Meet the kitties

Meet Billy and Cleo, my kitties. Sitting of course on the one thing they shouldn't be sitting on - a quilt I was working on. Cats know where to go to get attention. This was when I first got Billy, and Cleo would go outside (hence the tag). This was when Billy was skinny and Cleo was well endowed, not the way it is now. Billy is a big beast and Cleo is skin and bones because she has diabetes.

Cleo is the first kitty I ever had. I was living alone, and decided it was time to get a cat. She was a street kitty, and when she came to me she was pregnant. Luckily she didn't have kitty AIDS, so she could keep the kittens. She gave birth when I was away climbing one weekend to 5 kittens. She was a great mom, and the kittens had the run of the apartment. It was a lot of fun actually, and they were well behaved, for kittens. They would be quiet while I slept (not sit at the door and meow), but would come running when I would open the door. I gave away all the kittens though, since I had had a cat when young that we kept two of the kittens, and the mom and the kittens did not get along. Besides, everyone wants kittens, and I am happy adopting older cats, so I let them go. It was very sad...

Eventually I got another cat to keep Cleo company. I'll tell the story of him another time. But then Billy came along - another street kitty. He, however, was not as outgoing as Cleo. He spent a long time hidden under the bed in the spare room (I had moved to a shared house). I would go in and lie on the floor and talk to him, and spend time, and slowly he came out from under the bed, and would BONK the hell out of my head - so hard it almost hurt. I gained his trust, but unfortunately I had to bring him for a second rabies shot, and that was bad for the trust issue. Damn cat bit me - but it was just because he was so scared. Now he is a sweetheart and loves affection. He is a talker too, which is sometimes quite funny. Both he and Cleo listen to me (they wait to start eating, they come when I call, etc.), but that doesn't always mean he's happy about it. I'll chastise him for something, tell him to stop, and he'll walk away with one last 'fuck you' meow. Quite funny. And he bonks the hell out of Cleo - at this point almost knocks her down.

So, that's Billy Boy on the left, and Cleo Sweetie Pie on the right.