Dear 4:

The cat's names are; Nicholas, the 8 1/2 year old, Theadore, the 2 year old male and Emily the 2 year old female sister. All spayed and neutered, of course.

Nick is a color point gray on tan in between blue and lilac, the brother and sister are nearly long haired cottony white with black spots, darling Emily has a perfect black mask and huge black caterpiller tail. Teddy is very large. His spots are mostly brown tabby so he has a huge raccoon tail he has a tabby striped cap. He has a large black heart on his back when he is sitting.

I could not understand why CNN was not outside the house to take pictures of Emmy and Ted because I think they are so exceptionally beautiful. We all said "OOOHH yellow eyes!! Forgetting that almost all cats have yellow eyes. For 9 years we have been looking into surly little pale blue eyes. I was just amazed at the white of their whiteness and the brilliance of their black spots. We are used to the color point's gradual shading.

We went to the local city shelter where we get pet licenses here and went in to see the cats in the "pound". There were at least 5 with simalar colors and markings.

I realized then that my new pets are just ordinary kitties, except for their size and the soft cotton fluff fur. My darling exceptional kitties are just cats.

Unlike Nick, they know that there is food in the cat food bag. Nick never seems to have caught on to that. They try to open the windows and doors knowing just how things work. One of them turned on the TV one day. I'm sure it was an accident but it got my son's attention. They make me get up and open the blinds and windows so they can watch the day.

I guess ordinary cats are this smart too. Poor Nicholas has never showed much of this. The vet said because his baby teeth were brown that his mother had been sick or taken medicine while pregnant. We excused his lack of "talent" on this. Maybe we came to think that no cat was very smart. These new ones can just about talk. I expect conversations soon.

Regards,

Lynn