Kitty
See Hear Record Store
Chicago

My BMC and BFC often visit the neighborhood record store for CDs. They’ve made friends with “Kitty” who lives there. While my BMC is searching the bins, my BFC sits on the floor giving Kitty chin rubs. He looks like a pretty cool dude. I hear he gets special treats every night just before the store closes. I’ve been trying to urge Blondie to go visit him, since she likes my BMC’s guitar noise.

K.C.
California

K.C. is 16½ years old and loves to lay in the sunshine in the backyard, or under the shade from a tree.

When K.C. wants to go inside, this cool kitty knows all the cute expression buttons to push.

K.C. writes: “I am not what people say photogenic.” I beg to differ—we are all beautiful!

Sherlock Holmes
South Carolina

Born on April Fools' Day, this handsome 12 year old kitty says he was brought up in a Spartan lifestyle with his BMC when he was a youngster.

When he was a year old his BFC came along and things changed dramatically. He has lived a “life of ever increasing luxury and excess” since then. Oooeee! He sounds like a real Yuscie to me!

Henny Penny, Pippa and Sasha
Washington

Henny Penny is a lovely three-year old. When she was very young, she would supervise her BMC working in his office from the wonderful vantage point of his shoulders. Now at 12 pounds, it’s a little trickier...
but I think she does it with grace!

Pippa (left) is Henny Penny's aunt and Sasha's sister. She loves rolling around the deck and being brushed—100 strokes minimum!

Sasha (right) is the hunter of the family. She brings home mice, moles, and on occasion, a snake or two!

Henny, Pippa and Sasha live on an island—wowie-zowie!

Oreo, Domino, Sasha and Shenannigans
New York

Oreo sure is a handsome dude with a goatee! He lives with his natural brother and sister (Domino and Sasha) and his adopted sister (Shenannigans).

Sasha (left), Oreo (middle), and Domino (right), when they were little tykes!

Oreo loves lettuce...and loves “nothing better than to just tear a whole head of it apart.” In fact, his favorite treats are lettuce and shrimp!

According to Oreo, his brother Domino (right) has a “sloppy kind of tuxedo.” I think he’s got character as he’s seen here begging for a handout.

Shenannigans (left) is a “real tiger”—looks like she’s going to steal your shrimp, Oreo! Sasha (right) “always wants to wear the pants in the family.” Sasha and Shenannigans are “always fighting. ” Ahhh, sisters!

Tux when he was just a little Yuscie!

Tux
Georgia

Tux is 12 years old and has been living in high society his whole life. He says he’s one of the most sophisticated cats in his city! He pays meticulous attention to his shiny coat—you always want to look good when you wear a tux all the time!

Tux says he knows how to get what he wants when he wants it and is very persistent. He’s definitely in charge of his household. Sure sounds like he’s a master of Yuscie-ness!

Slash, Mittens, Cookie and Stormy
California

Slash is my real good buddy from California. We look a lot alike so we have a lot to email each other about—he got his name because of his blaze! Slash loves hanging out on a trampoline in the yard, but when the California sunshine gets intense, he retreats to the shade underneath. His Big Cat calls the trampoline Slash's cabana! That’s the life!

This is Madame Mittens, who rules the house with an iron claw. She reads Simone de Beauvoir (never heard of her but she sure does have a cool name) and she memorizes poems by Keats (whoever he is). She calls Slash the “backyard bum” and Slash just loves her...NOT!

These guys are Stormy and Cookie who used to live in Slash's backyard. Slash calls Cookie, the black and white dude, his uncle, but he’s probably Slash’s cousin.

Slash just sent me a new picture of himself in his backyard with his weights! We Tuxes know that looking good takes a lot of work...but it's worth it.

Hobbes and Morgan
Australia

Here are my new friends in Australia! (Hobbes on the left—he’s a little bigger than Morgan.) They are brothers and are British shorthairs. According to their email, they like to eat, sleep, play with ping-pong balls, hide in boxes, and sit on books.

