Now that I’ve moved all of the cats from Minnesota Meow over here, I am going to continue posting about people’s cats, notably those with beautiful photos. Why not, right? You guys love them.

I’ve been a fan of Laura Askelin’s photos for awhile and I feel like I know her two cats, Verbal Kint and Keyser Söze quite well now. As Laura explains,

Verbal Kint was the first of our pets, rescued from a cat shelter. He was a feral cat living in a garage. It was winter and he had lost part of his ear due to frostbite. Verbal was friendly, but not a lap cat — just what we were looking for. When we got him home, he talked all the time. That’s how he got the name “Verbal Kint,” after the character from The Usual Suspects. We had to agree not to let him outside when we adopted him from the shelter. He misses the outdoors and spends all his time staring out the windows and complaining that he isn’t outside.

He’s turned into quite the escape artist. He makes a mad dash for freedom when ever he gets the chance but he never goes more than a foot out the door before he stops to chow on grass. We’ve started letting him sit in the backyard with us when we do our yard work and he never runs away. Oh, and it turns out he is a lap cat after all! He just needed to warm up to us.

More photos of Verbal in Verbal Kint’s set on Flickr.

Keyser, originally uploaded by cursedthing.

Keyser Söze came to us from a coworker who was getting married and couldn’t keep him. Very different from Verbal, he hides all day and never makes a sound. As we almost never see him it seems only natural for us to call him Keyser Söze. He came to us declawed but don’t tell the dogs — they haven’t figured that out yet. Keyser comes out from hiding when we turn on the DVD player. For some reason, Keyser loves it.

More photos of Keyser in Keyser Söze’s set on Flickr.

Laura adds that the cats aren’t really friends. They tolerate each other, thankfully.

Check out more of Laura’s photos on Flickr.

The E-Democracy.org Fourms are all about cat licensing in Minneapolis in the last 24 hours or so.

It boils down to a Request for City Council Committee Action from the Department of Regulatory Services (PDF). Here’s a few select quotes that sum it up:

Liz McLemore:

Apparently my 3 cats constitute a full 2.4% of the licensed domestic felines in the city of Minneapolis. Out of an estimated 115,000 cats in the city, the City of Minneapolis has only 124 of them licensed.

The city proposes to change that.

Kevin Wynn:

The answer is, there’s no legitimate reason except to extract more money from the citizens. Outdoor pets? Sure, why not? There is a public interest in having a tagged cat or dog so they can be returned to owner or identified in case there is trouble. But indoors, not a chance. They better add hamsters and other pet rodents then too.

Michael Mackey:

I cannot see an evident rationale for increased enforcement.

Liz McLemore:

I agree with those who argue that it does seem silly to license indoor pets. However, the city’s dilemma is likely to be this: what guarantees do they have that your animal is indeed kept indoors? And what happens if the animal escapes (as mine have occasionally done, though they are indeed indoor animals)?

Mark Anderson:

I’ve always vaccinated and sterilized my cats, but have never and will never license them. How does paying for a license make it more likely that you will spend even more for vaccination and sterilization?

John Wilson:

Has Minneapolis always licenced cats? I know Saint Paul doesn’t, though they require a cat to wear an ID tag when outside.

What’s your take?

(Hat tip to Ranty.)

Ceiling Cat showed up today in the men’s bathroom at work. While I won’t admit to anything, I’d assume it’s related to this papercraft ceiling cat that appeared on BoingBoing today. He watches you.

Previously: Meow Cat from Katamari Damacy

UPDATE: A few days later it gets stolen.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Names: Sophia and Emma
Nicknames: Sophia: Pretty Little Princess; Emma: Emmakins, Bad Little Bitch
Born: Probably sometime in 2000
Lives in: Como, Saint Paul
Lives With: Christine Killian

Sophia was rescued from the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley when she was about eight weeks old. She had a pink collar and Christine used to take her to work. “She slept on my desk,” I’m told. When Sophia wasn’t at work, she was a regular misbehaving kitten making messes and shredding stuff. Christine recalls, “I couldn’t play with her enough — she would never get tired. I used to try keeping her from taking naps so she would sleep all night or whatever. Did not work. I had a feeling she was lonely during the day.”

So soon after, she visited the humane society again and found Emma. Apparently, Emma was living in garages in Newport. She had a litter of kittens that were all taken in to the humane society as well. Emma was in a cage and meowed at Christine so they went into a meeting room and she licked her hand. Then Emma got to go home with Christine and be Sophia’s friend.

They’re good buddies but not always the best of buddies. They run around together and chase each other. They sometimes argue about who gets to sit in the toy box. Both Emma and Sophia like toys and Emma will even jump to great lengths to nab a flying object. Humorously, Emma cries loudly and follows Christine around when she sings and Sophia likes to stick her foot in the water dish and fling water everywhere. “It’s hard to get mad at that.”

Christine is a Research Scientist at Thomson Corporation and a Certified Flight Instructor. She also writes at Aviatrix Logbook.

See more of Sophia and Emma in their Flickr set.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Names: Kitty Carryall and Tapioca Puddington Kittensworth III
Nicknames: Carryall: Corky, Corky Nuggets, Baby Nuggets, C-Nug, Corkas Cats, Downsy Kitten; Tapioca: Tappy Cat, Tapas Cats, Taps, Tap-a-keg, Creep
Born: 2006
Lives in: East Calhoun, Minneapolis
Lives With: Tara Johnson, her boyfriend Scott and their dog, Dirk

Carryall and Tapioca are dubbed “the tripods” by their cohabitants as they both have only 3 legs. As well, both of their tails are “nuggets” as Tara describes.

My boyfriend got Tapioca from a cat sanctuary where we volunteered. She was so cute and just stumped around on her three legs and we loved her. Then a month or so later, my very old dog died so we had an opening. When I looked on Petfinder I saw another female, gray, three legged cat at the same shelter! I knew I had to have her.

They became best friends quickly. Their favorite spot is a 1950’s slipper chair in their living room. They also sometimes cuddle with their dog, Dirk. Carryall also is small and hasn’t grown much. Tara says “this could be my fault considering that since she was a baby, I would tell her over and over, ’stay little!’ So I guess she listened and stayed little to please me.”

