Jkb’s Cat Page
Jasper and Dakota
I sent these two pictures to one of my favorite magazines, Linux Journal, as a semi-joke. LJ had started a bad habit of printing pictures of peoples ‘cute little children’. I decided that Jasper and Dakota were just as cute, if not more, than those kids, so I sent the picture.
Months passed and I had about given up on seeing my cats in print, until one day in July, Paula was thumbing through my ‘nerd magazine’ and suddenly exclaimed “I see Jasper and Dakota!”. Jasper and Dakota finally got the worldwide press they had been waiting for in the August 2004 issue. Here is the article: LJ Aug 2004
Jasper and Dakota became overnight feline pioneers in the area of Linux technology, effectively breaking the ’species barrier’ that had so long kept cats out of computers. Their instant success led the way for other felines–Dare I say “Copy Cats”?–in Linux Journal: Tosca 10/04 and Serena 12/04
The cats have even received fan mail! Once, a guy named Fred emailed the Linux Journal editors asking them for a digital copy of their pictures for his wife’s computer wallpaper. They passed it along to me and the cats, who were happy to oblige the request. Here is Jasper waiting for more fan mail.
Tuxedo
Unlike Jasper and Dakota, Tuxedo likes to stay out of the public eye. Tuxy’s idea of a good time is having a warm couch, person, or bed to sleep on, getting to eat lots of cat food, and go a little wild with catnip and cat toys.
We met Tuxedo when we moved into our condo. He was a stray cat that limped around the parking lot on a broken leg outside our condo. He was very wild at that point, not letting anyone near him. Our neighbors, Larry and Karina, would put food and water out for him, so he got to hanging around and living under our front deck. It was good for him, since his broken leg effected his mobility, so he stayed where there was food.
When my brother Dan and I installed my storm door, Tuxedo watched intently, and even got a piece of Dan’s breakfast sandwich. In this first picture, you can see him on the other side of the storm door, and Dakota playing with him through the glass. They still play together, often resulting in scratches on Tuxedo’s white nose.
Tuxy had a fling with a feral cat named “Mama Cat”, resulting in two cute kittens, a calico named Brownie, and a smaller version of Tuxedo named Little Tuxy. Our neighbors adopted the two kittens. I told Paula that for her birthday, she could take Tuxedo in as a pet.
Taming the wild Tuxedo was both easy and challenging. He knew how to use a litter box already and didn’t claw furniture. On the other hand, he did not understand manners. We would pet him or brush him, and when he was done, instead of just leaving like other cats, he’d swipe at you and then run away. We also built a neat barrier to keep him down by our door and away from the other cats, but on the first night we had him in, he figured out how to break the barrier and squeeze past. Paula and I woke up to an extremly angry Jasper growling and snarling at Tuxedo as he climbed the stairs.
Even though Jasper and Tuxedo never became good friends, Tuxedo grew into a great cat! He’s very affectionate and friendly, particularly when food is involved. The second picture is Tuxy preparing to nap in the sun in our computer room.
All of my cats have been influenced by a local cat rescue project called the
Greater New Haven Cat Project (GNHCP).
