See some kitty pictures:

Pancha in the sink, fall 1997

Patches gazing out the window

Petunia's sweet little face

Pancha in the trash can

Pancha and Misha cuddling

Pancha and Misha, Jenny's cats

Harriet and Dougie, Laura's cats

See Pancha and Misha's photo album.

Pancha's story:

I arrived at the Moores on November 7, 1997. The family always had stray cats, but when their cat Patches died, they wanted to be sure they got a cat as wonderful as she was. Jenny did web research into cat breeds and found out that Burmese cats are the best possible pets. We're affectionate, playful, and beautiful. They decided to name me Pancha because that's Sanskrit for "five," and I'm the fifth cat this family's had.

My life here is pretty good, though there are a number of difficult situations I have to deal with on a daily basis. Often the family refuses to pet me in my favorite spot on the kitchen floor, despite my anguished, pleading meows. Their sudden movements shock me to the point that I jump four feet into the air. Also the humans often bring large, mysterious objects into the house, which I find very disturbing. Often a door is unexpectedly closed on me, causing me much confusion. I still have painful memories of my life as a kitten at the Moore household. The family would use a feather toy to play with me, whipping me up into a tortured frenzy. I was forced to do various aerial acrobatic maneuvers in order to satisy them. Now the mere sight of that toy causes me much distress.

Life was relatively calm for the first couple of years, and then little brother Misha arrived. He is a fiendish little devil in the body of a permanently stunted cat. He takes sadistic pleasure in disturbing my peace and in pre-empting my rightful spot in Jenny's lap using his wretched cuteness as some kind of a weapon. However, he is tolerable at times and when I have time, I do play with him.

I am additionally tormented by the troubles of feline fame, now that my picture is on the web.

Despite these difficulties, I am often well taken care of. My mom Jenny feeds me every day, lets me drink out of the toilet, and takes me to have my teeth cleaned when they're dirty. I like to sit on Jenny's lap when she's on the toilet. Sometimes she lets me eat (clean) toilet paper. I can't eat too much though or I'll vomit.

Misha's story:

My family liked Pancha so much that they decided to get another cat just like him. So they got me from the same breeder in May of 1999. Pancha didn't like me at first but now he handles me a little better. Sometimes he seems a little jealous -- can I really help it if I'm this cute?? We chase each other all over the house, lick each other, and fall asleep curled up together. And we sniff each other a lot.

My big brother is fun to play with, and I have to admit that sometimes I enjoy teasing him just a little. That's not so wrong, is it? I try to have fun with him so maybe he'll lighten up a little bit.

I love to play. I really like it when Laura chases me around the house. Toys are fun too, especially toy mice. I really love exploring, especially in places I'm not supposed to go. When I get caught someplace I'm not supposed to be, I just give my "innocent" look and I'm instantly forgiven. Also I love to cuddle.

I know I'm not supposed to go upstairs, but it just seems too tempting sometimes. I have various tricks that I employ to sneak up there. If someone is heading up the stairs, I wait at the bottom and race up just at the moment that the door opens. Once I've made it up there, I hide under furniture until people give up and leave me there. But alas, I have discovered that sometimes the forbidden is not all it's cracked up to be ... especially when there's no food or litter box.

Our dad Larry is strange. Sometimes he sticks out his middle finger at me, and I don't know what that means. So I just sniff his finger or run away. Also, he runs around the house and makes strange grunting noises.

Visit some of our favorite places on the Web:

Veterinarian Information. You can't just go to the first place they take you.
Selectapet from PetNet. Find out which breed of cat is best for you.
American Cat Fanciers Association. A group we thoroughly encourage participation in.
Cat Fanciers. Another group we thoroughly encourage participation in.

Harriet caught in the act

Patches and Petunia

Patches' story:

On August 8, 1997, we lost our good friend Patches. She was 17 years old and had been a wonderful kitty to our family.

In 1980, Patches and her sister Shelley showed up on the Moores' porch in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. They were just babies, but they were hungry and had no place else to go. At first, Patches and Shelley had to live outside on the porch, until one night there was a thunderstorm and the Moores let them spend the night in the laundry room. Pretty soon, they moved into the house. The Moores took pity on the sisters and tried to find homes for them. Shelley was adopted by a wonderful family and the Moores decided to keep Patches. Patches was her real name, but she was also known as Patch, Poo-Poo, and Love Kitty.

Petunia's story:

In November 1998, we lost another friend, Petunia. We think she was about 12. We miss the way she used to eat grass and purr.

Petunia was begging for food scraps outside of Godfather's Pizza in Vestavia Hills, Alabama in the spring of 1987 when Laura rescued her. At first Petunia stayed on the porch, but Patches was lonely so they let her move in to the house. At first we called her Babe, my but parents didn't like that since that's what they called each other. Besides Petunia, we called her Tulip, Poot, The Poot, Petooty, and The Pootster. Her favorite quote: "Oat grass, and a good hair brush -- that's all a cat really needs."