Gin & Juice

The first of the five felines were a pathetic pair. The human Jess's aunt often rescues kittens, raises them, and finds them new homes. Because the humans moved to their new apartment in Virginia, it was time for a new addition. They went to choose their kitten. Kitten, singular. They chose a solid black kitten. His huge black ears overpowered his head, the hairs between his eyes and ears were sparse. He had been dubbed the name Nigel. Much to Jess's suprise, the human Matt suggested that they choose another kitten to keep Nigel company. Orange Juice was a tiny orange tabby with features much like his brothers. They packed up the pair and headed home.

The boys settled into their new home very quickly. But Nigel didn't settle into his name. It just didn't fit. The humans pondered, and came up with the name Gin, which went nicely with Juice; what they called the orange feline.

There wasn't much to explore, only 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, and tiny kitchen...but the brothers sure got into a lot of trouble.

Their first plaything became the arms of the couch and chair in the living room. When the humans weren't home, they would scratch to their hearts content. Soon, the blue furniture was ripped to shreds.

At 5 months of age, it was time to be neutered. Jess didn't work at the vet clinic at this time, so she's not sure how their visit went. But they both survived their surgery, and came home the same night. Upon the vet's advice, they were placed in a bathroom with a litterbox and water. They were still hopped up on drugs from their procedures. The next morning, the bathroom was a wreck. The feisty felines had flipped their litterbox, tipped their water bowl, and mixed the two into a cement goo covering the bathroom floor. After walking through the mess, they proceeded to climb everything in sight. There were little pawprints covering nearly every surface in the bathroom, even the walls! The humans had a heck of a time cleaning that one up.

One day when the humans went to work, the pair struck again. They climbed on top of the refrigerator and used their little paws to pry open the freezer door. The tiny acrobats then made their way into the freezer, and begin pushing things onto the floor. One of these things included 2 trays of cherry kool-aid icecubes. Which landed upside down. On the tan linoleum floor. No wonder the humans didn't get their security deposit back....

The cats had a blast when Christmastime rolled around. The humans put up a miniature tree, decorated with small plastic bulbs and decorations…for about 10 minutes. The cats decided the ornaments looked much better on the floor. And under the couch. And in their food dish. And Juice decided he looked pretty good in the tree.

Gin and Juice continued their adventures in the apartment with the humans until they were 2 years old, and the family packed up and moved to the house on Hoofprint Drive.