Boots

I’ve enjoyed the companionship of many cats and other pets over the years, but I’ll tell you about my NYC critters because that’s when life really started for me. I adopted Boots when I first moved to New York.  I went with my friend to Bide-a-Wee to help her find a cat and I fell in love with Boots’ ridiculous personality. Suddenly there I was, with my own bundle of kitten joy!  Boots and I were so bonded – we went through so much together in my angst of young adulthood.  Although she had heart and kidney diseases, she stayed with me all the way to my first year of vet school, when she finally succumbed to kidney failure.  I get weepy each and every time I think of her – she was my heart and soul for almost 15 years….

Kit

The next time I went with a friend to help her adopt a cat from Bide-a-Wee, I met Kit.  She was a four year old former “Mama cat” with a heart of gold.  I brought her home and it took over a year for Boots to finally accept her.  Kit taught me patience and diligence and rewarded me with unconditional love and her calm serenity in the face of Boots’ displeasure.  She passed away after fighting mammary gland cancer diagnosed when she was just 11 years old.  

Max And Ginger

Different people need different amounts of time to mourn, but my partner Mary Jane and I felt such emptiness after Kit passed away that we soon went to North Shore Animal Shelter and fell in love with two kittens, a nearly identical brother and sister. They were such adorable little needy kittens - simply what we needed!  Surprisingly, Boots got along with them just fine, maybe even liking their entertaining ways as she grew older and slowed down a bit.  Both Max and Ginger continue to enrich our lives every day, impersonating book ends, fooling houseguests into thinking they are seeing double and generally amusing themselves at our expense.

Not wanting to leave well enough alone, I fostered a number of cats while at vet school and managed to resist their numerous charms…until Callie came into my world.  She was rescued from a flooded basement and had a raging sinusitis that has never gone away.  She blows the most horrific snots that disgust even the heartiest medical personnel – who else would adopt her?  After much deliberation, we decided to add Callie to our household (with a solemn promise from me of NO MORE additions!).  Callie has integrated seamlessly into our kitty herd, with her own special unflappable charm and endless snuggliness.

Last, but not least, we have Spencer!  We adopted Spencer shortly after I left my job as a lawyer.  He was found abandoned in mid-town Manhattan in the middle of a snow storm. Perhaps no one could see him?  Spencer is an honorary cat who entertains us all with his silly good nature and never ending energy.  Needless to say, he gets along fabulously with all the cats, but tries to prove his dog-hood whenever we go for walks.  We love him anyway…..