This was my first cat. I brought her home as a kitten about two months after Gena died as a present for Michelle. She is not very bright, but gets by on her good looks. She is our only lap cat. Smoogie is her biological mother, a relationship which they both celebrate with open hostility.
She is the model for "Grits" in the story. Judy brought her home after she recovered from her losing encounter with a car on Atlanta Road in Smyrna where she had been the hospital cat. She adores male visitors of the two-legged variety.
She is a Siamese mix that we got as a kitten from the humane society. She is our only semi-feral cat, having a low tolerance both for people and other cats. She is comfortable with Judy, though, and likes to sit right next to me when I am eating salmon.
We adopted him from the Good Mews shelter where Judy volunteers. He has more charm and personality than you can shake a stick at, and gets along with everyone.
He was adopted as a kitten by Judy as a companion for Smoogie who resented him at first until she recognized his value as an interactive cat toy. He and Judy were extremely close, and his sudden death at age 9 was tough to take.
The model for the Black Jack in the story, we adopted him as a kitten companion for Baby Blue a few weeks after she joined our family. He was a large handsome cat who was on the nervous side, and used to soothe himself with an endearing thumb-sucking ritual. He is proud to live on as a literary cat.