Tara is a consultant and Scott works for The Hartford. They love their three-legged cats: one of Tara’s emails to me closed with “VIVA LA TRIPODS!”

On the MTN 17 10:00-11:00PM time slot on Sundays a show called Call-In Karaoke used to play where with the magic of Karaoke Revolution and Chroma Key, television viewers in Minneapolis could call-in and sing on live television while in-studio dancers try to entertain and distract you. It was a hilarious experiment produced by Hamil Griffin-Cassidy. Check out this prime example on YouTube of someone trying to sing Britney Spears’ Toxic. The show became a cult hit: it gained some MySpace friends and Facebook groupies and only those who got their phone timing perfectly could even get in on the show. I got to help out in the studio a few times.

As I posted about six months ago, Comcast bought out Time Warner’s cable market in Minneapolis and some technology changes happened soon after, one of which caused a delay on live broadcasts from MTN. It’s not easy to sing over the phone when what you’re hearing is a few seconds late.

The show evolved into poeTVision, where poems were scrolled across the screen for callers and and people read them. Then they started reading their own poems or rapping.

It got to the point where the show became a semi-controlled free-for-all experiment where callers can choose to say or do anything they want for a period of time. Meanwhile, the sounds and visuals started to become more and more varied and abstract. Now, the “goal,” if there is one, is to create some of the weirdest and most strange television in Minneapolis and letting anyone who calls in help out by saying whatever they want to say. I think it’s working. While Hamil has continued to host and produce the program, he has had various people provide music and direct. I’ve gotten the pleasure of directing the last few episodes and last Sunday was a bonus: four baby kittens were brought in to help. You can watch the entire thing on Blip.tv. Skip around if you don’t want to watch it for an hour. There are portions that are very strange and abstract. Some parts may be hard to watch.

What drives me to this program is that while everything may seem out of order, it’s a realtime experiment on what happens when people, safely in their own homes and without needing to identify themselves are able to broadcast themselves over live television. In a few years, when television and the internet become closer to being the same thing, I think a similar kind of environment that this show creates is going to be a lot more widespread. So while everything might seem of a very low production value, to me it’s really a taste of the future of the weird possibilities in giving individuals a platform to broadcast themselves in a way that’s very different than current conventions of internet blogging, forums, message boards and vlogs. Right now, this show is all about play. I’m glad I’ve been able to participate and help out. Where my mind is though, is that it’s going to be an interesting world soon when more and more people are going to have louder and louder voices. This is just a taste of how weird things could get.

If you’re in Minneapolis and have Comcast Cable, tune in MTN 17 at 10:00PM on Sundays.

As an aside, check out the crew playing with cats after the show. They were apparently rescued “from a crack house” and I believe a couple of them are still looking for homes. They are very playful, healthy and cute. If you know of a good home for a kitten, let me know.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Dora
Nicknames: Theodora, Isadora, Theodora León
Born: 29 Jul 2007
Lives in: Windom Park, Minneapolis
Lives With: Amelia Cohoes, Emily Neuwald, Lydia Stevens and two other cats, Abel and Annabelle

Dora was rescued from the Animal Humane Society in Saint Paul when she was about 12 weeks old. When she came to live with Amelia and her roommates, she “purred constantly for the first 48 hours.” Likely happy to be in a nice home.

Dora likes cuddling and following around her “uncle” cat Abel all day. Wherever Abel goes, Dora seems to show up. On her own though, she’ll strangely jump into the bathtub after a shower and enjoys walking around the wet tub.

Dora has a lot of kitten in her yet and enjoys tearing up everything. She recently poked holes in every piece of plastic window insulation that was put up on the windows of the house. She gnaws on plants and recently chomped up some dead flowers. She loves digging through groceries when they’re brought in from the car and finding stuff to chew on. Dora will also eat some vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuce. She does normally eat good food that’s meant for her though.

Amelia adds, “I love her so much that I cook chicken gizzards for her, and I don’t even eat meat.”

Amelia is a recent University of Minnesota graduate with a focus on Art History. She is applying to grad schools to study Library Sciences. She currently is paying the bills by working at the recently James Beard Awarded Al’s Breakfast.

More photos of Dora, Annabelle and Abel can be found in Dora, Annabelle and Abel’s Flickr set.

I generally strive to find the unique and off-the-beaten trail when I’m on holiday. Through a connection of a friend I was able to visit a a 60-cat colony of ferals while I was in the DC area. These cats were living in the wild in an area that was about to be developed upon. The woman that houses these cats trapped them all individually and brought them to her town home a few miles west of the Capital Beltway.

About ten of them live on the top floor and are separated from the rest due to a variety of medical issues. One is diabetic, for instance. The rest are in a small basement behind a door with a printed sign that reads “In Case of FIRE Please release cats from basement (behind this door) ! ! Also, in the room itself, UNLATCH door to large wire enclosure to let those cats out.”

The air quality of the basement forces my friend to wear a face mask. She visits the cats on a regular but infrequent basis to help clean out litter boxes and feed them. An email she received from an organization let her know about these cats and that they needed help with being fed. She volunteers and it’s close to where she works.

Even before I walked into the basement I was reminded of the video of the Russian woman with over a hundred cats. The feeling was similar but not as dramatic or colorful. One side of the room had a row of about six deep litter boxes and on the other side of the room was a large cage with equipment for the cats to climb in. The top of the cage had large piece of carpet upon it where about a third of the cats sat near the ceiling of the room. Inside the room were various old chairs, a recliner, cat carriers and old “cat condo”-like furnishings, most of which are very worn out.

Almost all the cats were very friendly and they all seemed to live in harmony. Fighting was not common while I was there and most of them had spots where they hung out. A couple of them played with a toy I was teasing them with but most were unamused. A few that were on top of the large cage hissed at me when I approached them with my camera. Some asked to be pet after sniffing my fingers.

