Scott and Dianne's Cats

The following is a collection of photos of our family, as well as other who have passed through our home either as residents or fosterees. The small thumbnail images are clickable for a full size image.

Current Cats

The current brood, from oldest to youngest.

Sachiko (June 1994 - present) We adopted Sachiko, our grey & white princess, from S.A.F.E. almost immediately upon moving to Connecticut from California. Though she started out as the baby of the family back then, she is the highest status female in our home now.
Oberon (March 1998 - present) Oberon was trapped as a presumed feral in a supermarket parking lot, as part of SVFF's effort to help the local caretaker neuter all the cats. He turned out to be tame (though quite scared), so we decided to attempt to place him in an adoptive home. He got off on the wrong foot with respect to integrating with the other cats - the animosity between him and then was quite intense for a long time, which hardened our resolve to adopt him out. But, after two seemingly good adoptive homes failed (he suffered from intense separation [from Di and me] anxiety), we finally declared him a permanent cat in early Y2K, since the animosity had significantly lessened.
Veruca (May 1998 - present) Veruca was trapped, along with her sister and feral mother, near our old apartment complex. The mother was released after being spayed, but we hoped to tame Veruca and her sister Yoshi. They were without question, the hardest kittens to tame we've experiened to date. Veruca takes her name from the song "The Seether" by Veruca Salt because of her original attitude towards us when we were trying (with great difficulty) to tame her. Yoshi was eventually placed, and although Veruca has become a very sweet cat, she has been impossible to place because of her fear of strangers. She was made permanent in the fall of 1999.
Pascal (November 2000 - present) Pascal was one of a litter of three cats from an SVFF colony we fostered. While his brothers were adopted, Pascal wasn't, and was eventually made permanent in the spring of 2002.
Rosie (August 2001 - present) Rosie was another kitten rescued from an SVFF colony, who we never found a home for. She was made permanent along with Pascal in the spring of 2002.
Domino (May 2009 - present) Domino was a feral kitten found in the parking lot near a sushi restaurant we frequent. We believe she was abandoned at a young age rather than born feral. We trapped & spayed her in May and she has lived in our yard ever since. Still working on taming her to the point where she can become a permanent house cat.
Cinnamon (March 2011 - present) Cinnamon is a cat that showed up in our yard in the spring of 2011. Fearful, she was presumed feral, and trapped & fixed. During recovery she was found to be tame, albeit scared, and kept inside as a house cat. Within just a couple of weeks she's completely adjusted to indoor life with humans -- apparently not born feral but more likely abandonned.

Previous Cats

These were cats considered "ours" who are no longer around.

Opal (August 1988 - September 1989) Opal was a year old stray hanging around the rooming house where I lived my first year in Berkeley. He was the first cat that was "mine". The apartment I moved into at the end of that year (and remained in for the rest of my time in Berkeley) did not allow pets, and though I brought him in to care for him soon after I moved there, I placed him in a new home about 2 months later. This was one event in my cat history that I regret, as the building manager hinted that he would look the other way even though he didn't approve, and years later Di and I adopted Kaiun and Ame anyway.
Ashby (August 1988 - Novemer 1989) Ashby was another cat living around the rooming house in Berkeley where I had Opal. She was being taken care of by the woman across the hall. At about the time I moved out, most of the other people living there did too, as the landlord had started to harass them to drive them all out. Ashby (named for Ashby Avenue which was close to the house) had been left by her main caretaker, under the care of another resident, but when that person was forced out she was left behind. I went back and brought her in to my new apartment, and took care of her, until the time her original caretaker had found a home where she could have a cat, and Ashby went back to her.
Kaiun (May 1993 - September 2007) Kaiun was our elder female for over 14 years. She was the sole surviving kitten born to a cat that lived outside our apartment in Berkeley. "Dumpster kitty", the mom, had been a resident of the area for at least a couple of years, hung around by the dumpster in our building's garage, and was fed in the laundry area by some of the tenants. Kaiun lived with chronic renal failure for a bit over the last year of her life, before going to the Rainbow Bridge.
Ame (June 1993 - January 1996) Ame was adopted in June of 1993 from a foster home of the Hayward Animal Shelter, as a companion to Kaiun, who was our only cat at that time. An incredibly affectionate cat, she also was probably our most intelligent one. She managed to convince us that she knew the purpose of a door knob, and that the only reason she couldn't open the door was physical ability, not lack of understanding. She was taken from us before her time, by a household accident. She managed to hang herself while playing with the windowshade cord on sill of a high window. If you have cats or children, please secure shade cords away from their reach to prevent accidents like this!
Ariel (March 1996 - December 2002) Ari was adopted, at the approximate age of 5 months, from Abandoned Animals about 2 months after Ame died. He was our bad-cattitude alpha male, usually the most dominant and highest status cat.
Oliver (August 1997 - January 2010) Oliver was found in one of my colonies. He was 8-10 weeks old. I had completed most of the spaying in that colony by that time, and that, combined with the fact that he was already tame, lead us to presume he was abandoned. His smallness reminded us of Oliver Twist, thus he was named. Ironically he became the largest cat in the house, though that did not earn him a status very high up the social hierarchy.
Cassiopeia (January 1999 - August 2002) Cassie was a street feral in the colony I feed. She was a kitten when trapped (approximately 6-8 months old), feral and in heat, in July 1997. After being spayed, she was returned to the colony. I worked with her there for a year and a half before bringing her in. She proved to be an incredibly sweet cat but impossible to place, and was made permanent in the fall of 1999 the same time as Veruca was.

