Duffy: We wanted a name beginning with D – forgot the reason. Thought about Dillon, but settled on Duffy. It fits.

Reese: When I first saw her I thought Rhesus Monkey – and Reese evolved. Actually her markings are those of a Capuchin monkey – that didn’t come to me until later. Reese suits her.

Abby: We found her on Petfinders.org, so had a picture of her. Went through a whole bunch of names – Douglas liked Abigail/Abby. Her baby name was Alice (as in Wonderland). When I first saw her, I was struck by her long slender legs – and thought of the dancer Cyd Charisse. Sometimes I call her Mary Alice Abigail – Cyd Charisse. Long name for a little girl, but she likes it.

Grady: He was 5 months old, born to a neighbor’s cat – and basically ignored when he started hanging around. This was one of those *Poof* jobs that Jan does so well. We had to call him something, and Little Gray worked. Then he grew, and grew, and grew some more. And we kept him. He was so used to the Gray sound, we just made it Grady.

Red: Another stray that happened along. Big, orange, one-eyed cat. For lack of anything else, we called him Red. We truly thought he had a home – I mean he was neutered and that eye had been surgically removed. Despite notices all over town, no one showed up, so he lives with us. And Red stuck. I tried to change it last summer to Rudy – he became visibly depressed. So it’s Red now and forever.