Smoke and Spot came to use via a friend of a friend who needed a home for her cat's babies.  Our friend Madeleine knew that both Joe and I love cats and that Joe had been getting allergy shots for two years to deal with all the stuff in Houston's air.  She also knew that we'd had the allergist add 'cat' to the syrum in the hopes that we could someday get a cat.  We'd been talking about trying out a kitten for a while but had not done anything about it yet.  It's one of those things, you can keep talking about something in theory, and never actually take the steps necessary to make it come about.  So I guess when Madeleine got Kristina's email looking for a home for her kittens, she thought we needed a nudge.

The email arrived shortly before our two week trip to Vancouver in September 2004.  Joe and I talked about it and then decided that if Kristina still had any kittens when we got back, we'd give it a try and see if Joe could tolerate them with his allergies  We did tell her not to pass on any potential homes in case Joe couldn't manage.  We got back on September 11th and got a call from Kristina on Sept 12.  She still had two kittens left, both boys.  They were named already as Corky (the black one -- named because he got stuck like a cork during his birth) and Spot (the larger white one with the grey spots).  We decided to 'kitten-sit' them while Kristina and her family were out of town.  Like we wouldn't fall in love with them...

To complicate our search for allergy symptoms, Joe came down with a cold on the Wednesday after we got 'Corky and Spot' to our house.  He was pretty sure that it wasn't related to the kitties, but from the exposure to my Mom's cold the day before we left.  And since they wouldn't come near us at first, he wasn't getting much exposure...  Soon, however, Spot declared himself as an attention slut -- rubbing up against up and miaowing for attention and petting.  Smoke soon followed and they began showing us their personalities.

They are very different these two brothers.  Although they came named as Corky and Spot, we decided we didn't really like the connotations of Corky.  We needed to give these two some names they could be proud of.  Spot was the hardest.  The name Spot just seemed to fit him and although I said I wouldn't be calling a cat 'Spot' it just stuck.  We really wanted to make changes to Corky's name though.  When I first heard it, I thought it was Quirky -- which would have fit, since he's quite a quirky cat.  But it was too close to Corky.  Since he was often running (high energy this guy) Joe made the observation that he was like a whisp of smoke as he streaked by and that stuck.  Since they are as alike as chalk and cheese, these two, we thought we'd give you and idea of their differences.
 
 

Now we are completely under their spell.  They've had to adjust to a lot of changes just in the few weeks they've been in our home.  Lynda was working on some major home improvements (see the House page) and Smoke and Spot had to settle into this new place and get used to us and not having their mother around.  At first they weren't sure about us and spent lots of time hiding under the chairs in the library (the bedrooms being off limits to them), cuddled together for comfort.  Gradually as they discovered we'd feed them and pet them (if only they'd let us) they came to like being around us too.  They still retreat under the chairs and behind the couch when Julian comes over but since he's is just a little scary to a kitten: 18 months old excited to see them and very mobile -- they are probably right to do so.

The boys are also known as our "two man wrecking crew".  They have found that there is a lot around here that they can knock over, climb and pounce on.  Of particular attraction are the curtains in our newly renovated breakfast room.  They have figured out that the curtains are not only fun to climb but also fun to hide in and then attack your brother from behind them (see photos above).  One day Spot thought it would be a good idea to climb the cafe curtains from the window side and see what happened.  He earned the nickname 'the undecorator' when he took the whole cafe curtain, rod and all, crashing down!  One of the curtains you can see them playing in above were completely shredded when Lynda came home from her Vancouver trip in November 2004 -- luckily Linens 'n' Things still had the style in stock.

With Joe's allergies we wanted to make sure that we could manage to bathe our kitties to keep the dander down.  Acording to one site we visited, you should bathe them every two weeks!  I don't think we'll be doing that.  So far we have relied on some allergy cloths we got from the petstore and they seem to be doing the trick.  But in the interest of learning good kitty bathing technique we thought we'd go to an expert.

Lynda's friend Shari had all the cat bathing fixins at her house since her menagerie of cats get regularly cleaned.  Who better to learn from than this cat lover.  As you can see from the pictures, they didn't much care for the experience, even though Shari was very gentle and had warm drying cloths ready for them after the bathing part. And, as a further indignity, Joe had the camera ready for incriminating pictures!  After the baths and drying they were the softest cleanest kittens you could imagine.  Lynda and Joe haven't bathed them again yet, instead relying on the allergy cloths, but it was quite the experience!
 
 
 

Smoke and Spot have been to the vet four times so far.  Once for a visit to meet the Vet (Dr. Cate is very nice) and get their first shots, once to get the second of their shot series (including rabies), once for neutering and once for their last shots in the series.  Joe says he's going to be quite annoyed with them if he has to take them to the vet for tussling injuries.  With each visit we get better at getting them into their cage but they still don't like going.  On the way there they are very vocal, but on the way home they are very subdued.  You would be too if you had your temperature taken there!