The woman that lives here used to feed the cats before she moved them into her home. She could tell me names for every single one and short histories about them and almost did. They all have personalities and she treats them all as individuals. She wore two pins on her collar: one an American flag and the other a Rod of Asclepius with a cat in front of it with a halo over its head. She opened the patio door in the back to get some fresh air in but it didn’t seem to make much difference. A few times between taking photos I snuck over to the screen door and put my nose on it to take a few deep fresh breaths.

While we talked a lot about the cats, she also brought up some surrounding issues that I won’t get into that involved naming relatives and the words “custody,” “lawyers” and “think I’m crazy.” She also asked me where I was during the 35W bridge collapse and brought up how she felt about 9/11 and a short bit about when she was in New York.

I asked what the neighbors thought about the cats and I don’t think she thought they had much of a problem with it. It’s clear that these cats do not have enough space, though. She is in the process of moving to a home in a more rural area of Virginia where the cats will have significantly more space. The cats were in the forefront of her mind when she was picking a new place to live and wanted to make sure the cats will be happy. We joked briefly about the process of moving 60 cats and she was fairly confident she’ll pull it off. Either way, this is a fantastic thing that these cats will have more room to roam and they should be a lot happier.

As all of these cats are about the same age, they are now starting to get to the point where some are dying. She says she doesn’t plan on taking on more cats. “After this, I’m done.” Although she does now have a younger cat in the mix that wasn’t originally part of the colony.

On our way out, she showed my friend and I photos of the cats from when they used to live in the wild including a juxtaposition of two photos combined on one card where on each side two cats were brushing up against each other. Cute, seeing them in such a different habitat and so happy, but quite sad seeing that this woman saw that she was faced with the decision of letting these cats and their habitat be destroyed or having them relocated to her home. While I won’t judge her choice I can agree that the situation is tragic.

After we got in our car she walked down to my window and asked that I let everyone know back at home that during the 35W bridge collapse she and the country were glued to the televisions and praying. The families of the victims are in everyone’s thoughts.

On Flickr, see more photos of the Feral Cats of Oakton.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Neko
Nicknames: Neeks, Neekers, Neky
Born: June 2002
Lives in: White Bear Township
Lives with: Alan, Lynn, Deanna, & Steve Wyman and her sister cat, Emily

Neko came from the Northwoods Humane Society via PetSmart in Maplewood. They went to the store for cat food and came home with two new cats, Neko and her sister Emily.

Neko’s favorite TV show is House, MD. She comes running into the room and complains loudly that she was not told before the theme music came on. When House is not on, she likes viewing the bird feeders and bird bath through the patio door.

She dislikes being picked up and audibly purring.

During the summer she will spend the day in the screened-in gazebo which she’ll walk directly to when let out of the house. While in the gazebo, she taunts wayward grasshoppers. “She starts taking their legs off one at a time to see what they do. Once they can’t do anymore she decides they are now boring and eats them,” Alan retells. She has also climbed and left holes in the screen in the gazebo to get a better look at the birdhouse mounted outside. She’ll run back into the house if it starts raining. “In fact she almost ran headlong into the glass one day recently.”

She plays with rubber spikey balls, batting them around the house and systematically removing the little rubber spikes. Twist-ties are favorite toy as well. She can find a twist-tie or rubber band anywhere in a wastebasket.

Alan is a Implementation and Training Consultant with US Foodservice and Lynn manages the Roseville Public Library. Steve and Deanna are away from home generally as they are students at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Winona State University respectfully.

More photos of Neko can be found on Alan’s “Neko” set on Flickr.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Oreo
Nickname: Chubba
Born: October 2002
Lives in: Savage
Lives with: Kendra Sundvall, Kendra’s mother and Oreo’s sister Scooter.

Oreo was rescued from the Minnesota Valley Humane Society. She crawled on Kendra and wouldn’t get off. “Love at first sight,” Kendra retells. They adopted her sister Scooter at the same but they don’t get along much. “They’ve never really acted like sisters.”

When I first got her, she stole my Oreo cookies off the counter. I wanted to name her something more special but it was too true to pass by. Even still, when you open a bag of Oreo cookies she comes running instantly like most cats would for tuna.

Oreo can be conversational and will verbally respond to you. “Sometimes she gets fussy and meows louder… or quiet depending on what we’re talking about,” Kendra adds. Oreo also likes batting pencils and paintbrushes around on the floor. Even though she’s an indoor cat, Oreo once ate through a screen door and snuck outside with Scooter.

One thing Oreo loves is attacking the mouse cursor on a computer. “I’m shocked my laptop is still in tact, to be honest.”

Kendra is a student and budding photographer. Some of her work can be found on Flickr. She is looking to continue studying photography and further persuing a career in photojournalism.

More photos of Oreo can be found searching the “oreo” tag on Kendra’s Flickr account. Be sure to click through to the next few pages as there’s some really great photos of Oreo.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: C. Bac
Nickname: Canadian Bacon, Grey Cat
Born: June 2003
Lives in: Ericsson, Minneapolis
Lives with: Erica and Terry Johnson and another cat, Roni

C. Bac, short for “Canadian Bacon,” was rescued from the Humane Society when he was a kitten after Erica saw a news story about a large influx of cats that needed to be placed in homes. His original name was Edison but as Erica’s sister had a cat named Chovie (short for “Anchovie”) and they are all devoted pizza fans, Edison got named Canadian Bacon. Chovie has since run away but C. Bac now lives with another cat, Roni (short for “Pepperoni”).

As Erica describes:

C. Bac’s the kind of cat that sees you looking at him from across the room and will coming running and beg to be pet. And no minor petting will do — he needs the full-on attention. It gets so bad that at some point you have to hide your hands so that he can’t rub his face on them to encourage you to pet him more!

One of his most bizarre habits involves licking plastic bags around the house. Nobody’s sure where he developed this interest but Erica says “it needs to stop.”

