We have two highly fluffy cats, Sammy and Suzie. We adopted them when they were nine, so they are now in their golden years. Sammy, in particular, likes to remind us of this by distributing his golden years on the carpet occasionally.

They look just about the same. Sometimes even we can't tell one from the other, or from a big furry slipper, or a tacky couch pillow. They don't act the same, though.

Sammy is so terribly glum. He's just sure we're going to turn him out onto the streets and he'll end up living under a bridge. He's learned that we bring suitcases in to pack before leaving on trips, and when he sees us drag them in, he freezes, staring at us with huge eyes that we fancy are slowly filling with tears. Then he decides that maybe if he yowls piteously eight hundred times in a row we won't really "abandon" him. He is sadly mistaken.

Suzie, on the other hand, is a little princess. She is beautiful, and she knows it. When you get a camera out Suzie will complain loudly until until you point it at her -- the most beautiful thing in the room, obviously -- and when you do, she'll flip onto her back, making cute little kittykat expressions and purring loudly. Sam will run and hide; he's scared of the camera.

Sammy is very loving, though. He jumps up on the bed in the morning, and we open bleary eyes to see his giant, furry head poking hesitantly up over the bedcovers, resonating with purrs. If you grab him and cradle him in your arm, he'll happily knead your side for a long time, drooling with pleasure.

We get vast amusement from looking over the names of their ancestors. They are show cats, because (we are told) the people who originally bought them were pretentious and wanted purebreds. So among Suzie's ancestors are: Rhianross Coco of Numews, Gem's Kat of Sha-Mar, and El Paquena's Pur-Sis-Ti. On Sam's family line we have such well-known luminaries as Czarevna's King Cong, Misty-Mount Gem of Tunxis Valley, and the Grand Champion Ren-Sim's Guy of Furtado (really!). Where do they get these names? Makes me glad they're just "Sammy" and "Suzie".

Here is an update on Sammie and Suzie.