Cats

2007: We now have three beautiful and affectionate Siberian cats! Siberians are hypo-allergenic, and don't shed or need grooming as much as other long-haired cats. Shura joined us in December 2006, and Katyusha and Frodo joined us in June 2007. They travelled to Scranton and Halifax with us before settling in Toronto. Thanks to Tammy at Akila Siberians in upstate New York for these wonderful cats who have become valued members of our family. Shura and Katyusha are retired breeding mother cats, both born in Russia in 2000. Shura is a Seal Point and Katyusha is a Blue-Lynx Point. Frodo is a Brown Mackerel Tabby born in New York State in 2005, who lived in California before coming to us. Our cats get along really well with each other, and have hugely enriched our lives!

2003: When I met my husband, Bill, he had two female cats, Puddy and Smudgie. Puddy was an outgoing tortoiseshell, and Smudgie was shy, with long grey fur. Bill, Puddy and Smudgie had lived together for over 10 years. Because I was so allergic to cats, we found new homes for them. Puddy quickly found a new home with an older lady. Smudgie needed to be with another cat, so she went to a new home with another long-haired cat.

2000: For about 10 years, I had a white female cat named Q-tip, who joined me as soon as I had my own place in Toronto. When I was a kid, our family had a series of white cats always named Puffy, so when I decided to get my own cat at the Humane Society, it seemed only natural to take the white one. I didn't call her Puffy! Q-tip is lovely and shy. Since she was about six when I got her, I wonder what her previous life was like, and whether she had ever had any kittens!

About five years ago, I decided to get another cat to keep her company. Following the vet's advice to maximize the chances of the two cats getting along, I got a six month old male, who I named Andrei. I found him at the Willowdale Animal Hospital. He had been abused by the children at his previous home, so initially his behaviour was a bit odd, but he got much better! He is a red long-haired cat, who I later learned is at the opposite end of the personality spectrum from Q-tip. While white female cats are traditionally the shyest cats, red males are traditionally the most outgoing.

Andrei is very outgoing, and loves having visitors. When the phone rings twice, he knows someone is coming, so he runs to the door and waits to see who it is! Singers come to my home to work on music with me. When I'm playing my grand piano, Andrei always sprawls right on top of the piano. If a singer makes a sound he doesn't like, he puts his ears back and looks annoyed. Usually he seems to enjoy the music, and the singers enjoy having such an attentive audience.

When my allergies got really bad, I went to see an allergy doctor. The doctor did tests, confirmed that I'm very allergic to cats, and said I should not have them. Fortunately one of my neighbours took Q-tip, renamed Whitey, and another neighbour took Andrei, who is now called Pumpkin. Although I can definitely breathe better without the cat allergies, I still fondly look back on the time I spent with these two delightful companions.

Q-tip lying round Older Q-tip, known as Whitey

Andrei playing the piano his way Older Andrei, known as Pumpkin