We’ve never thought of C. Bac to be very smart. We love him, as the big oaf that he is. When he and Chovie escaped the house we were surprised that C. Bac was the one that found his way home. We were sitting in our family room above our garage and heard a “meow, meow!” coming from outside. We looked out the window and on the hood of TJ’s car in the driveway was C. Bac screaming at the window. Unlike Chovie, he knew well enough not to wander far and did everything he could to get our attention and get back in the house. It was very sad when Chovie didn’t come home — and C. Bac roamed around the house crying for his friend.

C. Bac lives with his best friend Roni as well as TJ and Erica who are newlyweds that moved to Minneapolis a year and a half ago. TJ works as a application developer for Four51 and Erica work as a graphic designer and event planner for Public Affairs in Hennepin County. They enjoy playing ultimate frisbee, are avid Minnesota Wild fans, love movies and eating out. They’re looking forward to adding to their family soon — this time with less fur.

More photos of C. Bac can be found in Erica’s “Kitties” Gallery.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Names: Mimi and Dora
Nicknames: Mimi: Snotwad, Baby; Dora: Pandora, Adorable, Baby
Born: February 2006
Lives in: Lowry Hill, Minneapolis
Lives with: Lesley Babb

Mimi and Dora are sisters that enjoy staring out the window, chasing and attacking each other, chewing on each others ears, and fighting through the shower curtain. Amidst their shenanigans, they also find time to groom and snuggle together.

When Dora wants attention she’ll jump on your lap and then flop over but when Mini wants attention she’ll nibble on noses and fingers. They’ll also jump into the shower — they like the water!

Dora makes some strange noises though. Lesley explains:

When Dora was a kitten, she got an infection which damaged part of her nasal cavity so now she’s a very loud breather. She snores loudly and sometimes squeaks. Some people come over and think that they broke her or that she’s sick. She’s a perfectly healthy kitty!

They have toy mice and balls but prefer their green mouse. When igorning their toys they knock breakable things off shelves and kill plants. After four plants, none are kept anymore. They also enjoy scraping paint off of surfaces in the condo and eating it.

Mini and Dora live with Lesley Babb who is a Case Manager for AccessAbility, Inc., a non-profit that provides vocational training for disabled and disadvantaged adults.

More photos of Mimi and Dora can be found in this Flickr photoset.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Sofia
Nicknames: Sofielynn, Sofie, Kittybooty
Born: April 2005
Lives in: Standish, Minneapolis
Lives with: Heidi and Carlos Quezada and their children Carmen, Ethan and Elan

Sofia came to live with the Quezadas from a farm in Becker, MN when she was about 6 months old. Heidi tells me that:

Sofia acts like surrogate mother to my three children. She wakes each of them up in the morning with her purr. I don’t know how she knows what time they need to get up for school but she does and she always lets them sleep in on Saturday. She always knows when one of the kids is sick or sad. She’ll meow at them and get this worried look on her face. Then she’ll snuggle up to them and purr in their ear. It always makes them feel better.

Sofia is supposed to be an indoor cat but she will occasionally sneak out with someone leaving or arriving. She’s quick but the kids can usually catch her unless she climbs up their maple tree. She loves the snow so after a big snowfall it is almost impossible to keep her inside. However, the deep snow usually slows her down so she can’t get too far.

Sofia is a very friendly and social kitty. She has several friends that come meow at the windows and she’s also very popular with guests.

Heidi works in the Minneapolis City Council offices and Carlos works for Hennepin County Corrections working with high-risk Latino children.

More photos of Sofia can be found in this photoset as well as on Heidi’s Flickr account.

(Post originally from Minnesota Meow)

Names: Cosmo (L) and Agent (R)
Nicknames: Cosmo: Cos, Stank Ass, Baby Boy; Agent: Bubbie, Fattie, Fuzzy Butt
Born: Cosmo: May 2003; Agent: April 2004
Lives in: Saint Louis Park
Lives with: Alison Schipper

Cosmo was was rescued as a stray at five weeks old through a volunteer at Feline Rescue. Agent was inherited from Alie’s boyfriend at the time as she was urinating everywhere. She’s never peed anywhere but in her litter box since Alie has taken care of her.

Alie writes:

Cosmo is probably the most dog-like of the two. He charms guests by playing fetch with a toy mouse and won’t let you stop.

A couple of years ago, he escaped from my garden level apartment and probably had a wonderful five-day adventure hunkering under a broken-down car in the parking lot before he fell for the tuna bait in my live trap. Cosmo also likes to sit on the toilet tank and watch me dry my hair and yowls at me from the edge of the tub when I’m in the shower, as if to say “HEY! Don’t you know you’re getting wet in there!”

Agent 34 likes to greet me when I get home by flopping on her back and showing me her belly, begging to give it a pat. She also really likes to eat people food. She waits while I eat cereal for me to set down the bowl so she can have the leftover milk. She eschews the water dish and prefers to drink out of the toilet. At night, she jumps into bed with me and “tucks” me in by kneading the covers around me.

Alie is working on her MBA from Metropolitan State University, blogs, and enjoys “boring people to death” about her cats.

More photos of Cosmo and Agent 34 can be found on Alie’s “Cats” set on Flickr.

(Post originally from Minnesota Meow)

Names: Nico (L) and June (R)
Nicknames: Nico: Nicipoo, NicNic, Bratsky; June: JuneJune, Junnipurr, Bugger, June Shady
Born: Nico: July 30th, 2002, June: July 14th, 1999
Lives in: Columbia Park, Minneapolis
Lives with: Steve and Robin Marty

June was purchased with her brother Henry at a now defunct pet store in Uptown, Minneapolis on Halloween, 1999. When purchasing black cats on Halloween, you are apparently asked to sign a waiver to state you are not buying animals to sacrifice. Henry was not sacrificed but instead given away a few months later as a therapy cat to a client of a social worker friend. Nico was forced upon Steve and Robin three years later on Valentine’s Day from a landlord trying to get rid of her because a tenant was allergic and couldn’t keep her. Robin says, “all cats should come your way via the holidays.”

June is the dominant cat and likes to hiss when she’s unhappy. Hisses will be directed at everyone, including those who feed her or those she is sleeping with if you move around too much. She also may hiss in her sleep, although she is much more likely to snore. She also tries to climb Robin’s back to eat her hair when it’s wet from the shower.

