Our Stories

Thomas and Phoebe: We were born in April of 2003 underneath a deck at a house in the suburbs of Atlanta. There were 6 of us kittens and our Mom. This Crazy Lady at the house next door kept coming out and putting down food for us and encouraging us to come over and visit. We heard her say things about her Murphy who we think was the big Black Lab that lived in her house. We stayed away from the backyard so that we never came in contact with Murphy. And, that's probably why Crazy Lady wouldn't let us inside her house. Not that we wanted to go in there. We were outdoor cats, living the good life with our Mom and litter mates. By November, we had become very friendly with Crazy Lady and she had named us - the 4 that would go around her - Bitsy, Bushy, Boots and Bob. Go figure people and their crazy names!!! One day some people came up in a truck with traps and ropes and caught Mom and 2 of our litter mates and took them away. Within a few days something big in the woods had gotten Bitsy and then Crazy Lady gathered the rest of us - Bushy, Boots and Bob - into cages and took us away. They put us to sleep and did something that made us kind of sore in the morning and our stomachs were shaved and we felt kind of funny. Then Crazy Lady came and picked us up and took us back to her house. We were put in the man's workshop for a couple of days until we felt better. Then the man and Crazy Lady cut a hole in the door and put in a funny flap that swings back and forth and we could go outside again, but had to always be inside at night and the flap was locked. And, somehow our names got changed. Bob became Bobbette all of a sudden - wonder why that was? And then, as we stayed longer, Bobbette was given to someone at Crazy Lady's church and her name was changed again to Ginger. Then Crazy Lady realized that she wasn't going to (and didn't want to) get rid of the other 2 of us. Boots' name was changed to Thomas and Bushy's name was changed to Phoebe. Both of those names are more suited to our personalities and intelligence! Then in February of 2004, Crazy Lady was very sad for a while. She would come out to visit us in the workshop at night as she always had, but she would talk about the black dog and big water drops would fall from her eyes. I think maybe Murphy had gone away because she was so old. Then, the door into the house was opened and we were allowed in, but we were afraid because we could still smell big black dog in there. It took us a week or so, but we started to go a little bit further and further into the house and finally we decided that the dog was truly gone and we made ourselves at home. We had our own food dishes and water bowl and a litter box in Crazy Lady's studio. We were allowed on the furniture and upstairs on the bed, but not on the countertops or the kitchen table!!!! Crazy Lady said that she was training us to be puppies - if that isn't the craziest thing you've ever heard of!! No wonder we call her Crazy Lady. But, we played along and usually came when she called or whistled and we always came in at night to stay away from the coyotes. (Hard to believe they're in a suburb of Atlanta, but they are!!!) We have been very happy here with Crazy Lady and D.C. and the big boy who came home after college and won't seem to leave again!! Crazy Lady thinks of D.C. as Damn Cats because that's what he calls us. But, secretly he loves us. In fact, he's the only one who will contort his body to keep from kicking us out of bed at night! We actually call him D.C. because he has become the Director of Culinary for the cats around here.
Trixie: I was born in July of 2006. Somehow I got separated from my Mom and litter mates and ended up in the parking lot of a thrift store in the 'hood. Crazy Lady (as I've learned to call her from the other 2) goes antiquing with a friend every month down South of Atlanta and, while they're down there, they go to several thrift shops and that's where she found me. She stopped by the vet on the way home and was told that I was about 6 weeks old, weighed 17 ounces and was a seal point Himalayan. Also, that I was very healthy - except for all the fleas on me. She took me home and introduced me to Thomas and Phoebe. I was scared, but glad to be out of that parking lot. I hissed a lot, but nobody paid any attention, 'cause I was so little!! They gave me good food and showed me this thing called a litter box and I learned right away what to do there. Phoebe was kinda mean to me. Every time I tried to be friendly, she would hiss and spit and strike out at me. But, Thomas took me in and became a real Mother figure to me. He showed me how to groom myself and taught me what I could and couldn't do around the house. Except, he said that I couldn't get on the kitchen counters or the table. Well, that's just plain crazy!! I could definitely get up there. The only problem is that every time I do get up there, Crazy Lady comes by and shoos me off. She just doesn't appreciate all my hard work! I've grown and I'm actually a tiny bit bigger than Phoebe now, but she still is a little bit stand-offish. She occasionally will sniff me or lick my ear or even play chase with me in the hall and up and down the stairs, but mostly she hisses if I get too close, so I just stay out of her reach and am more friendly to Tom who licks and cuddles me like my Mom would if she were still around. I wonder - should I get a card for Tom for Mother's Day???