Cardamom (RB) was called Miss Kitty by her previous owner. She was Miss Kitty to me for a couple of weeks, then I decided to call her something less "generic." Her dark stripes were the color of black cardamom pods.

Don Juan got his name at the Humane Society, where he was brought as a stray. I kept it because he is a big lovebug, and just a little bit naughty.

Zerlina was Zana at Hopalong Animal Rescue. When I met her at the Petsmart adoption center, I scratched her ear and asked if she'd like to be called "Zerlina." She purred. She's named for a character in the Mozart-Da Ponte opera Don Giovanni. Zerlina is a peasant girl at her wedding when she encounters the charming Don Giovanni, who almost succeeds in persuading her to abandon her new husband and run off with him. (Fortunately, bridegroom Masetto turns up just in the nick of time.) And my Zerlina has just the same sweet-and-spicy temperament.

Liz