Hello, everybody

I've got two cats -- a boy and a girl. Both cats were strays.

The boy cat is maybe 4.5 years old now. He was starving and skinny as a rail, and maybe a year old, when he accepted the invitation to join the household. Unfortunately instead of being the long, tall, sleek black cat that he was as he began to have steady meals, he's now a big and long fat cat. The girl cat is about 16.5 years old. She is my little darling but bossy, always telling me to CLEAN THE LITTER BOX NOW! or FEED ME NOW! or PICK ME UP NOW! With the boy cat, she cannot resist striking a paw at his face or biting him while he is sleeping. I wish she would not do this but she was always this way with other male cats. She is a brown tabby with short legs.

Both my cats delight me and I am glad they chose me as their life companions.

The boy cat and I go out late at night to walk around the neighborhood. He loves walking around with me but even when he was thinner, he wasn't much much of a walker. I am resigned to the notion that he seems satisfied just to walk around the block. A small feral tortie likes to tag along with us. Sometimes I won't open the front door until the wee hours of the morning and still she will be outside, waiting for us. Her constant meowing though disturbs our quiet night walks. I've tried coaxing her into living indoors, including bodily picking her up and placing her inside when the weather has been wet or chilly, or both. But she prefers the life of a cat of the streets, no matter the weather.