Transients

These are cats that we have fostered and (mostly) placed in adoptive homes. Most are alumni of Silicon Valley Friends of Ferals, but some were rescued when we were back in Connecticut, before SVFF existed.

Adrian & Alec
Rhiannon
Travis & Tova
Sebastian, Sasha & Sarah
Joker & Riddler
Rachel
Perry, Piper, and Pascal More photos: [ Perry \| Perry & Piper \| Piper \| Pascal ]
Morpheus and Trinity More photos: [ Morpheus \| Trinity]
Niles, Nicholas, Natasha, Natalie and Nadia More photos: [ Nadia \| Natalie \| Niles \| Nadia & Natasha]
Liam Liam was the third of three mysterious orange kittens (Oliver was the first) that showed up over three years in my colony, presumably abandoned. I discovered this little guy one night while feeding my colony, but was gone by the time I returned with a carrier and trap. A few days later, I found him again on the far end of the alley from my colony, near where I trapped Duncan and Amelia. He was pretty hungry and not too hard to trap, and tamed up pretty quickly. More photos: [ Liam \| Liam \| Liam]
Brandon, Maggie, Molly, Martha, and Noah 5 kittens born to a stray in a south San Jose backyard. These guys were pretty young when rescued, young enough that I was able to capture all by hand since they were not too mobile. And young enough that they hadn't learned to eat solid food. Fortunately, they only had to be bottle/syringe fed for a day before I was able to teach them to drink kitten formula from a dish, and then another two weeks before they were weaned onto solid food. All were placed within 3 months, and the person whose yard they were rescued from was able to trap the mother cat and get her fixed. More photos: [ Maggie & Martha \| Martha \| Martha, Maggie & Brandon \| Noah \| Molly]
Paloma Probably the saddest of our rescue stories. Paloma was found wandering the streets near my colony. Declawed and pretty thin, she still didn't seem to want to eat much. Once we brought her in, we figured out she was deaf. She also seemed to be incontent, and a visit to the vet revealed she was a fairly old cat and suffering from kidney failure. It was only a week or two longer before we realized she was in enough discomfort that the best course of action would be to help her go on peacefully...
Tyler Trapped in Jan's colony, this guy was a real hisser at first. Changed his tune quickly, became a real sweet cat, and was adopted within a month.
Duncan & Amelia These two were found near the other end of the alley from where my colony is located, and were living inside a truck with a camper top. They were a bit older when trapped, perhaps 3-4 months, and took a fair bit of work before they were tame enough to be adopted.
Maia, Shiva & Ginger Three of a litter of four born to a feral mom near my company the summer of 1999, and discovered by one of my co-workers. Though young and easily tamed, they were feral enough that they had to be trapped. (The fourth was not captured until about 8 months later, and by then was to wild to do anything but release after getting her spayed). All were adopted by mid-fall.
Dylan Dylan was the second of three mysterious orange kittens (Oliver was the first) that showed up over three years in my colony, presumably abandoned. Though he was at least 8 weeks old, he was tame enough to be hand-rescued when offered some food. A real love-bug, he was adopted within 2 months of rescue.
Yoshi Yoshi is Veruca's sister and the offspring of a feral mom in our old apartment complex. She wasn't quite as wild as Veruca originally was, and we managed to find her a home in October 1998 after she had stayed with us around 5 months.
Leo Leo was a young kitten rescued from a business park in Santa Clara that was scheduled for demolition. At the time of rescue, he was suffering from extreme dehydration and upper respiratory infection, and was starving. After a trip to the emergency vet clinic and intensive antibiotic therapy, forced feeding and subcutaneous fluids, he managed to recover, He was placed for adoption about two months later.
Mr. Velvet Mr. Velvet, now known as Hiya-ji, was a rescue from Jan's colony that we fostered for a few days prior to his adoption by one of Jan's acquaintances.
Northstar Northstar was rescued from my State Street Colony when I was working with Rehab-a-Cat. He was not one of the "regular" colony cats, but was apparently abandoned, about 7 months old at the time. A very loving and affectionate cat, he was placed in an adoptive home within a month of being brought in off the street.
Gwynyth & Gandalf Gwynyth and Gandalf were two kittens rescued from my State Street Colony when I was working with Rehab-a-Cat. At least one I had seen before in relatively good condition, but one evening, Gandalf was presented to me by the resident of an adjacent building. He was starving and suffering from pretty bad upper respiratory infection. About a week later I found Gwynyth in even worse condition. With some fairly intensive care involving force feeding of kitten formula and antibiotic therapy, they recovered and eventually were placed in an adoptive home.