Nico prefers to clean June, run into rooms and howl until you call for her, or bring things to you when she is lonely — most often socks. Nico also has the ability to “rattletail” when excited; shaking the base of her tail while pawing at the ground with her back two legs. She is also is known as “cuppy,” short for “cat-puppy” because of her ability to fetch and the fact that she barks in the morning when she’s trying to sleep with you. She has a weird little cat bark instead of a meow.

Nico also chews plastic bags — can’t get enough of them. She’ll sneak around looking for plastic to chew on. But they both hate cat toys. They have no toys.

Both cats will jump in your lap if you whistle “Pop Goes the Weasel,” but they really only do that when they feel like it.

Steve and Robin are expecting their first child any day. Steve works as an IP Legal Assistant for Carlson Companies, and Robin works at home recruiting for news sites run by the Center for Independent Media, including the local site Minnesota Monitor. Together they run The Power Liberal, as well as host Drinking Liberally, Minneapolis.

(Post originally from Minnesota Meow)

Name: Bailey
Born: July 2000
Lives in: Faribault
Lives with: Heather and Dan O’Leary, their two children Gretchen and Jonah, another cat Milo and two dogs

Bailey came from a litter of three in Duluth on Heather’s uncle’s horse farm. She does not enjoy travel but she has begrudgingly moved from Duluth to Grand Forks, Boise, ID and Vancouver, WA. Her home is now in Faribault.

She loves to catch bugs in the house and will meow until she catches her prey. She is an indoor cat, although last summer her and Milo did get outside and brought fleas back to share.

She currently enjoys sleeping on Heather and Dan’s young son Jonah’s bed at night and occasionally wakes him up. This displeases them a bit.

Despite Bailey’s picture on Flickr with Heather and Dan’s daughter Gretchen, she only weighs ten pounds. Lots of hair but she doesn’t shed as much as their short hair cat. When Gretchen was two, she enjoyed chasing the cats up the stairs. She discovered very quickly that cats run when they are chased and Bailey spent about a year of her waking hours hiding under the bed.

Bailey also has an uneasy truce with the dogs.

Heather and Dan O’Leary live in Faribault with their two children, two cats and two dogs. Heather works as a mother and a substitute teacher and Dan’s an airline pilot who is starting up a local brewery, DUO Brewing.

More photos of Bailey as well as their other cat Milo can be found on their Flickr page.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Shakespear
Nickname: Shakes
Born: 09 May 2003
Lives in: Bloomington
Lives with: Lisa Bartlett and Enzo, an Italian Greyhound

Shakes was adopted when he was 5 months old from a family who’s young son became allergic and ended up in the emergency room. He’ll enjoys pawing the computer to make it do things and make noise. He attacks the printer when it’s printing. He has real cat toys too: a feather toy he’ll run off with it if you don’t pay attention and he goes crazy over his catnip-filled squirrel.

When someone’s in the bathroom, Shakes likes to get in the sink and act like he’s in his litter box — looking at you as he paws the sink as if you should “bury it!”

He used to be terrified of the ceiling fans. If one was on he would hit the floor and crawl out of the room “like a solider looking for a foxhole.” He also used to be scared of the outdoors but now goes out and plays with the dog, chews grass and eats off his catnip bush by the deck. Lisa continues:

He left the yard last summer by climbing the fence and was gone for 28 hours. When he came home he had a burn between his shoulders. I assume it was from a hot engine. It was the first time he ever ventured out of the yard; I just hope it was his last!

Ouch!

Shakespear lives with Enzo, an Italian Greyhound and Lisa Bartlett who runs the Next Step Workshop Center, a counseling, mentoring and educational non-profit in Bloomington.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: The Measles
Nicknames: L. C., Ravenous Beast, Evil, Polly Pot, Snow Ball, Baby Seal, Cute-n-Crazy, Princess Pissy Pants
Born: 2005
Lives in: Richfield
Lives with: Ghislaine Ball, Joe Hoover and two other cats, Mauz and The Monkey

Ghislaine liberated The Measles from the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley in late September 2005. Before acquiring the name The Measles, for six our seven months she was simply L. C., short for “Little Cat.”

This summer she turned into a full blown “teenager” only coming home to sleep and eat. Other than that she was over at friends’ houses stuffing her face with junk food. To be fair, she still ate her full share of Evo at home every night as well as the heads of small woodland creatures she caught, specifically moles, voles, mice and sparrows. She recently made a couple solid attempts at bigger game which she was incredibly proud of. For example, she tried to bring a live gopher into the house to practice on.

During the colder months when she’s not permitted outside, The Measles practices her hunting and torturing skills on the other two cats in the house.

Ghislaine is in marketing at the University of St. Thomas and Joe is a web designer for the Minnesota Historical Society. Joe’s latest project at the MHS is Placeography, a wiki were you can read and write about your house’s history. Joe has just started his own blog about life working for a non-profit and Ghisliane is about to start a cooking blog, The Persistent Gourmet.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Pasha Pawnder Poletto
Nicknames: Pashy Pants, Pashalina, Muffin Head, Pashy PooPoo, Fur Gauchos, Little G (for little girl)
Born: 12 Mar 2004
Lives in: North Oaks
Lives with: Nicole de Beaufort and Christopher Poletto

Pasha found a home with Nicole and Christopher after Christopher spotted a flyer at work that had three little alien-looking “muffin top heads” on it. They were orange and white with huge, ridiculously cute alien eyes. Nicole and Christopher fell in love right away… with Pablo.

Nicole remarked on how feminine “Pablo” was for a boy cat but they were sure it was a guy although they hadn’t seen definitive proof. “It was just too damn fluffy up in there.” Nicole continues:

When we picked her up, we took her straight to the vet for a check up and shots. The vet cooed about what a cute little guy we had. We dropped the little critter off a week later for desexing. When we returned to pick him/her up, we were greeted with a grave-faced vet: “It’s a girl!” Thus, Pablo became Pasha and she’s been our fur baby ever since.

