About those cats...

Our family cats are Sherlock and Watson. They are the "writers' cats"—plural—because both my husband and I write. I am not sure if our feline fuzzballs are better at solving mysteries or creating them, but everyone wants to know more, so here's their story.

Unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tall, slim, energetic super-sleuth and his more phlegmatic companion, our Sherlock is the friendly, cuddly, slightly pudgy cat, while Watson is the tall, slim and slightly anxious member of the team.

Sherlock's photo leads this blog. He is the elder of the pair, a shelter rescue cat with an interesting condition: radial hypoplasia. This means he has foreshortened front legs and extra toes (a form of polydactyly sometimes called "hamburger feet"). In his case, his front legs are also two different lengths.

But do not be fooled: Sherlock is also the instigator of most cat drama! We cannot make a bed without his "help," and even though he is now about 10 years old (when he should be settling into sedate middle age) he still pounces on pens and goes nuts for a laser pointer. Even though he is much smaller than Watson now that they are both full-grown, Sherlock usually starts most of the wrestling matches and provokes every round of the "zoomies." (That said, if something gets knocked off the table onto the floor, that will be Watson...)

In the photo above, Sherlock was "helping" me edit the proofs of my first book, Montana Horse Racing: A History. Thank you, Sherlock. I think... (I overlooked some mistakes. That's certainly my responsibility, but was I distracted? Hmmm...)

Watson is the Siamese-colored kitten pictured at my contact form. The photo was taken when he was about six months old, and it still sums up his personality: curious, clever, and creator of chaos. Nothing misses his attention, though for the same reason he wins the household award for “cat most likely to be accidentally locked into a closet.” We think he was born on or about July 20-21, 2019, which was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. This might explain why he is our very own space cadet! (And I can say this because I write about history, but I read science fiction!)

Though I've had cats since childhood, Watson is the first cat I've ever had with point coloring (or acromelanism if you want to be technical). It's interesting, because he was part of a large litter of kittens born to a black and white "tuxedo cat" mama, and he was the only one this color. But he looks totally like a Siamese, right down to the blue eyes and the little kink at the end of his tail that is characteristic of the traditional breed now called a "Thai Cat". I had not realized that Siamese-colored cats are born almost pure white and darken as they grow. It was fun to see him keep changing color as he got older. Today he is mostly seal brown with tan points rather than tan with seal brown points.

The one way Watson does not display all typical Siamese traits is that he has a sweet, almost plaintive meow, not the notorious yowl. Nonetheless, he is quite capable of vocalizing his needs. Dinner is to be served promptly, thank you!

Our two cats often sit side by side, and even cuddle up together. When they aren't calm and cuddly, it can sound like the first race at Aqueduct as they race about the house, tackling each other and wrestling. Fortunately, Sherlock and Watson's playful duels do not end in mutual destruction as in this surprisingly macabre children’s poem about stuffed animals sitting side by side and then getting into a spat!

That said, one day when Sherlock chased Watson, they upended a cup of coffee onto my clock radio and shorted it out, so it's not like they completely avoid creating chaos...and do you notice the "cats and caffeine" theme that keeps popping up on this website?

Finally, one more picture of Sherlock and Watson, side by side by the fireplace...for a few seconds until they realized I was taking their photo!