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On this page, I'm going to put those pictures that involve our cats, which, at the beginning of the year, were Lucky, Tyger and Zack. If the pet picture is related to a particular trip or event, it'll be on the page for that trip or event. But most pet pictures will be here.

January 1: Bob and Zack in Florida

Zack's fifteenth trip to Florida began on December 29, 2016; we returned on January 16th. But on this trip, we also took our newest cat, Bob, along to keep him company. They seemed to enjoy each other's company, and they were almost always together:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

It's nice to have one of the cats with us, and it was even better to have two of them along so they could keep each other company. Both of them turn out to be good travelers; Fred tells me that when he takes Tyger up to his house, a drive of only an hour, the tabby meows all the way there. Here are just a few of the many other pictures we took of Zack and Bob here in Florida:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

January 20: The Cats at Home

Fred is here this weekend, and when we are in the study, the cats are usually there, too, and this weekend was no exception.

Something About a Box

Fred got a new desktop computer this weekend, and we have it out of the box to set up. As always seems to be the case, particularly with cats, an empty box quickly becomes a cat toy. Only Tyger seemed not to care very much about it.

The Man in the Box

Here are some more of this weekend's pictures:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

January 28: The Trouble With Tribbles

We are at our full crew complement of four cats- Lucky, Tyger, Zack, and Bob. With 2600 square feet in the house, the chances are that there will be a cat in every other room you visit.

Cats? Tribbles? What's the Difference? (Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

Unless that room is the study, and unless that room is occupied by at least one human. In that case, there is a near certainty that there will be at least two cats in the room; quite often there will be three and, not so rarely, all four will be present. That was the case this morning, so I took the opportunity to make a movie to show them to you.

You can use the player at left to watch that short movie, and get introduced to all of our felines. The cats zonk out anywhere that's free, although their preference is a lap, if one is available, or the two wing chairs. And while you might expect that they would curl up in the classic cat pose, ours seem quite comfortable all akimbo when they sleep:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

February 24-25: Downtime, Uptime

Whenever I am working on my laptop in the study, one or the other of the cats will stand nearby and look at me with that "Is that lap taken?" kind of look. Tyger is the exception; he doesn't ask, but justs climbs up and settles in (usually pushing me away from the table in the process). It's kind of endearing, but it makes it hard to type sometimes.

The really unusual thing about the cats is that when the study becomes devoid of humans, they will rouse themselves and seek you out:

"Are you coming right back down?"

"Of Course I Know It's Not 'Pride Rock'!"

May 8-12: Pre-Trip Kitties

It is early May, and Fred and I are preparing to head out to Europe for about 4 weeks on the 16th. We'll be stopping in Florida first, and then flying to Berlin via Istanbul to spend five days with Prudence, Nancy, Karl, and Ron. Then we'll be spending some time in Prague with my niece, Jeffie, and finally some time in Istanbul. You may already have seen the pages for that pretty incredible vacation.

Who Needs Expensive Cat Toys? (Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

The cats will be in the capable hands of our pet sitter, Lynne, supplemented for a week by our next-door neighbor, Cynthia, so we know they will be in good hands. But we've been taking rather more pictures of them than usual, mostly so we can show them to Jeffie when we get to Prague. Here's a selection of some of the pictures we took in early May:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

August 4: Tyger is Immortalized

Guy was up here with Prudence a few days ago, and he brought with him a painting of our cat, Tyger, that he had done from a photograph. Today, we took some pictures of the painting (with and without Tyger himself) as well as a couple of the other cats.

Painting Detail

Guy paints in pastels, and so the picture of Tyger is in that medium. We thought he had got the likeness almost exact. Here are a few more pictures of the artwork- and of Tyger:

And here are those pictures of Lucky and Bob, not to be outdone in "awwwness":

October 8: Getting Ready for Florida

This morning we are getting ready to head down to Florida, and I've laid out my stuff to take.

Apparently, Bob knows he's going with us.

October 26: Laps and Boxes

This evening we took some random pictures of the cats, and all four of them got into at least one picture.

The Cats in the Lap

This Lap is Taken

And, of course, there is something about cats and boxes, as Tyger and Bob are demonstrating:

Just the Right Size

November 27: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

I just thought these two pictures of Bob asleep were adorable:

December 20th and 25th: Christmas is For Cats

On the day we put the Christmas tree up, and on Christmas Day itself, we took a number of pictures of the cats enjoying the Holiday Season.

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

As soon as we put up the Christmas tree, it was Bob who immediately jumped up onto the table and took up a position underneath the tree. He stayed there, off and on, until later that day when I went and got all the wrapped gifts and put them under the tree.

He was very photogenic, sitting there under the tree, changing his expressions fairly frequently, so I took a number of pictures- way more that I needed to put here. But I think you'll enjoy looking at the few pictures I did choose for this page. Those pictures are at left.

On Christmas Day, when Fred and I were opening packages, all the paper and boxes went onto the floor, where the cats naturally had a field day. Zack was a little hesitant, but the other three- Tyger, Lucky, and Bob- jumped right in to play with everything. Here's the best picture and best movie of the cats at play:

Boxes and Paper: What's Not to Like?

The Cats Get New Temporary Toys (Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

December 27: The Closing of the Year

To close out the year for cat pictures, I will let Lucky sum up 2017:

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