Parade of Pets: Cats and Mouse

On a sunny Halloween, Jackson basks in the sun on the deck.

Hobbes loves to crawl into bed with me and spoon at night. I decided to roll out of bed in the morning and take some pictures of him. He got a little playful with the camera.

Nellie Grey was a stray. She showed up one day, and decided to stay. We named her Nellie Grey.

Calvin is a charming little rag doll Maine Coon. His favorite thing to do is cuddle up around my head on my pillow. This was taken after I rolled out of bed.

This is Schmutz, my almost two-year-old white kitten who I got through the Seattle Animal Shelter. He has the most personality out of all the cats I’ve ever had in my life—he is full entertainment. Here I caught him sleeping in the dog’s bed and under the cover, looking beyond cute!

Our kitty, Gilligan aka Little Buddy, who thinks he is person, normally shies away from the camera like we are a stalking paparazzo. We managed to distract him long enough to get this photo, capturing his natural beauty (and fuzziness!).

Foxy says, “Excuse me…you’re blocking my sun!”

Hilo is a one-year-old, odd-eyed Japanese Bobtail who became part of our family in May 2010 after our two senior cats passed away. I love this photo of him basking in the summer sun, which brings out his eyes. We are constantly reminded that we have a youngster in the house. Within his first year with us, Hilo has disconnected our security system, broken various lamps and glassware, and we’ve spent several hundred dollars modifying our laundry room to prevent him from destroying the dryer ventilation system. More recently, my husband’s favorite eyeglasses were broken in half. We are still searching for an acceptable replacement. At the time, it wasn’t so funny but we can laugh at these things now. Surprisingly, my husband has been very forgiving of Hilo’s “accomplishments.” It’s easy to forgive him when he looks like this.

Mirabelle

Pumpkin says, “I was waiting for my hamburger.”

Pesto sunbathing. Shortly after this she curled up, fell asleep, and started to snore.

We adopted Zephyr (left) in January 2010 and wanted to find him a sister. We found Zeta (right) in July 2010. This was their introduction. The cats did not harm each other, but their reaction was priceless.

Rico was named after “The Copa Cobana” and has a sister named Lola. In this photo he is sleeping in what was the “Romance Room.” I never get tired of looking at that face!

Elsa, a 16-pound Maine Coon, is very possessive about her catmint patch. Every cat in the neighborhod loves it too! Here, she is relaxing between her catmint and a mound of chives.

Phinnies, one of our pet rats. Very sweet and cuddly, when not hungry.