Buster and Purrdie (black and white cowcat brother and sister) came from next door, where they shared a heated pen outside with the big dogs. (Originally they were farm cats who were a birthday present to the little girl next door, who dressed them up and pushed them around in doll carriages.) In the early spring of the next year, both kitties came over to visit and we gave them treats to reward them for their chipmunk and squirrel hunting. Purrdie had a litter of four kittens and Buster adopted us while she was busy with the babies. Buster would climb the screens of the low casement windows and ride the screen down to get in. ("Buster, you can't do that.") The lady next door graciously allowed us to adopt Buster after we had taken him to the vet twice after fight injuries. Purrdie joined us on the Christmas Day after she was spayed. She meowed to come in as it was snowing. The people next door were headed out to another state and said she would be ok in the pen with the dogs. We left her on our sofa. A few days we got permission to adopt her.

Spot and Tiger (dark gray-tan tabby brothers) showed up in our back yard one September afternoon. They begged for food and didn't leave. There were no lost cat signs, so three weeks later they went to the vet for testing, shots, and fixing.

Samantha (tortie, RB) showed up one November night when it was raining and 34 degrees. She was wearing a flea collar but begged piteously for food and shelter. We put a disk on the collar with our phone number and the message "stray?" After two weeks of no notices or phone calls, we discovered she was living under the tarpaulins that cover our lawn mowers and moved her into the basement. A week later we took her to the vet for testing, shots, and spaying, and let her board at the vet clinic over Christmas with Purrdie.