This pic was taken in April of 1987. Silver was all of 8 weeks old, and immediately took a liking to Button. I'd had Button since 1975. He passed away in 1991. He'd been a constant companion most of my life, and in mid-1987 I arranged to live off campus at college so I could take these two with me.

Silver, born Jan. 25, 1987, had an amazing personality. He was a Blue Mink Tonkinese (a cross between a Burmese and a Siamese) and had the best qualities of both breeds. He was very vocal, especially around dinner time (which if he'd had his way would've been every 90 minutes) but was also very loving, loyal, affectionate, and smart. Here I'd asked to see his teeth. Well, maybe not. I caught him yawning. But he did, like most Tonk's, know how to open doors, and when he could get a good grip on the knob, he did just that. Silver passed away April 29, 2002. He brought me and my family a great deal of love, and he is missed.

Two weeks after I lost Button, I went with my mom to the Humane Society. Silver needed a companion. Sydney, on the left, is a Russian Blue type. Slightly, on the right, was a classic brown/black American tabby shorthair. Sydney stayed with us for a while, but eventually joined the ranks of my parents' cats--and my dad still has him to this day so I see him weekly.

Slight's name came from the original book "Peter and Wendy," by Sir J.M. Barrie (on which the play Peter Pan is based). The book has one of the lost boys being named Slightly. Slightly was the only lost boy who thought he knew his REAL name, from before he was abandoned. You see, pinned to his diaper was a note when he was left on a doorstep: "Slightly Soiled." Mr. Soiled was convinced his name was Slightly. Well, when my Slightly was a kitten, he was one day peeing behind my TV in the living room. Being so young (about 6 weeks old) I grabbed him to rush him to the cat box. He continued peeing, dispite my hoisting him into the air. We both became slightly soiled. So--his name since then had been Slightly.

I know it seems like it, but Sydney is NOT giving birth to Slightly.

It didn't take too long for Sliver to warm up to his new friends.

"I can lick my own eyebrows, but I'd rather lick yours."

Here's a pic of Slightly from 3 years ago. It's a Polaroid shot, so not the best.

And here's one of Silver around the same time. He loved sitting on my monitor.

Dusty was mainly my brother's cat, but when he was tired of annoying Josh he enjoyed bringing his smelly body to me so he could leave his eye boogers on me. Weird cat, but sweet in his own way when he wasn't scratching furnature and sneezing in my face.

Sam, a Platinum Mink Tonkinese, joined the family on the same day Silver passed away. As an homage to Silver, Sam was named after him. Silver's name before I owned him (the whole 8 weeks of his life I didn't own him) was Sam. Sadly, Sam had a congenital heart valve defect, and passed away on April 25, 2003--just a few days short of having him for a year.

When Sam died, Nosher a chocolate point Tonkinese, born 3/25/03 replaced him. Well, succeeded him--no cat could ever replace Sam. But Nosher comes close. He has Sam's shape and his sweet personality. Simon, sitting with Nosher here, is a blue point traditional Siamese, born 5/18/03. He looks just like Silver as a kitten. Even though Silver was a Tonkinese, he wasn't pure bred and he leaned very Siamese in his look.

Shadow has been adopted from the Michigan Siamese Rescue, and even though he's not at all Siamese, I'm glad we found him there. He's more Turkish Van than anything else, I'm told. He's also completely deaf, as some white cats can be. He's probably the sweetest most affectionate cat I've ever had.

Razor was Shadow's step-litter mate at the Michigan Siamese Rescue, and he and Shadow were very close and it didn't seem right to take only one and not the other, so--here they are. Even though he doesn't look it, he is a Siamese mix. He's Josh's cat and adores him, following him everywhere.

Gizmo (whom I sometimes call Mobert) is also a sweet cat--a Maine Coon mutt that followed Josh home one day. He's Josh's, but like my dad's cat or any of my brother's cats, he's still family to me. He's about the same age as Nosher and Simon.