Puddy was a very sleek gray with white paws, white on her neck and a little swirl of while up to her mouth. She had one gray spot on her otherwise spotless white back paw and a white belly. She had the same lovely green eyes commonly found in Russian Blue cats, and one vet speculated that she may have been a descendent of that breed.

We will never know Puddy's exact age. She was abandoned as a young cat in downtown Cincinnati at the 9th and Vine parking lot by the Cincinnati Public Library. She was found on 12/4/86 by my ex-boyfriend, Garry Forbeck and brought to me. (This was long regarded as "the only decent thing Garry ever did"... but alas, it eventually turned out he was in that parking lot smooching with a co-worker 2 weeks after we moved in together, so the event lost a lot of its sparkle!) The vet estimated Puddy's age at that time at approximately 1 year. She had one litter of kittens in April of 1987, 5 little black or black and white cuties who looked more like their daddy cat than they did Puddy. The daddy was Garry's ex-cat, Papa Kit, who ran off and left Garry not long after I did -- don't let anyone tell you cats aren't smart!

Puddy's honeymoon with Papa Kit (the only other cat she ever really had any use for.)

Puddy with her kittens. She was determined to have them behind the water bed and I blocked her entrance to that spot for her own safety. Out of spite, she gave birth smack in the middle of the living room floor. She never really accepted any sort of box or alternate location for her little family and we ended up compromising on her raising her kittens under the dining room table. Long after the kittens all found homes, we would still come home to find Puddy curled up under the table with a collection of rolled up socks and stuffed toy cats.