She was raised in Washington, DC and relocated to Minnesota in January 2007 along with Nicole and Christopher.

Pasha enjoys “kitty lifts,” where she is hand carried up to a faucet’s dripping edge to drink. She would leap there herself but as Nicole says, “it’s a lot more fun for her to be served running water.” She’s an indoor kitty but occasionally gets to stalk around the deck. She likes eating plants and has already devoured several huge Christmas Cacti. While Nicole and Christopher are watching television, sometimes a strong waft of aloe sweeps over the room. Later, they’d find the plant eaten down to its nub. Pasha talks and is fond of saying “ack ack” when she is hungry. She loves sleeping in the sun and on terrycloth towels. She’s more interested in shadows than other animals and never met a laser pointer she didn’t like.

Christopher is a scientist and Nicole is a consultant. They’re foodies that live in the trees in North Oaks in a mid-century modern that to them “seems custom made for kitties.” They’re considering getting a little brother puppy for Pasha but scared what her reaction might be.

You can find more on Pasha at her blog, Que Pasha? and Nicole’s Pasha Flickr Set.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: General Spaz Mauw, Mayor of Mauw Mauw Town
Nicknames: Peanut, Mauw, Mauw Mauw, Turdbump, The General
Born: Summer 1998
Lives in: Dayton’s Bluff, Saint Paul
Lives with: Ang Dezelske

Spaz was a feral kitten born in the courtyard of a Washington state apartment complex and saved from the fate of animal control. She didn’t adapt very easily to a life of shelter and regular servings of food and was always trying to run away, even up inside a recliner. Even though she warmed up to Ang, she remained very shy of other people, sudden movement and loud noises. She still runs under Ang’s bed when new people come over, a door is slammed, if the vacuum cleaner is out, a truck drives by or when someone stands up.

Spaz likes to spend her afternoons on the window sill if it’s sunny or curled up on her pillow on Ang’s bed. Sometimes she sits on top of the refrigerator. Spaz has been loving Ang’s new home in Saint Paul because there are so many ledges, counters and things to climb and sit on! She chases things only she can see and loves the “hand under the blanket” game. When Ang comes home from work she likes to roll around on the floor at her feet, meowing. Spaz likes to spend quite a bit of time by herself but deep down she’s a snuggler. Just not for too long. At bedtime, Spaz turns the hallway, living room and walls into a racetrack and a sofa into a jungle gym before snuggling up with Ang for the night. She is also the “Queen of General Mauw’s PooPing Palace.”

One day, while Spaz was curled up on top of the refrigerator, she presumably dozed off, rolled over and fell! My refrigerator is inside a pantry that is about 6 inches wider than the fridge, but the opening is smaller than the inside, and only about as wide as the fridge. Meaning, she was now stuck between it and the wall. Thankfully, she was totally okay and not hurt! She really knows how to get herself into trouble.

Spaz lives with Ang who is a Project Coordinator in Provider Relations at MN Department of Human Services by day and runs Overheard in Minneapolis after hours.

More photos of Spaz can be found in Ang’s Spaz photo set as well as Aaron’s Spaz photo set.

(Post originally from Minnesota Meow)

Name: Torii
Nicknames: Torrents, Panther, Torii Monster
Born: 05 May 2002
Lives in: Camden, Minneapolis
Lives with: Kurtis and Angela Scaletta, kitty siblings Gilda, Bertie, Lucy, and Pip.

Torii is an 18 pound “miniature panther.” He lives with four other cats and enjoys eating, napping and harassing his siblings. Torii was found after answering an ad on the Internet for free kittens. He attempts to be an alpha cat by trying to assert his authority over the other cats in the house by hissing and growling. He picks on the newer cats (Lucy and Pip) a bit more but is settling down.

Torii’s biggest passion is hunting down cotton swabs. As Kurtis explains:

When Torii sees you with a cotton swab, he waits eagerly for you to throw it away, bangs on the door to the little bathroom cupboard until it springs open, and rummages in the trash until he finds it. He then takes the swab out into the hallway where he has a bit of fun with it before decapitating it on both ends. The little stick corpse often ends up on the bed, in the water bowl, or in one of my slippers.

While Torii doesn’t seem to mind the yummy ear-wax tips of the swabs, it grosses us out a bit, so we’ve taken to just dropping one or two for him to play with when we get one out for ourselves. We pretty much call Q-tips “cat toys” now. As in, “Honey, we’re all out of cat toys — put it on the list for Target.”

Kurtis writes kids books and works at a local university helping instructors teach with technology. His debut novel Mudville will be published by Knopf in 2009. Angela also works at the university, does crafty stuff, and rescues the occasional cat. It’s her fault they have five cats.

More photos of Torii hunting down a cotton swab are in Torii’s Flickr set.

I just launched a new blog: Minnesota Meow!

It’s a blog about cats! Check it out.

UPDATE: 19 APR 08: It was a fun time, but eventually I integrated the content of Minnesota Meow into this site.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Isis
Nicknames: Icey, Pretty Prissy Princess Bitch
Born: Late 2001
Lives in: Cottage Grove
Lives with: Meredith Dachtera and Tim Dachtera

Meredith found Isis, a baby Mackerel Tabby, in December 2001. She responded to an ad for free kittens in a newsletter from some old friends on America Online, where she was previously employed. Meredith retold the story of when she got Isis:

When the owner of the cats and I met, she drove with the momma cat and kittens running around in the back of her car. I got to pick whichever kitten I wanted; I had her point out the girls. I picked the one that was the most “meowy” and colorful. I was so excited to finally have my own cat! When I brought her home she meowed and meowed, played in my hair and chewed on my fingers. She was sooo cute! She loved to cuddle and purr and meow and she still does.

My boyfriend at the time came over a few days after I got her, and she hissed and ran away and wouldn’t come out til he left. Then a few days later Tim came over and they played! She’s a good judge of character.

Meredith and Tim are now married.

Isis also loves popcorn. She begs for it when she hears it popping.

