling with whether or not to add another kitty to our family. At the time our dear Remi girl was fighting kidney disease & starting to slow down (we had already lost another girl to kidney disease as well). Our kids were 2 & 5 at the time & had always had a cat in their lives. They loved their kitty & I was concerned how losing Remi would affect them...especially since they constantly loved on her from sun-up to sun-down, but didn't want to add any stress to our sick kitty by bringing in a newcomer. Our neighbor walked over to our driveway with a little 5 week old orange ball of fur to "show" us before taking him to the shelter the next day. Needless to say, TJ became our newest family member at that moment! He was SO rambuncious that we thought it best to find a healthy, young playmate for him. Not long after Zoey, scrawny, all- black with bright green eyes, joined us after being rescued from a newspaper parking lot by the local humane society. 4 months later we lost our Remi which was very hard but made a little easier by having TJ & Zoey to love. A few months later a somewhat wild mother cat with her 2 babies appeared under my neighbors shed. After some time, we trapped her babies (now my parents' kitties) & then finally MamaKitty. Although she is still aloof she'll jump up on the bed for treats & purrs louder than any cat I've known. I'm still holding out hope that she'll come around someday!

Cassie
DuPont, WA