pic's of doc's kitty cats

Sands, great photos, thanks a lot. I appreciate it.
So many folks have asked for photos of Ralph and Muffy. Our little kitties.
Ralph bit completely through my hand on the trip to Los Angeles. I had spoken about it and now you can see what that bite must have looked like.
They are our children and we used to take them to the fleamarket in Ft. Myers. They kept us company. Ralph still doesn't sleep on the bed, and Muffy is always mad.
You should see seperation anxiety from them when we go to the shop!!! It is hard to describe what it looks like when Ralph bounces off three walls without touching the ground. Things break when he plays.
Both Ralph and Muffy can jump easily 12 ft straight up.
Thanks for posting Sands. I am working on your pendant, actually teaching my student how to work with silver using it as a focus. He just told me he is slow on patience and I was asking too much to solder the bezel and sheet together.
Silversmithing is not as easy as he thought it was.
Enjoy our children, they like the attention.
The photo of Kitty and Jenne is when he was 10 months old in our old shop in Ft. Myers.
The photo of the old fart, is one which shows my pendant I made for him using his Tiger claw. That claw came from a Tiger he raised from a cub. The tiger died from old age, and used to suck his thumb while trying to sit on a three legged stool. The Tiger reached 12ft standing. He loves cats also.

Cher, those are our Bengals. They were taken from a strain of Asian Leopard cats, and Servals. There are not very many. An off breed of a Serval, and Himalyan is called a Savannah. With these Kitties, the first generation breeds sterile. It is very rare to get a match and progeny. Our children were discarded by a breeder. They are no longer in business, thankfully.
When we got our kitties, they were abandoned kittens. Muffy led Ralph out of the wilderness and they showed up at our old shop's landlords house. He loves animals and took extreme care of them. I told him I love cats, and he gave them to us. I tried to tell my wife what they are like and she thought they were housecats.
She now calls them house leopards. Just when she thinks they are like Tabby, they show her differently.
Yes, those teeth are what went through my hand. We brought Ralph and Muffy to the vet's to get shots for the trip to Los Angeles. I told the vet they were bengals, being a bubba he sneered and paid no heed.
I told him, no anal temperature checks. Being a Bubba he shoved the anal probe, thermometer, and Ralph defended himself from the aliens. Ralph took out four veternary assistants, the Dr. and the receptionist. He terrified a Rotweiler, full grown, and bit through my hand before I got him calmed down.
Ralph likes to help Jenne make jewelery. He sits next to her, and grabs one bead. Just one. The he bounces off the ceiling, runs around the walls, and cries.
Bengals do not meow, they squeak like cougars. They open their mouths wide, and nothing comes out, just eeeek. Real quietly.
Cats do not have owners, they have servants. These guys, when they have something to say, people listen.

OOOOOHHH, the beautiful babies! I've waited so long to see them. Aren't they Regal? Every time I type a sentence I have to scroll down and look at them again. Can't wisper any secrets around them, that's for sure. Looks like they have taken good care of you two.
I was at an antique mall last week and saw a Tiger claw pendent very similar to the one your friend is wearing, only bigger. That one must mave been a pinky nail
Thanks for showing us!

cookie

Absolutely georgeous animals Doc.
What do you feed them?
Will there be a time when you will no longer be able to have them, as is the case with a lot of wild animals, or are these kids here to stay?
Thanks for the pics.
I love big cats.

-Banjo

When you said you had cats I'm thinking "kitties", you actually have CATS! Cool as cool can be Doc and Jenne, I like!
Marian

Ps my cat Lumpy ( I love that fat bastar*) gave me a claw to the collar bone last year, ended up getting Cat Scratch Disease I was sick as a dog, Yep pun inteded, although there was nothing funny about it... Be careful when bit or scratched it's very common and hard to treat.

Gorgeous cats Doc
Don't think I'd let my kids near them though.
Good to see that you have them in a cage.
Alice

WOW doc- awesome-- I have always dreamed of owning a real cat (not those lumps of fur that fill litterboxes and leave hair all over) When I was old enough to start research the actual purchase of one I discovered that they are REAL WORK- I wisly decided to not get into the BIG CATS! BTW have you ever heard of Dr Gary Pusillo and the APPERON company? If not you may want to seek them out (www.apperon.com)- They do some incredible work with Big Cat nutrition!

Just got back from the shop. I had set the alarm with the pm and am backwards. It is set to go off at 7:00 am, and go back off at 8:00 am. Ralph was furious, we were not here! We got back from the shop, and he would not let us back in the house! I put the key in the lock, turned it, opened the door, and he shut it. I tried to open it and he pushed it shut while I was opening it. If he was not so big, it would be cute. He can actually push the door shut with me opening it. He can knock Jenne off her feet at will. A friend of ours came over, and Ralph swiped her. When we got them, they were declawed, a practice I do not agree with. Anyway, Ralph not only knocked the person off her feet, he broke her glasses on her nose. Ralph and Muffy only let people they know in the house.
No, we do not keep them in a cage in the house. They have free reign. The cage is only when we bring them to friends, or when we brought them to the flea market, a practice we no longer do. As they matured, their tolerance for strangers diminished to the point where we were afraid they would stop being tolerant of us. That would break our hearts.
They are settled in here, after moving from Punta Gorda to los Angeles, to New Port Richey.
At night, they sleep near us. Muffy will come on the bed, purr, very loudly mind you, and push both of us onto the floor. Ralph sleeps on a shoe box near us. It is a sight to see, a 53lb Kitty sleeping on a shoe box. The box is a mess now. He sleeps on the bed and watches over us at night. We know when a stranger is coming near the house as Ralph and Muffy try to hide. It is hysterical seeing the children try to hide. Ralph puts his head under the couch and leaves his body visible. That is his hiding. Muffy jumps onto the refrigerator, knocking everything on it onto the floor and telling everybody she is here.
The Jehova Witnesses do not come here anymore. Ralph and Muffy scared them off. They show up and Ralph and Muffy look like feral killers. They puff up and look psycho.
They have free reign of the home, and we are remodeling our home with high cat walks, excercise ramps, spray proof walls, floors, and hiding places that work for them. It is really producing an interesting house! Looks kinda like a Yurt except it is square.
I wouldn't trade them for anything. Sometimes, if it weren't for them, with the pressure we were under we might not have made it. I try to let them know that everyday.
They also love catnip.

One of the children's favourite games is Catch the Kitty! Ralph will run in front of me and run away just as I reach out to touch him. He gets two steps away and squeaks.
Another favourite game is hunt the humans! Ralph will suddenly jump up, smach into one of us, and kick himself off. He doesn't realize how strong he is. When he kicks, or body slams, he can knock the wind out of me, or knock me completely over. He is a massive cat, and loves to catch the Human. He hurts a lot of the time, and when I scold him, he cowers and looks like a sad dog.
We have never physically punished or cats. I do not believe in spanking animals. I feel, when they are not afraid of you, they can feel the emotions and do respond to it.
Muffy likes to sit on Ralph's head when he is drinking. She will sit on Ralph and force his head into the water. She also knows he hates it when food is in his water. She will squeak and Jenne refills her water bowl, a 10qt pan. They each drink about four quarts a day. Muffy will drink her fill, and drop a piece of food in the pan, right in front of Ralph. Ralph lowers his tail and skulks around the house untill we clean the bowl.
It is never dull around the cat house.
Muffy also likes to take her food and put it into the sink, toilet, or shower. She likes to wash the food, and play in the water.