Our Two Siamese Cats -- Castor and Pollux

We got the "Beastie Boys" in September of 2001.  They were a lot smaller than we were led to believe by their mother's caregiver. Castor only weighed 1/2 a pound and Pollux was just a bit larger.  They really shouldn't have been taken away from Mom when they were that young (Pollux still has some "issues" in this regard) but the lady was going to give them away regardless.  We thought we could probably take care of them as well as anyone.  The lady "said" they were on solid food but when we put it in front of them they just looked up at us as if to say "What are we supposed to do with this?"  We called the Vet and he said start feeding them human baby food.  They also came to us with a bad case of the fleas (no laughing matter when you only weigh 1/2 pound -- a dozen flees can basically suck all the blood right out of you).  Problem is, when you're that small, the flea medication can be pretty hazardous too.  But all's well that ends well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah...you may be wondering how they got the names Castor and Pollux.  The names originally come from Greek and Roman Mythology, Castor and Pollux were the two twin sons of Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Roman).  Astronomers used the names of these mythological twin brothers to identify the two twin stars in the constellation "Gemini".   By the way, Gemini also happens to be Andrea's astrological sign.  Since my astrological sign is Libra, we could have named our cats  Zuben Elschemali and Zuben Elgenubi (the two primary stars in the constellation Libra) but that would be pretty tough on all of us. 

Here are the guys sharing their "kitty cuddler".  They were a bit younger (and smaller) then.
Castor... he doesn't always look this grumpy but he just woke up from one of the many daily (cat)naps he takes on the back of our sofa (which happens to be very near the radiator too).  You can see his big brother, Pollux napping at the top of the picture. 

Castor is what is called a "Bluepoint" Siamese because he has a light colored body with blue (light gray actually) markings, or "points"
Here's Pollux... the "classic" Siamese. Sometimes called a "Sealpoint" Siamese because of his deep dark markings (they're almost like dark velvet)

Both Pollux and Castor are "Applehead" Siamese (so-called because of their round heads) which are the "original" cats from Siam (now Thailand).  The ones with the triangular heads and narrow bodies have been purposely bred to look like that.
Castor resting on the living room rug after a hard day of napping, eating, and pooping (that's pretty much what cats do).
The "Beastie Boys" watching something of great interest (probably a bug).
Here's Pollux showing off his newest trick -- jumping up and walking along the edge of the front door.
Once he's up, he has a pretty good vantage point from which to survey the rest of the house.
Here's Castor resting in one of his favorite spots -- the ottoman in Andrea's office.

Click the Falcon for a story and a look at Grand Haven's rare Peregrine Falcons . . .
Now you also know why Castor and Pollux never go outside ... They'd make a nice little snack for a falcon