Mia was my introduction to life with cats. We picked her up 5 years ago as a kind of wedding gift to each other. She was born on or about April 1, 1996.

Mia was not a very nice kitten, but her demeanor has greatly improved over the years. She is now a very contented little lionness, with a strong fondness for catnip and ordinary grass. Her major behavioral problem is repeatedly clawing at the sofas in the living room, despite all of our efforts to dissuade her. Mia also is quite the escape artist, and slipped out undetected several times last summer.

Fun times with Mia include lounging outside in the backyard (of course, Mia is harnessed and leashed) and playing "Catch the Cat Kibble". Mia is also the cat most likely to sit on the sofa and relax with us.

As Denis Leary might say, Zoe is not the fattest cat in the world, but she is the fattest cat in *our* world. Zoe started life as just a little peanut of a kitten approximately February 14, 1997. She was born by Caesarian in the hills of West Virginia and she was dumped on us when she was about 5 or 6 weeks old. Consequently, Zoe has some "issues".

Zoe is not like our other cats. For one thing, she has more ailments than Mia and Ali, and the vet is well acquainted with Zoe and Zoe's "cattitude". Zoe also has a lot of strange behaviors, many of which are characteristic of the Mau breed: carrying around her toys, playing fetch, being rather athletic despite her girth, and the odd "BRRRRRRT" noise that she makes. Zoe also has spots instead of tabby stripes, unusually large ears, and a very sleek coat. So check out the pictures and tell us what you think: is Zoe part Mau?

Ali is our youngest cat, and the tiniest one. She was born May 13, 1998 and is now 3 years old, but she still acts very kittenlike sometimes. In this photo, Ali has forgotten to put her tongue away after bathing, which is not uncommon. We recently discovered that her tongue is almost always poking through her front teeth...I guess she has a kitty overbite?

Ali is a very timid kitty, and new guests to our house often don't realize that we have a third cat lurking upstairs in the bedrooms. Fortunately for us, Ali has decided that Sean and I are "good people", and she is very affectionate with us. There have been times when Ali has requested to be picked up and held and then refused to be put back down.

Ali likes to "steal" small plastic baggies, twist-ties and used dryer sheets. Silly and sweet, that's Ali!

The latest addition to our household is Toby, a poodle puppy. He was born July 21, 2000, and came to live with us on October 22nd. He's a very special dog who loves people and cats. (Other dogs are on a case-by-case basis, but he does have a fondness for pugs.)

Toby is happiest when he's snuggling on somebody's shoulder, but he also has the energy for long walks and games of fetch. Toby's favorite time of day is anytime he's being fed!