She is a bit prissy, though. For example, if she’s laying on your foot and you wiggle your toe, she’ll complain like “a little girl.” Likewise if she wants to lay on the bed while it’s being made. Isis likes to lay on her side and show off her tummy, but don’t dare touch it: she’ll yawl at you and stomp out of the room.

Whenever i get into bed, she jumps up with me and purrs and wants to cuddle with her chin on my pillow. She’ll sleep there all night if I let her.

Meredith is a Trader for a Woodbury Financial Services and Tim is a IT and A/V Consultant for Silicon Computers and TCS Communications. They enjoy camping, biking, bowling, karaoke, road trips and hosting parties.

There’s a few more photos of Isis in Meredith’s photo gallery.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Mooki
Nicknames: Silly Butt, Monkey, Blinky, Winky, Mister (when he is demanding)
Born: 14 Jul 2005
Lives in: Sheridan, Minneapolis
Lives with: Chuck Olsen and Lori Erickson

Mooki is a bengal cat that came from Spotogold Cattery and now lives in Minneapolis. The internet is filled with Mooki videos: Mooki being picked up from the cat shelter and Mooki’s trip to the vet to get fixed are good places to start. Mooki even has his own vlog, MookiTV!

As Lori writes:

He likes to make up games and stuff. He loves to ride around in 12 can pop boxes - it’s a lot like the kleenex box thing, except he runs into it on the floor and then sits there whipping his tail back and forth waiting for us to either pick it up by the handle and zoom him around like an airplane, or scoot him around on the floor like he’s in a car. He just purrs and purrs when we do that! We’ve been thinking of getting him a child’s skateboard and rigging him up a little car on that. Then again, maybe he’ll just like to ride on the skateboard.

Boxes are definitely his favorite thing, I think it’s part of the Bengal breed though, ’cause other Bengal owner’s have said the same thing. It really doesn’t matter how small the box is, he’ll at least stick his head in it. I even have footage of him trying to get into an regular envelope and scooting around on the floor with his two front paws in it.

He also love to put toys and stuff in the water bowl. He just seems to find it so fun to play with a toy around the bowl and slosh some water out then, sometimes he’ll kind of come running and slip around in the water on the tile floor on purpose. I pretty much have to change the water and wash out the bowl everyday because he gets it so dirty!

He also still likes to climb the curtains. Luckily, we have sturdy cotton canvass type curtains, or they’d be all ripped to shreds. He got it in his head one time that he was going to make it up to the top of the curtain rod, and it took him maybe about a week or less and he did it. He got all the way up to the top of the rod and was standing on top of it, but then he didn’t know where to go or what to do. I think Chuck had to get a chair to get him down. After he made it up there, though, he pretty much was done with that. Now he just climbs them (or threatens to) to force us to pay attention to him, you know, when we’re watching TV or having dinner.

He likes to also climb our slatted bedroom door in the morning if we’ve overslept according to him. Sometimes though, he seems to do it just because he needs to burn off some energy. Come to think of it, Mooki likes to climb things a lot like a Monkey too. Perhaps he’s part monkey?

Chuck adds:

We’re thinking of getting a baby sister kitten to play with, because he’s so incredibly active and we can’t keep him entertained. He’s very dog-like in a lot of ways and gets really crazy, enough that I half-worry he might inflict some harm on a little kitten. So I like to ask Mooki in a little baby voice, “Did you kill your sister? Huh? Did you kill your sister?”

Mooki lives with painter and photographer Lori Erickson who blogs at Secret Farm: A Garden Blog and maintains MookiTV. She also has a forthcoming blog/vlog project that we will link to when it is launched.

Mooki also lives with Chuck Olsen who is a Minnesota blogger, videographer and citizen media empresario. Some of his many projects include the award-winning Minnesota Stories, the ahead-of-its-time blog-documentry “Blogumentry,” and Vlog Santa. He’s a regular contributor to Rocketboom and has worked with numerous local and national political candidates on making online video work for them. His latest adventure is The UpTake, a large-scale, distributed citizen journalism project.

More on Mooki can be found at MookiTV and the Mooki tag on Flickr.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Names: Dallas and Daphne
Nicknames: Dall Pal, Daphne Duck
Born: 2003
Lives in: Longfellow, Minneapolis
Lives with: Dave Lee

Dallas and Daphne are American Longhair litter-mates that lived in Edina in 2004 and have lived in Minneapolis since 2005.

They are not outdoor cats but recently Daphne escaped and Dave had to chase her all over the block and behind other houses. He could not catch her until she was distracted by a squirrel.

They like it when the bathtub faucet is turned on and they’ll drink the running water. They also have the laser pointer as their preferred toy.

Generally well mannered except Daphne is grumpy sometimes. They’ve killed several mice and always leave the mice in the same spot on the dining room floor.

Dallas and Daphne live with Dave who works at Target Corporation and is the Chair of the 5th District DFL. On the side he’s also an amateur photographer and active with numerous volunteer and political projects.

More photos of Dallas and Daphne can be found with in DaveMN’s “Cats” Flickr photoset.

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Name: Harvey
Nicknames: Mister H, Baby Butt
Born: Early 2003
Lives in: North Saint Paul
Lives with: Amy Jo and Casey Armstrong

When Harvey was a kitten he was found at a pet store by someone and given as a surprise gift to Amy Jo’s good friend Chrissy. Unfortunately, as Chrissy had to go back to the dorms at Saint Cloud State University that autumn, Chrissy pleaded to let Harvey live with Amy Jo. They’ve been together since. Harvey’s lived in Shoreview, White Bear Lake (where he became obese), Hudson, WI (where he lost all the weight) and now he lives happily in North Saint Paul with both Amy Jo and Casey.

A peculiar part of Harvey is his tail; it has a strange bend at the end. If you pet him and run your hand down his tail the last bone isn’t straight and leans off to one side. It’s quite strange. When Harvey was a kitten it wasn’t very notable but now as an adult cat you can tell when he stretches out or walks with his tail in the air. Casey has joked that sometimes it seems like Harvey likes to extend his tail in the air in effort to straighten it.

Harvey also lives with Audrey, a male cat with a female name. Harvey was the more dominant cat and used to beat up on Audrey on a regular basis. They now have calmed down and get along great.

