Anyone who knows us well realizes that we are cat lovers. Both of us grew up with cats in our homes, and now we have two beautiful cats, Kokopelli (or Koko, for short) and Miko. Both are of the snowshoe Siamese variety, which are a cross between Siamese, Birman, and the American Shorthair. They are also strictly indoor cats being that we live right on a busy main street.

Kitty Angels, a no-kill shelter that rescues stray and abandoned cats, found Koko and Miko abandoned and living behind a department store in Lowell when they were still very young. We adopted Koko when he was around eight weeks old in October of 1998, and one month later adopted Miko when she was around four months old. The two spend most days searching for a sunny spot on the guest bed and don’t seem to mind each other’s company; it’s very rare to see them squabble.

Up until 2004, we also had another cat, Tonka, whom we purchased from a breeder in upstate New York in June 2001 when he was three months old; soon after Jakob was born, we found that he wasn’t happy having the new baby around the house but, fortunately for use and for Tonka, Jeff’s parents agreed to take him in and he has adjusted well to his new surroundings.

These are not the first cats that we’ve owned. Up until a few years ago, we had three lovely beauties that Tiffany brought from home: Saki, Monkey, and Makayla. All three lived to ripe old ages and we haven’t forgotten what wonderful cats they were.