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My husband-to-be and I were still in college when we took the walk on the nature trail at the nearby Schiele Museum, the walk that changed my life. I had never cared much about cats one way or the other. Brian was a cat lover, and had informed me that we would have cats when we got married, but I didn't much care. I just wanted a dog. Then in fall 1991 we went on that walk. There, a beautiful white and cream cat approached us on the path. She was thin and had a huge boil on her neck, was obviously stray. We felt like we should take her but we were both in college and we didn't know what we would do with her. She was very friendly and did her best to win our hearts. After petting her for a minute we walked away, and she followed me. I still don't know how she did it to me (Miss Practical) but I picked her up and said, "We're taking her with us." And we did. We took her to the vet and and got her shots and got the boil lanced. We convinced Brian's mother (also a cat lover) to keep her until Brian finished college (he was a senior). It was two and a half years before Brian and I got married and I actually began living with her full-time, but in that time she won me over to the "cat side" and Brian still can't believe how much of a cat lover I have become! She remains the sweetest cat I have ever met. She loves everybody and is the perfect lap cat. At night she often sleeps on my pillow. She loves to lie on shoes, the smellier the better. She also loves to sit on the mouse while I'm using the computer. And she walks on the keyboard, and once actually managed to rename my hard drive. She loves popcorn and will chase the vanilla wafer box if necessary to get some. Her other nickname is "bitch queen" as she can truly be one to the other cats!

We couldn't afford to get Schiele fixed when we got her. My mother-in-law promised to keep her indoors and get her male cat (Boris, aka the Servco Kitty after where he was found) neutered. Well, she did get him neutered, but not fast enough. In early 1992, a few months after we rescued her, we took a rather pregnant Schiele back to school with us and kept her at a friend's apartment. In March she went under the couch and produced 3 brown tabbies and 2 orange ones. (Boris is solid black.) We had no problem finding homes for the kittens, but Brian kept one, the one that he had helped her give birth to because she was so tired by that time. Tugger is Brian's baby. He is sweet once he gets to know you, and loves to have his tail pulled. He is rapidly becoming an old fart, but he still gets excited about the laser pointer and the cat dancer toy. He is very fond of yogurt and any crunchy chips. He is very close to his mother. Together they rule the house, much to the chagrin of the younger cats at times!

In February 1997 Brian and I were at the pound in the cat room. A small tuxedo cat cried out and got my attention. She was friendly and wanted to be petted, and I obliged. I went home that night crying over her, having noticed that her time would be up the next day. Brian played the Oreo Cookie Blues song to cheer me up, and from that I named her. The next day I came home from work and Brian made me sit down and close my eyes. He led me into the spare room and handed me a glass of milk, telling me "You can't have an Oreo without milk!" He had gone during the day and adopted her. She is still very sweet when she wants to be, but she is VERY quiet - she has never been near as loud as she was getting my attention at the pound. She is shy and afraid of everything. But she is also a wonderful adoptive mother, as you will see!

In July 1997 we went to Brian's annual Burgin family reunion in the mountains. We stayed at a small inn, which had a number of feral cats living out back. The inn owners were trying to catch all of the cats and get them fixed, but one had had kittens 2 months before we came. There was one puny, sickly, but FAST kitten that they hadn't been able to catch. Brian caught him. He had a huge hole in his neck, an injured tail, and major eye disease. We took him home and got him fixed up. Oreo promptly took over the mothering duties, bathing and grooming him and such. He was weaned, but barely, and we often woke up at night with him suckling our ears. He has grown into a huge, beautiful animal. He is skittish but when he wants to be friendly, he is very friendly, and you can hear his purr in the next room.

A month after we got Utah, Brian's sister found two kittens near the road, obviously stray. She brought them to us for us to foster for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Humane Society. They were about 2 months old. We ended up keeping one, Stanley, because Brian adored him. Oreo took over the mothering chores for him too, so he and Utah grew up like brothers. Stanley is conniving and very smart. He would be top cat if Tugger would let him. He is very good at being utterly adorable when he wants food. He has figured out that when he can't reach the bottom of the yogurt cup with his head, he can dip his paw in it and lick it off. He would eat 24 hours a day if we let him. The only things he DOESN'T eat so far are fruit (sometimes he'll lick it) and vanilla wafers. Spicy sesame chicken? No problem!

We had trapped a stray cat near my sister-in-law's house and taken it to the vet. It turned out to be positive for feline leukemia so we decided to have it put to sleep. We were pretty upset about having to do that. As we were leaving, a woman came in with a two-month-old kitten that she had found at a store, trying to get in out of the rain. We immediately volunteered to foster it for a while, I guess we saw redemption for having had one put to sleep. Well, we fell in love with this one too. She is sweet as can be (usually) and talks to us all the time (definitely part Siamese!) She earned her name by jumping vertically up doorframes - she can jump 6 feet straight up in the air! When she was indoors, her favorite room was the bathroom. She slept on the toilet lid, and our "quality time" involved me sitting on the commode. She also burrowed under the covers at night when she slept in the bed. Which meant I woke up in the middle of the night being kneaded in unpleasant places! Unfortunately, we had to break a cardinal rule and put Pogo outside - we tried everything and can't get her to stop marking everything in the house. Cat urine is truly a horrible smell - especially when the cat pees on the exhaust fan so the smell gets in the WHOLE HOUSE! She has adjusted well though. And we live out in the country! She is affectionately known as the "bitch princess" and is challenging the bitch queen for her title.

Mr. Nippy is a stray, possibly feral, who has decided to live under and in our shed outside. Needless to say we got him vaccinated, neutered, etc. He is still wary of humans but very much wants to be loved. He has really come a long way; he winds around our ankles and begs to be petted, and will even climb in our laps. He has even let a couple people besides me and Brian pet him. He got his name by biting my husband when we caught him to take him to the vet!

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