The visit for their neutering operation also included micorchip implantation.  We love kitties, but don't want to contribute any more to the population.  Although Smoke and Spot are going to be indoor kitties it is possible we might let them out when they are older, though unlikely.  And since there's not much worse than a cat spraying to mark his territory, we definitely wanted to make sure they were neutered before they developed that habit.  They were dropped off in the morning and since they were under anesthetic we also got them a microchip in case they ever get lost.  That way they can be taken to any vet and scanned for their information so they can be returned to us.  In the evening we returned with strict instructions to keep them from rough play for 7 to 10 days.  Who were they kidding, they're brothers -- they barely lasted seven minutes before the tussling began.  They are doing fine after their alterations and don't seem to have noticed any difference.  We sent off the paperwork to register their microchips and when we got the information back that they'd been registered, it said that Spot had been registered as a cat, and Smoke as a Cairn Terrier!  Now although he has the energy of a little terrier and the persistance when 'hunting' the cat toys, we still think he's a cat!

They have tried quite a few foods and get a diet of dry crunchies supplimented in the evenings (at 6 pm -- they can tell time!) with some wet food.  They've tried the Purina One food and now are eating the Pro Plan dry, though they seemed to prefer the Purina.  As for their wet food, they turned up their collective noses at Science Diet and Iams, preferring the Pro Plan kitten food in the wet formulation.  But best of all foods is chicken...  Whenever we make some, we'll save a little for them and Joe will shred it the next day for inclusion with the wet food.  He's discovered that he needs to put half on one side of the bowl and half on the other to make sure that nobody hogs it.  Spot has been known to growl over percieved inequalities of chicken distribution.  For the longest time we couldn't find a treat they'd eat -- finally at Christmas they were given some cat treats from Sandra which Spot likes.  Smoke tends to play with his treats rather than actually eating them.  I  had hoped they would like Pounce (Minouche in the French) as Tucker did, but no.  And no luck with the other kitty treat we tried.  I guess nothing matches chicken for the yummy factor.  They are also pampered with a fountain for their water (you can see it in the background of the picture of Smoke to the right).

Joe also loves feeding them because they are such vocal kitties.  When he gets out the tin of wet food (a small tin in at 6 pm -- and they can tell time!) he rubs the spoon against the side of the tin.  This sends them into paroxysms of vocalizations.  Miaows and meeps and n-gows ensue.  It's as if they're so excited at the prospect of yummy treats (and it's double for chicken!) that they can't contain themselves.  Joe calls it singing for their supper.  He's even gotten through the whole 'Do a deer' song from the Sound of music thusly: "Miaow!" says Spot and Joe continues with "a deer, a female deer."  "Miaow" adds Smoke and Joe finishes with "a drop of golden sun!" and on to the end.  Meanwhile they are circling his legs and wondering when he'll give up the silly game and put down the dish.  His latest trick is to get them to lick the spoon after he fills their bowl and before he puts the food down.  They're so cute when they do it!

For now they are growing and exploring their world and making everything into a toy.  Both Smoke and Spot love the sound of uncooked penne pasta skittering across the kitchen floor.  Could there be any better toy than that?  Well, according to Smoke, there could be.  He loves a knotted up plastic bag.  Lynda has a habit of tying them up to store for later use, making them into small bundles -- coincidentally just the right size for a kitty to carry around in his mouth.  We have to watch Smoke with these though, he has a tendancy to tear them and we don't want him eating the plastic.

They also love the toy we got them at PetsMart.  Attached to the wand is a long fuzzy piece of jungle printed fur with feathers on the end!  It's the best thing.  It makes a cool whirring noise as Lynda and Joe wave it about and Smoke loves to leap for it.  He's not very good at catching it yet.  Spot meanwhile watches the arc of the motion Lynda or Joe uses and positions himself behind them to pounce on the toy.  Once captured, it must be paraded around the house with pride.   We have since gotten them a pull-string mouse that whirrs and moves when the string is pulled.  Spot also loves to parade this toy around and usually puts it in his food dish when he's done with it.  Smoke takes his turn using it as a hockey puck too.
 

Smoke also tried to encourage Joe to get up to feed them when he decided it was time.  Usually at 5 am and by perching on Joe and purring.  When the purring didn't encourage him to abandon the warmth and comfort of bed to feed them, Smoke would press his wet nose into Joe.  Their latest trick is to sit outside the shower door and miaow to Joe that it time to get out and feed them.  'Course every time he goes out there, they still have food in their bowl leftover from the previous day.  But I guess it's not fresh enough for them!

We hope you have enjoyed thsi visit with the kitties -- rest assured that more pictures will be added to this page in time.  If you are interested in more pictures, let us know and we'll email you the link to our ofoto album.