Well, the orange cat came first. I'm afraid his official name has gone by the wayside and he is now known as "Big Boy", "Fat Boy", "Boy Kitty" or "Orange Kitty". Amanda and I got him and his sister Ariel from a trailor park near where we lived in Silverthorne when they were a few months old. He turned out to be quite a bit friendlier than his sister, who has since disappeared. He is a very vocal cat and is not afraid to let you know when he wants attention. If I hold out my hands, he will stand on his back legs so I can pick him up. He is kind of shy around strangers, although eventually he will come around, as long as you're not the dreaded Michael. He will purr before you even touch him, and then it just gets louder when you do. He is the first of the cats to put up with Casey, and they have been nose to nose a few times without incident. When Casey gets out of line, he will give her a little swat and she will back off. He is fond of opening doors if we don't close them tight enough, especially the door to the closet where the food is kept. Meal times are very important to him.

Before disappearing, Ariel had a litter of kittens, which is where Alex , or "Little Kitty", came from. I am glad we got her because otherwise Big Boy would be lonely, and she is family after all. Amanda kept her sister, Ariana. Alex is very petite and light on her feet. She went through a stage where she just loved to jump on my shoulder. She would stare at me in a certain way and I would know she was about to do it. She also loves to play with water, so now we have the water dishes sitting inside bigger dishes to catch the water that she bats out of the dish. She is more friendly to people she doesn't know, but less bold with Casey. She does like Malcolm and used to groom him all the time.