Ah, the magnificent dozen. . . I apologize I have no pictures.
Okay. Obsidian and I moved in together a year ago August with a third girl. I grew up with cats but Obsidian had never had any and Roommate #3 didn’t like them. #3 moved out in October and a week later we were shopping for a kitty. The manager at the pet food store we went to had found a cat at their loading dock, starving and they’d kept her in their office. We went in the office, sat on the floor and a rangy tortishell sauntered out from under the desk and curled up in my lap. This is how we got Gaia.
A month later we’re in the same pet store and the same manager tells us about a feral she brought into her house who turned out to be a sweet lap cat. Only problem was he was being beat up by her other cats. Thus, we got Amon, the crotchety tuxedo.
In January we took some food to the SPCA and a little tabby kitten stuck his paw between the cage bars and grabbed my arm. We went home with Tyr.
In March Amon was diagnosed with kidney cancer and was put down on April 8th. Though we adored the two we had we needed more and weren’t up to the medical crap shoot rescue cats are. So we did research and flew to Texas to get two Turkish Van kittens Gilgamesh and Beowulf (Gil and Bey to their friends.)
Soon after we got the Vans we moved from our tiny apartment to a nice house with a yard. And lots of hallways and such for the cats to have midnight crazies in. In fact, more room then our four could fill. So we signed up to be foster parents with Homeless Cat Network. In June we got a call and rescued a mother cat and four kittens from the SPCA. They were scheduled to be put down. We called the mama Demeter (a grey tabby with blue eyes) and her kittens Scarab (black), Dragonfly (tabby), Persephone (lynx point) and Apollo (solid point). (I’m the mythology geek, for those interested.)
We now had nine, four permenant residents and five fosters. A reasonable number, no?
As the kittens were being weaned two three week old kittens were found in the garden section of the local Home Depot, abandoned by their mother, with blisters on their feet from the hot cement. We took them in and Demeter nursed them as a surrogate. They were Chloe (a tortishell tabby manx) and Homer (an orange tabby).
Two weeks after this a kitten was found in a junkyard being abused by children. They’d thrown stones at him and tied him up. He had scratches on his face and mouth and wasn’t even two pounds. He was a beautiful flame point we called Beau.
And that, for those who’ve been keeping track was our twelve. Demeter’s original litter were adopted soon after Beau came, as were Chloe and Homer. We actually ended up with their sister Penelope, who, along with Beau, was adopted by my brother. Their new names are Ozzle and Cooper.
The six we are currently at are Gaia, Tyr, Gil, Bey, Demeter and Scarab (he was adopted but had to be returned due to a change in his owner’s living situation). Some may say this doesn’t count because we technically didn’t “own” all 12 cats but I had 6 litter pans, 3 food dishes including a automatic feeder filled with 40 pounds of dry food a month, 2 recirculating water dishes and went through 4 cans of wet food a day. They counted.
While I’m thinking of it. . . would anyone like an 18 month old spayed grey tabby with blue eyes? Very sweet. Or a 7 month old black neuter with tons of energy? Anyone? Please? 
Before kitten season starts again? :eek:
Give him an extra cuddle for me.
I really like the looks of 