Harvey eats raw food such as cans of tuna fish and frozen vegetables. He’s on a strict diet of one meal a day in the evening.

He periodically rebels against this diet. Amy told me a story:

When I came home the other day, I found a mug that that Casey had left on the counter with stew in it broken on the floor and all the stew gone. That mug was a wedding gift. I then went in the cupboard to find a doughnut. I knew there were three left. The donut container was closed but there was a hole ripped on the top and the doughnuts were gone.

Although it may be unfair to blame Harvey for this matter with no substantial proof, the facts tend to point in his direction.

Harvey has a lot of personality and is sharp as a tack but plays off that he’s dumb… as if he doesn’t know better when he’s getting himself in trouble.

A few weeks ago, overnight Harvey and Audrey opened up a kitchen cabinet and emptied out three 5 pound bags of flour and a bag of crêpe mix. They ate a lot of it, but the rest of it was spread all around the entire kitchen and they made art out of it. Their paws “up to their cat knees” were powdery white.

Casey said that Harvey’s favorite place to lay is on top of the water heater.

Amy Jo added that at night when he’s a good cat he “likes to sleep under the covers like a little man. He’ll tuck himself in. I don’t know how he does it.”

Amy Jo is a bookkeeper and Casey works in IT for a local group of natural food stores. Casey also writes Casey’s Beer Blog.

More photos of Harvey can be found with the “Harvey” Flickr tag on Amy Jo and Casey and Aaron Landry’s Flickr accounts.

(Post originally from Minnesota Meow)

Name: Nadia
Nicknames: Nad, Meow
Born: October 2001
Lives in: Cooper, Minneapolis
Lives with: Aaron Landry and Allen Effenberger

Nadia was a feral cat that was found during a rain storm when she was a tiny kitten near Withrow. Nadia was with other cats in her litter and her mother. As it was going to freeze that night and these cats were trapping themselves under a culvert, Aaron’s sister was determined to try to save them. She was only able to save one of them. The rest of the cats haven’t been seen since.

When Nadia was a small kitten she was very skittish and shy. She wasn’t very playful and did not like to be held. Now as an adult cat she is still shy but can generally be approached. She’s the type of cat that’ll come sit on one’s lap but won’t let you put her there. She’ll waste most of the day on naps in her “cat spot” near a bedroom window.

She actively enjoys lasers and a long rainbow string. She lounges in the sun, watches birds and squirrels outside and infrequently goes outside. A visit outdoors usually consists of hiding under the back porch. Sometimes she’ll run a few houses away to get everyone worried and then casually walks home.

Nadia lives with Aaron who is runs Minnesota Meow. He’s an online media guru at night and by day is the IT Manager for Go East in Saint Paul. He’s also a private pilot, amateur photographer, pianist and restless adventurer.

Nadia also lives with roommate Allen Effenberger who is a baritone with the Minnesota Chorale and a student and assistant instructor at East-West Karate.

More photos of Nadia can be found with the “Nadia” tag on Aaron’s Flickr Photostream.

Nadia, originally uploaded by s4xton.

My cat, Nadia, was a feral cat rescued from freezing conditions by my sister when it was a little kitten. Being it was Nadia’s sixth birthday this weekend I figured I should post on her behalf on an issue that may concern her if she thought about things other than food and what’s going on outside the window.

Wildcat Wednesdays is a program by Animal Ark, St. Paul Animal Control and the District 7 Planning Council where volunteers catch feral cats, give them up to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated for Rabies and marked (PDF), care for them as they recover and then release them back into the wild. Right now it’s only in Saint Paul’s District 7 (PDF).

I noticed an interesting statistic in the Pioneer Press article ‘Wildcat Wednesdays’ has alternative approach to feral cat control:

Organizers launched the program Sept. 26 and hope to expand it beyond District 7. So far, it has netted 17 feral cats.

That doesn’t sound like much compared to the estimated 300,000 to 1 million feral cats in the Twin Cities, but program boosters say it is a good start.

It doesn’t sound like they know how many feral cats there are out there either but 300,000 is their low number? And there might be a million? That would be at least one feral cat for every three people. Where are all these cats?

In a WCCO report about Wildcat Wednesdays, “Gene” without a last name got four free traps and nabbed two cats. I guess Frogtown has a lot more cats compared to my neighborhood.

Ethically I think the program is great and better than euthanizing them but I’m not sure how much this will impact will make if all of this work goes into just getting a tiny fraction of a percentage of the cats out there. Mike Fry, executive director of Animal Ark said that “TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) is not only more humane, it is more effective and more cost effective.” He elaborates in the Pioneer Press:

Fry said killing feral cats - the city’s policy before Sept. 26 - did nothing to diminish the population.

“Lethal means are always unsuccessful; you can’t kill them fast enough,” he said, especially in a neighborhood like Frogtown, where a high number of rentals and vacant buildings has resulted in plenty of habitat for abandoned cats.

Feral cats form colonies, Fry explained, and such factors as food supply determine a colony’s size. Killing a cat only made room for another cat.

Taking away a colony’s ability to multiply shrinks it over time.

If you’d like to learn more, participate or donate to the program, check out the Wildcat Wednesdays PDF provided by Saint Paul Animal Control.

On a related note, I contribute a small amount yearly to Feline Rescue, which is another no-kill cat shelter in Saint Paul. Another group worth supporting.

Lost Cat, originally uploaded by s4xton.

"A family with a broken heart till she comes home."

Dave and I noticed this sign last weekend across the street from my house. Since, he’s had a couple similar cats show up to meow at him. He’s called the number and they’re not a match. I also saw a gray cat yesterday run across the street in front of my car, sit down and meow at me but I don’t think it was it either.

I haven’t usually taken these kinds of signs with that much thought but it is posted right across the street and I keep thinking of what I would do if I lost Nadia.

It is very addictive and has a soundtrack that sticks in your head for days.

Check out one of the original commercials for the game at waxy.org or see a gameplay video. You can even make your own papercraft Meow Cat like I did.