Welcome to the Animal House! We love our animals; they are part of our family. Scott and I each had an animal (or two) before we met, and when we got married we simply brought the animals together creating one big happy family! Before we moved in together, I wanted to get his dog (Jasper) used to the idea of cats living under the same roof. I had a pussycat that I was bringing into this relationship and I wanted peace and happiness. So we adopted two little kittens - twins! Their mother had been abandoned at the Vet’s office, pregnant. Her litter consisted of two, a boy and a girl - both orange tabbies. I called to see about adopting a kitten, and the mama cat had just given birth. I couldn’t take only one; they were meant to be together - so we adopted both and named them “Yin” (the girl) and “Yang” (the boy). We brought them home 6 weeks later, and Jasper took to them right away! In the beginning they were inseparable. Now, (six years later) Yin hates all animals (including any humans other than Scott and me), and is queen of the castle. Yang is a big, happy fatty pussycat that lounges in the window all day. They are content and happy pussycats - and we love them!

When we were married and I “really” moved in to his house, I brought my beloved pussycat, “E.Z.” with me. E.Z sadly passed away in October of 2004. He was the best pussycat! When I was 16 and my brother Paul was 15, he had this little kitten follow him home one evening. He wanted to keep it so badly, the poor little thing was starving and dehydrated. We had one cat already, Tiffany, who was not very welcoming of other animals onto her turf. When Paul brought E.Z. into the house she was all big and bad at first, but then warmed up to him pretty quickly. Before we knew it E.Z. and Tiffany were best buddies, playing together and enjoying each other. I was the one who named E.Z., and even though he was Paul’s cat E.Z. and I bonded the closest. He used to play catch and retrieve with these plastic newspaper ties we’d get on the morning paper. I would just pick one up and E.Z. would come running, ready to play… I miss the little fella so much it hurts… He was my buddy.

Tiffany was an awesome all-white longhaired pussycat. Her name came from the store “Tiffany’s” where priceless things are sold. She was like a painting come to life - her beauty was bright. My mother and a friend of hers had adopted Tiffany after our little poodle had passed away from old age (she was the best dog!). I’ll never forget the first time Tiffany entered my life… Paul and I were at a neighbor’s apartment while my mother and her friend went out for a bit. When my mother came to pick us up, the pocket in the shirt she was wearing started to meow. It was soft and tiny - and at first I was a little confused to what it was. I figured it out pretty fast and jumped up to welcome her into our lives. Tiffany was a cat’s cat, a Miss Priss. She lived 18 years and had to be euthanized due to kidney failure… I was with her until her tiny soul left her body and went to wait for me at the Rainbow Bridge.

After we had moved to Nevada I adopted three more cats, but ended up giving them to a good friend to care for - they landed in good loving hands. One morning in 1993 I woke up to someone knocking on my front door. When I answered it - there was a little black puppy sitting on the step just looking up at me. I adopted him and my mother named him Waldo. Waldo was a good dog, he was something mixed with black lab - we think he was half pit bull. Waldo was a sweet dog and he loved everyone. Sadly he passed away doing the one thing he loved most in the world - digging. He was my third pet to go to the Rainbow Bridge.

When Scott was a little kid, he had gone into a pet store with his mother. They were selling these little puppies and Scott wanted one so bad! His parents told him if he wanted to buy one, with his own money, that’d be okay. They also told him that the dog would be his responsibility, and he said, “Okay.” He adopted Jasper, and for 16 years they were best buddies. Jasper was a beautiful dog, a keeshond mix, and he had a long and healthy life. I met Jasper when he was 10 years old, and he was so hyper! Jasper wanted attention! He’d ask to go out, then come back in, and then go right back out, then back in - over and over again, just for the attention! I noticed that Scott had never had Jasper fixed, so I was the big bad meany who made the vet appointment. Poor Jasper, but I didn’t want him to die from testicular cancer or produce any more baby Jaspers - as he was the gigolo of the neighborhood! I figured that would calm his hyperness - wrong! The next step was getting Jasper his own puppy to play with. We went to the local animal shelter and found two black and white puppies that had been abandoned in a local park in a box - poor things! There was a girl we adopted, and Scott named her - with great creativity - Ebony. It matched her – she’s an Ebony.

Jasper passed away last summer (2005) naturally of old age. Ebony was scared by his death; the only pack she had ever known was all of a sudden gone. She suffered from panic attacks and separation anxiety and would push her way out of the house and into the car to go with me. I ended up taking her to work with me a few times just because it was so sad to leave her. Ebony was going through a deep depression and I figured that it would just pass with time. Almost a year after Jasper’s death, she was still so sad. We took her to the Vet and asked what we could do to help her, and she told us to get her a puppy… Funny how history repeats itself. Ebony was bought as a puppy for Jasper, and now we found ourselves buying Ebony her own puppy. I was being picky about what kind of puppy we got, I didn’t want another large dog. When I was a little kid my great Aunt Viola had a poodle named “Pookette.” When my Aunt passed away we took her little dog home with us. Pookette became my best friend and the one soul in the world I could talk to as my life was confusing with my parents’ divorce. She was protective and loving and I will never forget her! In looking for a puppy for Ebony, I wanted a small dog. I was looking in the newspaper and found a corgi rescue with two litters of two-week-old puppies. We went to check out the corgi and border collie mix puppies. On the phone the lady had said there were some tri-color puppies - oh I wanted a tri! It turned out there was only one tri-color puppy, with corgi short legs, and it was a boy! It was meant to be, and we adopted the newest member of our family, Baxter.

In the summer of 2001 my mother called me to tell me that while she was at the store she had found a tiny kitten in a box out in the parking lot. It was the hottest day of the year, and there was no water or food in the box. She brought the kitten home, but because she was renting she couldn’t keep the kitten there. I knew as soon as she told me the story, that the kitten was mine. Scott and I went right over to her house and met our fourth kitten. She’s a calico and she was so darn cute! Scott named her “Jumble” because all the colors were jumbled together on her. The poor little kitten was so afraid of us and of the other cats and dogs at home. She lived under our bed for a week before braving her outings during the night. Jumble has never warmed up to the idea of hanging out with humans, although when we are home, she’ll come out and chill with us. Yin and Jumble are enemies and will fight until there is bloodshed! For their safety we keep them separated, Jumble has her own room where she seems content to be alone.

Not too long after Jumble joined our family Scott rescued a striped tabby from one of my mother’s cats. They were fighting and Scott saw that this poor little pussycat didn’t have a chance against my mother’s large black pussycat. Scott saved this pussycat and we brought him home. I had been writing these short stories with the main character named Friendly the pussycat. Scott decided that his little kitty needed to be named Friendly because he was so friendly and loving. We put Friendly in the utility room until we could get him to the vet, and fixed. Friendly fought us all the way - he hated being kept indoors! We were able to keep him in long enough to get the shots he needed and to get fixed so he didn’t make any little baby Friendly kittens. He became our fifth pussycat but he lived primarily outside, coming in to eat and for a quick scratch on the head and then he would go right back out. In the summer of 2005 Friendly picked a fight with the neighbors dog! He lived, but a toe was lost in the battle. For a few weeks we had to keep him insdie as we nursed him back to health, with antibiotics and wrapping changes. He was loud and obnoxious wanting to get back outside and be the free soul that he is. When the time came to finally let Friendly out, he went next door (to the family with the dog) and that’s where he’s stayed. Friendly has chosen another family over us, and we respect his choice - even if it is with the folks whose dog bit his toe off. He makes the people who live next door very happy and they love him so much!