Jesse and Toby, two wonderful cats
Note: Toby passed away on June 18, 2008 but I am not going to edit this page yet.
To the left is Jesse in the woods behind my house.
To the right is Toby sitting on the side stoop.
They are mostly-indoor cats,
who go outside under supervision with harness on a few times each day.
Out times are shorter in the winter :-) as deep snow is not appreciated.
These guys are brothers,
grey domestic medium hair moggies with some tabby markings.
They've shown brownish highlights as they aged, too.
I believe they have some Maine Coon in them; they have the size
and some of the attributes I've read about.
Toby has longer hair than Jesse and more of a kitten face.
When they first came to live with me Toby was the shy kitten
and not very affectionate.
Now he flirts a lot and
would like to be a lap cat, except he's big and gets uncomfortable in my lap.
Jesse has one of the loudest purrs I've ever heard.
He ambushes me after showers and in bed and demands petting.
He also sleeps on my pillow and I have to move off to bunched up
fleeces in front of it (or get kneaded on my scalp).
He's polydactyl: he has extra toes on every paw, and sort of double paws in
front to boot.
This is Jesse drinking from the bathtub faucet.
He used to do this sometimes, and he also got into the tub
to lap puddles up. He doesn't mind the wet.
He also chases raindrops in outdoor puddles and
and melting snow running down the driveway.
Toby stays inside when it's raining, but not Jesse.
Before they came to live with me, July 3, 1993, Toby and Jesse were
waiting for a home at the
Concord (New Hampshire) SPCA
(see also the
list of NH shelters).
They were about 4 months old at the time so we celebrate their birthday
on March 3 each year.
Here are 4 shots from a video tape.
To the left is Toby, standing on some papers.
He likes to stand, sit, lie on, and "hide" under paper,
so there's a variety of
papers laid out all over the house.
He also likes to hide inside blankets, and both cats like
to lay on blankets, fleece throws, and towels,
so there are a lot of these spread out, too.
The rest of these shots are Jesse.
He's sitting on the hearth in the living room.
Some of the clutter by him is my stuff, and some of it is cat toys and related
goodies.
The house decor is pretty much "cat": pedestals, perches,
and tables up against the windows for convenient viewing of the outside
plus things spread out all over for cat comfort and cat play.
I also have a tribute to some dearly missed friends we've lost:
In memory or Moby, Lily, Sundance, Butch, and Bubba