They enjoy watching Wimbledon tennis on TV—just started getting into it myself. Sorry Pat Rafter lost 2001—it was pretty exciting!

Hobbes and Morgan consider themselves white tuxedo kitties. Elegant Yuscies, without a doubt! But how do you keep all that white so clean? Whew!!

Put another mouse on the barbie for me, mates!

Moose aka Eddie
Hollywood

My Big Cats had the pleasure of meeting Moose the dog star of NBC’s “Frasier.” He was in a Chicago bookstore autographing his book! They came back saying how intelligent and gracious he was.

I guess he’s okay...for a dog...he reminds me of my friend Gizmo, who lives downstairs. He’s a Jack Russell Terrier too.

Jessie
Chicago

Jessie lives next door to us and even though we’ve never met, she’s a neat and pretty lady. I watch her from our front windows. When she sees my Big Cats, she wags her tail and lays down on her back so my BFC can rub her belly. Oooooo, belly rubs are so good!

In her note, Jessie says her favorite things are eating, playing with other dogs, and playing with people. Her favorite toys are Mr. Lion and Madison Man—I can relate to the eating and toys!

Jessie, you are one hot Yuspie (Young Urban Sophisti-Pup)!

Opus, Braveheart, Dinsdale and CJ
Chicago

Opus is a stray who adopted her BMC about two years ago. She was named for Opus, the penguin from the comics. She lives outside all the time, but the BMC feeds her and makes a special box bed for her with a blanket for the winter. Opus feels so comfortable with the situation that she’s had two litters in the backyard.

These are Opus’ kittens, born the first week of April, 2001. That’s Braveheart on the left and Dinsdale on the right. Braveheart was the first kitten to venture out from Opus’s care. Dinsdale was named after a Monty Python character.

This is CJ, short for CD-ROM Jr. The BMC saw a male cat who had the same coloring and he nicknamed him CD-ROM because of the dark disc on his back...probably CJ’s Dad.

What lucky kitties to have such a nice BMC!

Talisman “Tally” and Samoa “Sammy”
New York

Tally sure is a handsome guy with a really cool raccoon-like tail! And he’s quite talented, too, as he has learned to play his BMC’s guitar by plucking the strings with his teeth—wow!

Sammy got her name because she’s the same color as a Girl Scout cookie called Samoa! Before she got adopted, her name at the kennel was Pepsi—sometimes I just don’t understand where Big Cats come up with our names!

Tally likes to chase foil balls, catch ladybugs, jump real high and do flips to catch his fishing toy, and attack toes under blankets. All admirable exercises for kitty aerobics!

Tally and Sammy live by a lake and they get to watch lots of ducks, birds, and wildlife from the comfort of their window perch. What a life!

Stixie Rose
Canada

Stixie’s one smart lady. Her Big Female Cat found her in a woodpile when she was just four weeks old. Her Big Male Cat wanted to keep her in the family and eventually the Big Female Cat relented. I’m sure Stixie was a charmer even at that young age!

Stixie has two sisters—Cairne Terriers. One of her sisters looked after Stixie when she was real small and saved Stixie from being eaten by a raven! Wowie-zowie—glad I live in Chicago where we just have pigeons!

Stixie’s been earning her Yuscie stripes for the past three years while getting her “family trained quite well.” In the summer, her Big Cats plant a sage herb garden that she gets to roll around in...when she gets tired of exploring her rock garden!

I’ve been corresponding with Stixie Rose for a while when she asked for an autographed picture of moi! Needless to say, I complied...but only after I secured her promise to send her photos. I must say I was smitten when I saw this photo...my favorite sleeping position, too!

Grasshopper
California

IOut of the blue, I received this great email from a lady Tux named Grasshopper. She tells us that her BFC is currently working on her web site. We can't wait to see more of her...

Grasshopper says that she will be sixteen years old. She's still one Hot Babe! Paws off cats! I saw her first.